Should Christians ever use the sword of the Spirit to strike another person? One picture the Holy Spirit gives us in Ephesians in writing about the armor of God is that of a sword. Swords are weapons that are used to attack other people, to fatally pierce them, even to decapitate.
In Ephesians 6 the Word of God is said to be the sword of the Spirit. Should Christians ever use God’s Word to attack another person?
No.
To begin with, as humans we have no idea if another person we are thinking of is a brother or sister in Christ or not. Also, Ephesians 6 makes it very clear in verse 12 who is fighting against us, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
On the contrary, the Bible calls us over and over as in I Thessalonians 5:11 to build others up, to edify them, to help others.
Perhaps all too often, in our zeal we take truth as though it was a sword and we attack others with it. In Ephesians 6 truth is pictured as a belt (verse 14), not as a weapon. In Paul’s day one use of belts was to gather up one’s robe and hold it close to one’s body so one could run unencumbered. May we use truth, not to attack any person, but to enable us to more swiftly oppose the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places and to run to assist others around us. Truth must always be balanced with grace (John 1:14-17).