You hold in your hands the first issue of Sword and Shield, a new Reformed magazine from a new Reformed publishing organization. There is great excitement on the part of the organization, the board, and the writers to see this magazine come to print. We are thrilled! We are also thankful to God for bringing this first issue to pass, being deeply conscious of our dependence upon him to bless this work and to give Sword and Shield its place. We are thrilled and thankful, and we hope that you will be too.

It is the happy task of this editorial to introduce the magazine to you.

One’s first impression of the magazine will likely come from its name, Sword and Shield, so let us begin there. The name Sword and Shield identifies the magazine with the cause of God’s truth. In scripture the sword represents God’s word. The sword is the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Eph. 6:17). The word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword (Heb. 4:12). When the risen Lord Jesus Christ speaks, his word of truth proceeds from his mouth as a sharp two-edged sword (Rev. 1:16). By his sword-word, the Lord fights the impenitent (2:16) and smites the nations (19:15, 21). By taking the name “Sword,” Sword and Shield defines its cause as the cause of God’s truth revealed in God’s word.

So also in scripture, the shield represents God’s truth. The truth is our shield (Ps. 91:4). God is the psalmist’s hiding place and his shield through his word (119:114). Every word of God is pure, by which word God is a shield unto them that put their trust in him (Prov. 30:5). By the shield of faith, the child of God quenches all the fiery darts of the wicked (Eph. 6:16), which faith is rooted in the eternal Word and the eternal Truth (John 1:1; 14:6). By taking the name “Shield,” Sword and Shield declares that its cause in this world is the cause of God’s truth. 

The cause of God’s truth is the driving purpose of the organization that publishes Sword and Shield. That organization is Reformed Believers Publishing (RBP), which was founded on April 24, 2020, when thirty-two men adopted the organization’s constitution. Article 2 of that constitution reads:

The purpose of Reformed Believers Publishing shall be:

A. To promote, defend, and develop the Reformed faith, which is the truth revealed in the Word of God and expressed in the Three Forms of Unity, with special emphasis on the truths of the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation, particular grace, and the unconditional covenant.

B. To expose and condemn all lies repugnant to this truth.

C. To give a theological and antithetical witness to the Reformed church world and beyond by broadcasting this distinctive Reformed truth to the people of God wherever they are found.

The name of the magazine and the constitution of RBP govern the content that will be published in Sword and Shield. The content must be the truth as it is revealed in the word of God. That truth is the revelation of God in the face of Jesus Christ crucified and risen. That truth is the Reformed faith, which is the only truth. This means that the content of Sword and Shield will be doctrinal and theological. Doctrinal and theological! That is a broad spectrum of content, indeed! Theology is the study of God, and the study of God encompasses every possible subject. Doctrine is the teaching of scripture, and the teaching of scripture encompasses every aspect of the faith and life of God’s people. In all of its doctrinal and theological writing, the purpose of Sword and Shield is to bring the truth of God to bear.

The content of Sword and Shield will especially emphasize the truths of “the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation, particular grace, and the unconditional covenant.” The fact that these truths are listed separately must not be taken to mean that they are somehow distinct from the Reformed faith or tacked onto the Reformed faith. Rather, these truths are the essence and core and meaning of the Reformed faith. Without these truths, there is no Reformed faith but only a corruption and perversion of the Reformed faith. These truths are the outstanding declaration that God is God and that God alone saves man. These are the truths that are always opposed by the devil and by fallen man from paradise until today. These are the truths that our own carnality finds offensive and distasteful and humiliating. These are the truths that must be emphasized by Sword and Shield, being written into the very constitution of RBP.

The fruit of these truths is the glory of God (Eph. 2:8–10) and the comfort of God’s people (Rom. 5:1). What a worthy cause is that of God’s truth! What blessed fruit is God’s glory and the believer’s comfort! May Sword and Shield be faithful to that cause and proclaim it with full throat.

Sword and Shield is also a military name, a sword and a shield being deadly instruments of war. The magazine declares by its name its recognition that there is a spiritual war going on. The magazine also declares by its name that it intends to fight in this war. Of course, one who holds a sword and a shield fights! His intention when he takes up the sword and the shield is to fight. Sword and Shield has its face set toward battle and takes the field in order to fight in that battle.

The war that is currently raging and will always be raging on this earth is the age-old enmity between the Seed of the woman, who is Christ and all who are in him, and the seed of the serpent, who is the devil and all who belong to him. The war is between the truth and the lie. In this war that spans all earthly history, there are many battles. There are doctrinal battles. There are ethical and moral battles. There are battles in the heart of the individual child of God. There are battles in the church. By its name, Sword and Shield announces its intention, under the blessing of God, to engage in all of these battles for the cause of God’s truth and the comfort of God’s people.

Sword and Shield is an appropriate name for this particular magazine, for it is battle born. Sword and Shield comes into the world in the midst of an ongoing struggle in the Protestant Reformed Churches regarding God’s grace in man’s experience of salvation. This controversy has appeared in sermons, at ecclesiastical assemblies, in other magazines and publications, and in conversations among family and friends. This controversy has been between the truth and the lie, though it has not always been cast in those terms. It is especially this controversy that was the impetus for the organization of Reformed Believers Publishing and for the publication of Sword and Shield. It is also this controversy that explains the point of special emphasis in the RBP constitution “on the truths of the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation, particular grace, and the unconditional covenant.” This does not mean Sword and Shield is limited to the present controversy. Not at all! This and future issues will range widely in their material. But neither does Sword and Shield hide the fact that it has a special interest in engaging this controversy.

The military name of the magazine will stamp itself upon the character of the magazine. It must stamp itself upon the character of the magazine! The magazine must be the Sword and Shield that it claims to be. That fighting character must be stamped on the editor. That fighting character must be stamped on the writers. That fighting character must be stamped on the readership. This means that the content of Sword and Shield must be polemical. Sword and Shield does not exist to prevent controversies or to smooth them over when they appear. Sword and Shield does not exist to bemoan the fact that spiritual warfare exists and that fighting must be done. Rather, Sword and Shield exists to fight. It exists to expose the lie in the service of the truth. It exists to oppose the lie as the enemy of God, the enemy of God’s truth, and the deadly enemy of God’s people. Sword and Shield exists to draw blood in battle so that the enemy is killed or routed from the field. If Sword and Shield ever becomes timid and cowardly in battle so that the enemy finds an opening and a comfortable place from which to deceive God’s people, then cursed be the editor, the writers, and the readers of Sword and Shield. This is God’s own sobering judgment regarding those who bear a sword. “Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood” (Jer. 48:10).

Sword and Shield intends to be polemical, which is not the same as being nasty. In our day theological controversy and battle are viewed as nasty business. Theological controversialists are suspected or even charged with being sinful and schismatic. The attitude is that controversy is the worst thing that can happen among God’s people and in God’s church. Not heresy or false doctrine is the worst, but fighting against heresy and false doctrine! One who fights is regarded as a troubler of Israel. With this attitude RBP disagrees. Sword and Shield will fight vigorously, but it will be no troubler of Israel. It will fight honestly and honorably. Sword and Shield will bring the sword of the Spirit and the shield of faith to bear so that the readers can judge controversy from the word of God. And Sword and Shield will engage in controversy with the positive goal of defending and developing the truth, which is God’s positive purpose with controversy. The polemics of Sword and Shield will not be fighting for fighting’s sake, but fighting for the truth’s sake.

Fighting for the truth’s sake! Here we come to the deepest spring of polemics: love. Love! The love of God in Jesus Christ delivers the believer from darkness, from the deceiver, and from the lie. The love of God in Jesus Christ delivers the believer into his marvelous light. God makes the believer to know the truth, and the truth makes him free. The child of God, thus delivered, responds by faith with love for God and love for his truth. His God is a fighting God, who is the shield of Israel’s help and the sword of Israel’s excellency (Deut. 33:29). His Savior is a fighting Savior, who came not to send peace on earth, but a sword (Matt. 10:34). God’s truth, which is Jesus Christ himself, draws the hatred and opprobrium of the lie and the liars (John 8:40). In love for God, in love for Jesus Christ, and in love for God’s truth, the believer contends against the lie and contends for the truth (Jude 3). A refusal to fight for God’s truth reveals that love for God and his truth has cooled. God save us from that and kindle in us a fervent love for him, that we may contend.

Something should be said about the various relationships in which Sword and Shield stands. First, the relationship of Sword and Shield to the Protestant Reformed Churches. All of the current members of RBP are Protestant Reformed. All of the members love the Protestant Reformed Churches. All of the members confess the Reformed faith as it is held by the Protestant Reformed Churches. Sword and Shield hopes to be read by and be useful to the members of the Protestant Reformed Churches. Nevertheless, Sword and Shield is not a publication of the Protestant Reformed Churches. It is non-ecclesiastical, in the sense that it is not the possession of or under the governance of any church institute. Sword and Shield is a publication of Reformed Believers Publishing. The word “Believers” in Reformed Believers Publishing indicates that the organization and the magazine are rooted in the office of believer. Every believer shares the anointing of Jesus Christ as a prophet, priest, and king. In that office of believer, the child of God confesses Christ’s name, presents himself a living sacrifice to his Lord, and with a free and good conscience fights against sin and Satan in this life (Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 32). Sword and Shield is thus an opportunity for believers to discharge their office of believer in sounding forth a true Reformed testimony. All of this is stated in the preamble of the constitution of RBP.

The members of Reformed Believers Publishing have organized for the express purpose of witnessing to the Reformed truth. The organization is rooted in the office of believer, by virtue of which every believer has the privilege and calling to confess the truth and contend against the lie. Reformed Believers Publishing is non-ecclesiastical,
is self-governing, and is not the possession of, or under the governance of, any church institute. An invitation shall be extended to all who desire to share this opportunity to sound forth a true Reformed testimony in the discharge of the office of believer.

Sword and Shield is thus free to comment on the Protestant Reformed Churches. Sword and Shield may evaluate these churches and offer instruction to them. Sword and Shield is able to commend doctrines, attitudes, and practices within these churches that are true. It is also able to condemn doctrines, attitudes, and practices within them that are false. This is true even regarding the ecclesiastical assemblies of the Protestant Reformed Churches. Sword and Shield may write about matters coming to the assemblies; it may state its position on those matters; and it may comment on the decisions that the assemblies make. Sword and Shield may do this because ecclesiastical assemblies are not the only arena of theological controversy. Ecclesiastical assemblies are not even the main arena of theological controversy. Ecclesiastical assemblies are certainly very important arenas of theological controversy. They are the only arenas in which the churches pronounce their official judgments on matters that come before them. No magazine can do that. Nevertheless, contending for the faith is done in arenas much broader and wider than the ecclesiastical assemblies. The dinner table is the arena of theological controversy as the family discusses the issues at hand. The coffee shop is the arena of theological controversy as friends meet to sharpen one another. The job site is the arena of theological controversy as the workers take their lunch breaks and talk things over. The telephone is the arena of theological controversy as mothers discuss the controversy and its impact on their families. The thinking that all theological controversy must be restricted to ecclesiastical assemblies, or to the ministers and elders who attend ecclesiastical assemblies, is wrong. The thinking that all such theological controversy is gossip in the mouth of the believer is wrong. Certainly, let the believer not gossip as he eats his lunch and as she talks on the phone. But the believer in his life as a believer is also called to contend earnestly for the faith that was once delivered unto the saints. Sword and Shield, as a magazine of believers, is set to assist the believer in this calling. In this way Sword and Shield, without being under the authority of the Protestant Reformed Churches, can nevertheless serve them and the believers who make up these churches.

Second, the relationship of Sword and Shield to the Standard Bearer. Sword and Shield owes much, in fact, owes everything in a certain sense, to the Standard Bearer. The very nature of Sword and Shield as a non-ecclesiastical and free publication is a direct copy of the nature of the Standard Bearer. The constitution of Reformed Believers Publishing is virtually identical to the constitution of the Reformed Free Publishing Association, which publishes the Standard Bearer. One could say that Sword and Shield learned how to be a magazine from the Standard Bearer, and that would probably still be an understatement. Sword and Shield gratefully acknowledges its debt to the Standard Bearer.

Beyond that, there is no relationship between Sword and Shield and the Standard Bearer. Reformed Believers Publishing is an entirely new publishing organization that is producing its own magazine. 

Third, the relationship of Sword and Shield to itself. As a publication of believers that arises from and is subject to the truth, Sword and Shield must evaluate itself. This includes being able to criticize itself. Believers may measure the editor’s and writers’ work, the articles, the magazine, and the organization against the standard of God’s word and the Reformed confessions. To that end, Sword and Shield welcomes letters and contributions from its readers, especially letters for publication, even critical letters. The truth is not afraid of being engaged! As a magazine for the cause of the truth, Sword and Shield is eager to engage its readers and receive their letters.

I think that is enough of an introduction for now. You will get to know us more as the subsequent issues unfold. Let us end where we began, with thanksgiving to Jehovah for giving this first issue a place. We pray that he will speed the truths written herein to your heart, and the next issue into your hands.