Ephesians 6:17a PODCAST
Take also the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:17)
Today, we come to the fifth weapon in our spiritual arsenal: the helmet of salvation. When we first believed, we entered a battle not against people, it is an inner battle in each of us, in our thought life. This is a battle in the realm of our outlook upon life as we encounter it. The word “helmet” is the compounding of two Greek words peri and kephale which describes an elaborate piece of armor that fits very tightly around the head.
This Roman helmet was made of bronze and was equipped to specifically protect the cheeks and jaws. Being quite heavy, the interior of the helmet was lined with sponge in order to soften its weight on the soldier’s head. It was so strong and heavy that nothing could pierce it, not even a hatchet.
Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Paul likens our salvation to these incredible helmets. Paul is telling us that when we are engaged in the battle, we should be most confident of our salvation because it has been earned and secured by the Lord Himself.
This helmet of salvation provides us the ability to think and reason informed by God's truth. It keeps our thinking Godlike, enabling us to choose substantively. It frames up for us the world according to God's culture. It brings into focus the fact that God is working out His purposes on this earth even though sinful man and sin seem to have the upper hand. This salvation provides our minds with hope which is a sure thing which garrisons our feelings with the truth.
This battle for our souls (minds, wills, emotions) is primarily waged in the battlefield of our minds. The enemy tries to capitalize on our fears and tries to get us to rationalize our sin, instead of running from it. In addition, the enemy even tries to get us to engage in friendly fire, making it look like those we love are the enemy so we attack them instead of the real enemy. The only way to win the battle in our mind is to let Jesus transform our thinking with His word producing a bouying effect of hope in our souls.
This hope is the confidence we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is developed the same way our faith is developed. God's word informs our hearts and heads with the culture of God. This gives us hope, an unfailing expectation in the ability of God to fulfill His promises. Hope is something we think about and understand. Faith is something we believe and confess even if we cannot understand it.
Our helmet of hope tells us that our salvation is secured and will be consummated at the future coming of the Lord Jesus. It informs our thinking in such a way that we are reminded that history is not a meaningless group of random events, it reminds us that God is in control and we have been chosen to be on His winning team.
But, we must appropriate this helmet, this hope of salvation, on a daily basis. The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 24:42, "So keep watch. You don’t know when your Lord will come." We must live daily in its hope and anticipation of it. This battle is not ours, it is the Lord's. If we lose hope in the future promise of salvation, there can be no security in the present.
The enemy knows that if he can seize our minds and fill them with lies, he can then begin to render us useless in the battle. To protect us from such attacks is the very reason God has given us the “helmet of salvation.” And, this salvation is much more than a moment in time conversion when we are delivered from darkness into light. It is an ongoing experience of the Lord saving us from ourselves, saving us from sin and saving us from the enemy’s onslaughts.
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