The Holy Spirit & the Word of God

"Take the Helmet of Salvation and the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." ~ Ephesians 6:17

The Holy Spirit.

Did you know that the Holy Spirit works in conjunction with the Word of God? Did you know that the Spirit's weapon in helping us resist the schemes of the devil is the Word of God? It's the only part of the armor of God that is not defensive. No wonder Jesus quoted scripture when he was tempted by the devil in the desert.

So what does this mean for us?
You can't have the Word of God but no Holy Spirit and resist completely the devil's schemes. And, you can't have the Holy Spirit, but no Word of God and resist completely the devil's schemes. Let me explain. If you have the Word of God but you don't have the Spirit living in you, you can't truly understand God's Word. "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14) Yeah, the things of the Bible look like foolishness because you can't understand it. The Christian who has the Holy Spirit - and is therefore capable of understanding the Word of God - but doesn't even read the Word of God has trouble hearing the Spirit clearly. They've cancelled out one of the Spirit's main weapons against satan and one of the sources the Spirit uses to speak truth to them. Let's remember, it is possible to quench the Spirit. (1 Thessalonians 5:19)

Now before I go any further, I better talk about what can be included in the schemes of the devil: confusion, distorting God's Word, tempting, lying, accusing, creating a stumbling block, and deceiving. There's more, but can you see why it's so important to have the full power of the Holy Spirit to resist the devil. If we're not careful satan can really mess up our ability to discern the voice of God from his confusing and deceiving schemes.

The connection between the Holy Spirit and the Word of God is also an important thing to remember for Christians who want to believe only part of the Bible or don't think you can take it at its face value, and Christians who want to rely more on the leading of the Spirit than what the Bible says. If the Word of God is not ALL TRUE then there's no point in following it. How are you supposed to determine which parts are true and which aren't? The Holy Spirit can't be effective using a sword with dents and nics. That creates confusion, and God is not a God of confusion. But we know who is..... Also, to rely on the leading of the Spirit but not really care for the Spirit's weapon is a gross mistake. 1 John 4 tells us "Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God." This implys that there are false spirits out there. Satan is a distorter of God's Word and a deceiver. Many false religions have come about because of false spirits: Islam, Mormonism. How do we test to see if they are from God? With the Word of God. What else do we have as a measuring rod of God's commands verses a false command? We can't trust our heart or "feelings" because "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure" (Jeremiah 17:9). Also, our heart needs God's Word to keep us from sinning "Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You." (Psalm119:11) Utilize the Spirit's weapon, the Word of God, so you aren't lead astray (or just as bad, continue to stay a babe in Christ for your entire life as a Christian).

Use the full power of God. Allow the Holy Spirit AND the Word of God to work together.