Sharper Than Any Sword

Hebrews 4:12-16

A lady once told me that she had attended church with her grandmother for several years, but then dropped out in her teen years. One of her friends invited her and she went to a church where the Gospel was preached. She felt uneasy but didn’t respond to the invitation because she knew she was saved. She could remember a specific day when she was small when she went to the altar and he Grandmother led her to the Lord.

Later she decided to get baptized because she’d never been. The Pastor came to their house to talk to talk to her about her salvation before baptizing her. She described her memory of her Grand mother leading her to Christ. Her grandmother was shocked. She’d never dealt with the girl at the altar, although she’d wondered many times why the girl was so sure she was saved. The lady had imagined the whole thing and convinced herself, (with Satan’s help), that she was saved. She’d never questioned whether it was true until she learned that it had never happened.

In a class called Personal Evangelism, we were taught to win people to Christ. Considerable emphasis was placed on giving assurance of Salvation. In it’s simplest form, it consisted of asking if the person believed that Jesus died for their sins. If they did, then we were to ask if they had prayed and asked Jesus to save them. If they said they had, we then were to go to Romans 10:13, which says, “ For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” After all they had ‘fulfilled’ the requirements in Romans 10:9-10, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Unfortunately, such an approach is little different than that of those who believe in Baptismal Regeneration, that Baptism saves one. They use Mark 16:16, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned,” the same way, to prove that people are saved. Both approaches are dependent on the persons understanding of belief in the way God meant it. He may not. He may simply acknowledge that Christ’s death is a result of sin, not that it is propitiation, for example. Even by questioning carefully, we may reach false conclusions.

Both approaches also ignore other scripture. For example, Jesus said “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day,” in John 6:44 and repeated it in John 6:65. If they came because of our persuasiveness, for emotional relief, or any other reason, other than God’s action, they can’t be saved. Another example is Jesus’ statement about the commitment required to be saved in in Luke 14:26. “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.”

Since we are unable to judge what the person really believes, or how God has worked, or even how committed they are, we may well give a false assurance, and mislead people. Fortunately, part of the Holy Spirit’s job is to give that assurance, if the person is saved. He can be trusted to do his job. If he doesn’t provide that assurance something is wrong. Either sin is hindering his working, something is causing confusion, or they are not saved.

The Word of God is a tool the Holy Spirit can use to identify sin that hinders his work, incorrect beliefs and doctrines that cause confusion, or lack of commitment and dead faith which prevent salvation. He can then use it to correct what is wrong and to draw the person to Jesus Christ. The author describes the word as follows:

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” (Hebrews 4:12-13

My dad fought in battles on Okinawa, Iwo Jima and various other islands in World War Two. During one battle, a Japanese soldier carrying a Samurai sword sliced the end off a machine gun. As Dad said, “we shot him before he got any closer because we knew a bayonet wouldn’t be very effective against that sword.” The word of God is similarly sharp and strong, capable of separating even things which appear inseparable. It is able to distinguish between the soul, or life part, and the spirit or controlling part. It can determine exactly the point where the bone changes from the joint to marrow, down to the exact cells involved. It is able to separate our very thoughts and our intentions, clearly showing what the truth is.

Furthermore it is guided precisely by a surgeon who has clear vision of every detail so that the separation is between the cells, or connectors, rather than damaging the material on either side. There is no danger of him pulling the wrong tooth or removing the wrong kidney. There is no possibility of him leaving some of the cancer behind because he couldn’t see it or it was too close to something else to safely remove it. The word is precise enough to make that unnecessary in the hands of such a skilled surgeon with a good view of what is there.