THE HELMET OF SALVATION

“And take the helmet of salvation” (Ephesians 6:17).

The next piece of God’s armor that we have available to us is the helmet of salvation. The helmet is important not only because it is a head covering but also because it protects the mind. The primary purpose of protective headgear is to prevent injury to the head and to the brain—in sports, in many kinds of physical labor, and in combat.

Once again the apostle Paul uses Roman military equipment to illustrate a spiritual truth. In the physical realm, the helmet protects the head and the brain; in the spiritual, the helmet of salvation protects the mind, where our emotions and will are controlled. Therefore it’s no surprise that one of Satan’s prime strategies is to attack our mind.

We are instructed by Scripture to “guard” our mind. “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23). The word “heart” used here is not referring to the physical organ but to the mind, emotions and will.

Often the deciding factor in whether we are victorious in battle is the mind. If the mind is not guarded and the enemy attacks with doubt, fear or depression, then the mind will transmit that to the person’s emotions and will. If a person’s outlook is not right, if it is flawed, then their behavior and conduct will be flawed as well.

What I am trying to say here is that we do what we think. Satan’s strategy is to keep us from wearing the helmet of salvation so that what he feeds us becomes the reality through which we interpret and respond to what is going on in our life.

Paul has instructed us to “take the helmet of salvation.” Is this something different from the salvation that we received when we repented of our sins and invited Christ into our heart? (See Romans 10:9 and 10.)

When Paul wrote these words, “take the helmet of salvation,” he was writing to people who had already been saved. Many of us think that salvation refers only to that moment when we confessed Christ as Savior. Salvation is an all-inclusive word that includes all that Christ has provided for us in the past, in the present, and in the future.

Justification is what happened to us at the moment of salvation and that’s the past. The present tense of the word “salvation” refers to the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in our lives as He renews and often rebuilds us. The work of the indwelling Holy Spirit is ongoing and is called sanctification. Sanctification is the process of becoming more like Christ—it doesn’t happen all at once, it goes on throughout our life. Sanctification will be complete when we cross into eternity to be with our Lord in heaven.

Paul lays out the process of sanctification in 1 Corinthians 6:11:

“And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” For many of us these words are not quickly or easily understood but they are important, so let me try and simplify what the apostle is saying here.

“But you were washed.” This is an action that is initiated on the part of the individual. A better rendering would be, “You washed yourself,” meaning you took a step of faith and invited Jesus Christ into your life. When you did that, it initiated the washing or cleansing of being “born again.” Sin was washed away by the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ.

“You were sanctified.” Sanctification begins at the moment of salvation when the Holy Spirit, heaven’s agent of change, comes to dwell in us. The focus of sanctification is to heal all the destructive work (dysfunction) that sin has done in you. For most of us, the healing of sanctification is a process that takes place over a period of years or even a lifetime, just as physical healing is most commonly a process. Sanctification will be completed the moment we step into eternity.

“You were justified.” Justification focuses on the removal of the guilt of sin. Justification is by faith alone and not works and is complete at the moment of salvation.

“In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God.”

When we embrace this work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we are “taking the helmet of salvation.” As we grow to be more like Christ, the helmet of salvation is more completely protecting us from the attacks of the enemy against our mind, our emotions and our will.

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard [keep safe] your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).