Chapter VII.
The Son Himself does not judge or punish without the
Spirit, so that the same Spirit is called the Sword of the Word.
But inasmuch as the Word is in turn called the Sword of the Spirit, the
highest unity of power is thereby recognized in each.
44.
But
what should
we say of the other points? We have heard that the Lord Jesus not
only judges in the Spirit but punishes also. For neither would He
punish Antichrist, whom, as we read, “the Lord Jesus shall slay
with the Spirit of His mouth,”
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unless He
had before judged of his deserts. Yet here is not a grace
received, but the unity remains undivided, since neither can Christ be
without the Spirit, nor the Spirit without Christ. For the unity
of the divine nature cannot be divided.
45. And since that instance comes before us,
that the Lord Jesus shall slay with the Spirit of His mouth, the Spirit
is understood to be as it were the Sword of the Word. Lastly, in
the Gospel also the Lord Jesus Himself says: “I came not to
send peace but a sword.”
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For He
came that He might give the Spirit; and so there is in His mouth a
two-edged sword,
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which is in
truth the grace of the Spirit. So the Spirit is the Sword of the
Word.
46. And that you may know that there is no
inequality but unity of nature, the Word also is the Sword of the Holy
Spirit, for it is written: “Taking the shield of faith,
wherewith ye may be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked
one. And take the helmet of Salvation, and the sword of the
Spirit, which is the Word of God.”
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47. Since, then, the Sword of the Word is the Holy
Spirit, and the Sword of the Holy Spirit is the Word of God, there is
certainly in Them oneness of power.
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2 Thess. ii. 8
.
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S.
Matt. x. 34
.
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Rev. xix. 15
.
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Eph. vi. 16, 17
.