Sunday Aug. 18 2024

The Helmet of Salvation- Life’s Hard Get a Helmet

Ephesians 6:17 NIV

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament Chapter 6

17. And take for an helmet the hope of salvation—(1 Thess. 5:8.) The head is that part which is most carefully to be defended. One stroke here may prove fatal. The armour, for this is the hope of salvation. The lowest degree of this hope is a confidence that God will work the whole work of faith in us: the highest is a full assurance of future glory, added to the experimental knowledge of pardoning love. Armed with this helmet, (the hope of the joy set before him) Christ endured the cross and despised the shame. Heb. 12:2 and the sword of the Spirit, the word of God—This Satan cannot withstand, when it is edged and wielded by faith. Till now our armour has been only defensive. But we are to attack Satan, as well as secure ourselves: the shield in one hand, and the sword in the other. Whoever fights with the powers of hell will need both. He that is covered with armour from head to foot, and neglects this, will be foiled after all. This whole description shows us how great a thing it is to be a Christian. The want of any one thing makes him incomplete. Though he has his loins girt with truth, righteousness for a breastplate, his feet shed with the preparation of the Gospel, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit: yet one thing he wants after all, What is that? It follows,

The Annotated Bible, Volume 7: Romans to Ephesians 6. The Warfare and the Panoply of God (Chapter 6:10–20)

The Helmet of Salvation. The helmet rests upon the head. It covers the head, the seat of intelligence. Assurance of salvation past, present and future is this helmet. As we wear it and as it governs our mind and heart as well, the wiles of the devil cannot fall upon us. We are in possession of a salvation which is secure. No power in earth or heaven the devil with all his demon powers cannot spoil us of it. This gives not alone confidence, but boldness in the conflict. Sad it is to see the thousands of believers without the helmet of salvation, destitute of the assurance of salvation and therefore the easy prey of the devil’s wiles, driven about by every wind of doctrine. Well has it been said: “Girded by the Truth applies to the judgment of the inner man. Practical righteousness guards the conscience from the assaults of the enemy; the power of peace gives a character to our walk; confidence in the love of God quenches the poisoned arrows of doubt; the assurance of salvation gives us boldness to go onward.”

The Wesleyan Bible Commentary, Volume 5: Romans–Philemon 3. The Panoply of the Lord for the Evil Day Conflict (6:13–17)

The word take means to receive, as something offered by another. Thus to take the helmet of salvation means to receive from God the helmet that is salvation (cf. 1 Thess. 5:8; Isa. 59:17). This was designed as a protection for the head. It was equipped with a face-protecting visor. How essential to the Christian is this helmet of salvation which bespeaks sound thinking about God and righteousness (2 Tim. 1:7; Col. 3:10)!

1 Thessalonians 5:8 ESV

But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.

2 Timothy 1:7 ESV

for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Colossians 3:10 ESV

and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

The Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians The Armour of God (Ephesians 6:10–20)

There is salvation for a helmet. Salvation is not something which only looks back. The salvation which is in Christ gives us forgiveness for the sins of the past and strength to conquer sin in the days to come.

Hebrews 12:2 ESV

looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Romans 5:9–10 NIV

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

Ephesians 2:4–10 ESV

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

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Salvation is offered and it is up to take it.

2. Salvation is different than faith in that it is the acknowledgement of not only who Jesus is but in our need for forgiveness and grace.

—> belief in Jesus/ knowledge of Jesus/Trust in Jesus are possible without salvation

—> I think of so many of the miracles that Jesus performed and all the amazing signs that were done. Some of those signs and wonders had a faith component but not a salvation component.

—> Salvation is the acknowledgement that we can not save ourselves from the wrong that we have done.

3. When we wear the helmet of salvation it gives us the confidence to move forward in faithful obedience to God.

—> Salvation opens our eyes to our true calling to our true purpose and identity.

—> That is our relationship to God. Good works can never earn salvation; but there is something radically wrong if salvation does not produce good actions. It is not that our good deeds put God in our debt; rather that God’s love lays on us the obligation to try throughout our lives to be worthy of it.

—> “We know what God wants us to do; God has prepared long beforehand the kind of life he wants us to live, and has told us about it in his book and through his Son. We cannot earn God’s love; but we can and must show how grateful we are for it, by seeking with our whole hearts to live the kind of life that will bring joy to God’s heart.”

Barclay, William. The Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians. Westminster John Knox Press, 2002, p. 121.