Safety is a prime concern associated with the use of metallic lithium in high-capacity Li–S batteries. Recent studies have shown that replacing lithium metal with other high performance anodes and assembling as lithium-ion sulfur battery (LISB) are effective methods to enhance the safety coefficient of the battery. However, the volume expansion of anodic active materials and gradual thickening of solid electrolyte interface (SEI) on the anode, as well as the ever-existing detrimental shuttle effect of sulfur cathode still limit the performance of LISBs. In this work, we propose and prepare a lithium-ion sulfur polymer battery (LISPB) that employs a stable SnO2 anode and a bi-functional gel polymer electrolyte (GPE). We demonstrate that graphene and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) are able to form a robust anode structure and simultaneously maintain a stable SEI in ether-based electrolyte, while the acrylate-based GPE immobilizes the polysulfides and protects the anodic SEI from side deposition reactions. The LISPB renders a superior high rate capability (608.2mAhg−1 at 5C), while maintaining excellent retention at both high and low current densities (83.3% after 300 cycles at 0.3C and 82.1% after 500 cycles at 1C). This novel and simple LISPB system represents a significant advancement of high-safety sulfur-based batteries.