The Helmet of Salvation
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Memory Test
Memory Test
(review the verses - Eph. 6:10-16)
Salvation Through Actualization
Salvation Through Actualization
In the 1940s, renowned psychologist Abraham Maslow sought to understand people more fully. He worked to delineate the factors that made some people thrive or flounder.
As a result of his research and clinical practice, he identified a hierarchy of needs in people across five different stages - later to be adjusted to eight stages. His theory suggested simply that once basic or physiological needs were met, then someone would be motivated to move to the next stage - meeting safety needs. Then the person could progress to love and belonging and then to needs of esteem - achievement, mastery, dignity, reputation, status. Finally, when someone is reaching fulfillment they reach the stage of self actualization where they reach their full potential.
Maslow seemed to acknowledge that a person doesn’t need to fully achieve satisfaction in one level before moving on to another. As with many psychological and anthropological studies, Maslow was simply trying to establish a framework within which to understand how people work, what motivates them, what makes them tick.
(https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html)
It seems, however, that some people can look at these stages as a means of salvation through self-actualization - stepping through each stage of need in order “arrive” at some level of completion.
Now, I don’t think Maslow was trying to promote that, I think he’s just trying to understand people - but it would be easy from a purely humanistic or secular point of view to think that self-actualization is the full goal of life - it’s the way to be saved.
And yet this view of life fails to take into account the author of all life - God.
Today, we’re continuing to walk through the armor of God and The Real War We Wage. The next element of the armor that we come to is the helmet of salvation.
and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
Over the last several weeks, we’ve seen how God has provided various biblical principles and values as protective armor - truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith - today we come to salvation.
The Apostle Paul describes...
Salvation as a helmet
Salvation as a helmet
One of the things that we see in the grand story of scripture is the salvation is described as a helmet in a few other places.
The first instance is found in Isaiah 59:17 - in fact in this passage it appears that God is putting on some of this armor as a means of justice:
He put on righteousness as a breastplate,
and a helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on garments of vengeance for clothing,
and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak.
According to their deeds, so will he repay,
wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies;
to the coastlands he will render repayment.
So they shall fear the name of the Lord from the west,
and his glory from the rising of the sun;
for he will come like a rushing stream,
which the wind of the Lord drives.
“And a Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the Lord.
In His judgment against injustice and falsehood, God is said to have put on righteousness as a breastplate and a helmet of salvation. Paul is likely referencing this passage as he helps the Ephesians understand how the armor of God is their defense in the midst of spiritual struggles.
Peter O’Brien, in his commentary on the book of Ephesians stated:
The Letter to the Ephesians 2. Stand Firm and Put on God’s Armour, 6:14–17
Here Paul’s language is once again drawn from Isaiah 59, where Yahweh the victorious warrior wears ‘the helmet of salvation’ (v. 17) as he saves his people and judges their enemies. Now, according to Ephesians, he gives his helmet to believers for their protection. This helmet is salvation itself (the genitive is one of apposition: ‘the helmet which is salvation’), and believers are urged to lay hold of it as they engage in the spiritual warfare.
The Apostle Paul uses the helmet of salvation in one other passage in the New Testament:
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. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
Here is 1 Thessalonians, Paul seems to be referring to this helmet as something which provides hope for the future. He was addressing concerns of the Thessalonians regarding the day of the Lord and future events. It’s almost as though he is saying that this salvation is real, but not fully realized. We have it now, but there is more fullness to it in the future.
But how does this salvation act like a helmet. One commentary reflected on it in this way...
A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Ephesians Exegetical and Critical
For the warrior does not hide himself behind his shield, but looks over it into the face of his opponent.
(Lange)
When you think about the role a helmet plays, it protects one of our most vital organs - the brain. Our ability to think and understand is vital in the midst of spiritual warfare. It seems like so much of the battle is waged on our minds - skewing our thoughts on reality, God, His Word, and so many other things.
It seems like salvation acts as a helmet, giving us a sense of confidence in the eternal plan of God in the midst of the craziness of life experienced the spiritual battles we face.
So this helmet protects our minds, but then...
What is Salvation?
What is Salvation?
Another way to say this might be “what do I need to be saved from?”
Secular Perspective
Secular Perspective
For people who would live guided by the framework of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs or from some other humanistic or secular framework, salvation might look like self actualization or personal achievement - being the best human one can be - living your best life. Salvation might be related to finding purpose or making a difference.
It might also look like a manner of self improvement - getting rid of negative behaviors or attitudes in order to become more nice or sincere.
So the humanist or secularist - if they used the term “salvation” at all - might simply say that they would need to be saved from insignificance or saved from themselves individually.
Another perspective on salvation can be found in various so called “theologies.”
Liberation Theology Perspective
Liberation Theology Perspective
For example, “liberation theology” seeks to tie salvation to a liberation or freedom from some form of oppression. In this perspective, true salvation only happens when the oppressed are freed and the oppressors are punished. (Erickson, 906)
Millard Erickson notes:
“One of the common emphases is that the basic problem of society is the oppression and exploitation of the powerless classes by the powerful. Salvation consists in deliverance (or liberation) from such oppression. The method of liberation will be appropriate to the nature of the specific situation.”
(Erickson, 906)
We see this kind of salvation talk in so many places today - politics, social justice movements, #metoo, LGBTQ. Part of the challenge with the salvation found in liberation theologies is that standards look so different based on the given circumstances.
It seems like liberation theologians will use scripture, laws, and circumstances to meet their needs in the moment - creating an ever moving target.
Now, don’t get me wrong - I do think there are things that need to be done in our world to address social injustices and other forms of oppression, but I don’t think salvation through liberation will solve the problem - because ultimately it doesn’t address the real problem - sin.
We could look at various other perspectives or theologies - like other religions, morality, or even politics - but let’s consider the...
Biblical Perspective
Biblical Perspective
In the Bible, we see a different perspective of salvation from these views. Sure, there are elements of personal improvement as we walk through a sanctifying process. There are also liberation elements that we get to see in the Old Testament when God freed the Israelites from Egypt and other oppressors - but true biblical salvation, the salvation that protects us like a helmet is different - this salvation addresses the sin problem that we all have.
A couple of weeks ago, we talked about the Romans Road - 7 references in Romans that beautifully walk through both the need for salvation and the source of our salvation. You can go to our website to get those from that message a couple weeks ago - or send me an email and I’ll be happy to send you those references.
As I was preparing for today, I ran across the book Conversion by Michael Lawrence. In it, he does an excellent job discussing salvation and the new life that we have in God. The next several points are from his text. Let me encourage you to grab a copy in the book nook and reflect on some of what salvation entails.
In short, the biblical view of salvation is this:
God is the holy standard - Michael Lawrence, in his book, Conversion states, “God’s holiness means that He’s in a different category from us altogether. He’s utterly set apart from sin and consecrated to his own glory.” (p. 25)
Because He is utterly different, He is the perfect standard of righteousness and holiness. The Bible says with God there is “no variation or shadow due to change.” (Jas. 1:17). While God’s standard is a very high bar - a bar that is ultimately unattainable - it is at least clear and sure. So many of the standards that we are running into today are changing and varying. So much so that Webster modified a definition of a word in response to some comments from a senator during the confirmation hearings for Amy Coney-Barrett (source: The Briefing Podcast by Albert Mohler). Those changes were made within a day.
It’s hard to know where to stand with shifting standards. With God - His immutable character is the perfect standard.
Because He is the standard, we have to recognize that we are as good as dead in our sins.
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
We’ve talked before that because...
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
this sin is an ever present obstacle for us in righteousness. And because of that sin...
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Death, eternal death because of our sin is the just reward for our sinfulness. So when it comes to salvation - because God is the standard, Michael Lawrence points out that we are ...
Saved from God’s Wrath -
(Lawrence, 34) - Being dead people walking, we are unable to change our predicament. We are not able to be righteous enough, good enough, pure enough. We stand condemned. In fact, Ephesians 2:3 reminds us that we are
“by nature children of wrath”
This is a problem for all humanity from birth. The sin we inherit from in our nature is enough to condemn us. The sin we commit is icing on the cake. So because God is good, just, immutable - he must hold to a standard. He is consistent and therefore must provide a clear discipline. Ultimately, this wrath is exhibited in hell - eternal separation from God. Some people soften the blow of hell by stating that it is giving people who don’t want anything to do with God exactly what they ask for. To some degree, that is true. But it is also the “presence” of God’s justice (ibid). An equal reward to the offense against His holiness.
But there is hope. You see, God’s wrath is just, but so is His grace. We are ...
Saved by God’s Grace -
(Lawrence, 36) - God knows our predicament is impossible - and so he provided grace as a gift to us. We looked before at Romans 3:23 - for all have sinned - but the very next verse also points out that...
and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
Our wage or reward or what we deserve is death - but God’s gift is grace - justification - being made right by Jesus Christ.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
We cannot earn a gift, it is something freely given.
The essence of this gift is Jesus Christ - who being the only begotten Son of God, born of a virgin, is fully God, divine, perfect, and is fully human - became the only sufficient substitute for our sin. He perfectly fulfilled all the requirements of God’s justice - because he was without sin - therefore he did not deserve death. And yet He was willingly led as a lamb to be slaughtered and was offered up as a sacrifice - taking the punishment that we so rightly deserve. He offered his life as an exchange - and gave it as a gift for us.
So in this - God’s righteousness and holiness is intact - justice is served - but we get to receive God’s grace as a gift.
And yet - this grace is not some cold or heartless mercy given by a grumpy and tired judge, we are...
Saved because of God’s Love -
(Lawrence, 38) - in Ephesians 2, the Apostle Paul helps us understand this salvation a bit more by stating:
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—
It is in His love that he offered up salvation from His just wrath.
In the book of Titus, the Apostle Paul explains God’s grace, mercy, and love - and our salvation in this way...
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
You see, the challenge that we have to come to grips with is that so much in life we have to work for what we get. We study in school and get good grades in order learn and grow in understanding. We move on from one grade to another because we’ve made the mark, we’ve met the minimum requirements. In sports, we might practice and exercise in order to strengthen our bodies so that we might be sufficiently fit for acceptance on the team. In work, we do the assignments and tasks before us in order to maintain a place in the company or organization. As a reward - we receive payment.
But - with God - it’s different. He acts out of love - because he chose to love us. He demonstrated His love for the people of Israel...
It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
In the New Testament, he continues to show is love for those who are stuck in sin, dead in trespasses - which includes the whole world...
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
I hope you’re getting this - that salvation from God’s wrath, by God’s grace is because of the depth of His love. We don’t deserve it.
Cory Asbury refers to this love as “reckless” in his song Reckless Love. I don’t think God is reckless, but He is extreme. Consider these lyrics:
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the ninety-nine
I couldn't earn it, and I don't deserve it, still, You give Yourself away
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah
There are so many new and old songs that beautiful illustrate this truth of the salvation that we receive - some of which we sang about today.
There is so much more to our salvation that we could consider. Lawrence goes on to talk about the fact that we are
Saved into God’s People -
(Lawrence, 39-43) - Salvation is not simply a solo - life insurance policy - but as a group of people who have been called out of our sin and into a relationship with Him, we get the joy of being identified with each other as sinners saved by grace in this thing called the church. In fact, the next several verses in Ephesians 2 help us to see just the way this salvation is worked out though us as His church (Eph. 2:11-22). The church becomes a profound instrument of our ministry, maturity, and so much more. If you’re not yet a covenant member of PBC - let me encourage you to take that step. In fact tonight in our Family meeting, we’re going to welcome, Lord willing, some new members into our family here. I pray you’ll join us.
Lawrence, in his discussion on Salvation points out that we are...
Saved for God’s glory -
(Lawrence, 43-45) - We are in a predicament, but ultimately, God is saving us because of the depth of His love and to demonstrate his glory.
For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it,
for how should my name be profaned?
My glory I will not give to another.
You see, if we can earn our salvation - then it’s on us, we get the glory, we get the honor. But because our salvation is totally on God, He is glorified.
“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came.
Again, here in Ephesians, we can see clearly that God’s glory is seen in our salvation.
so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
In fact it’s not only our individual salvation that brings God glory, but it’s our collective presence as the church...
so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
Here in Ephesians - and through scripture, we see that we are saved...
from God’s wrath
by God’s grace
because of God’s love
into God’s people, and
for God’s glory
All of this is on God - we simply have to receive this by faith. If you’ve not yet received God’s salvation - I hope that you will do so today. God has done all that he needed to do for you to be saved - is he calling you to receive his salvation?
There is one final element of salvation that I think we should consider very briefly. In many ways, this could be a sermon in itself, but we’ll just quickly ask and answer the question...
How do I know I’m saved?
How do I know I’m saved?
This really gets to the concept of assurance of salvation.
I hope that some of the discussion that we’ve already considered grants you some assurance. But here are some things to think about.
Our salvation comes from God - not us - not our works, not our sincerity, not our whims of emotional highs or lows.
On Tuesday Night, Bryan Butman reminded the guys in the men’s discussion group that before the foundation of the world, God knew you and me by name, decided to love us and decided at that point to save us.
Consider these promises from God’s word:
he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
It was God who decided to adopt you and me.
John MacArthur points out that “We are saved by God’s plan, and preserved for future glory. So our security does not depend on our ability to stay saved, but on God’s ability to keep His promise.”
So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.
MacArthur goes on to state:
Is Your Salvation Secure? Is Your Salvation Secure?
Much of contemporary evangelism leaves people thinking that salvation is predicated on their decision for Christ. Actually, it is based on God’s decision for them. That’s the emphasis of Scripture. How could a person ever make a decision for God? First Corinthians 2:14 says the “natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him.”
We receive salvation as a gift by faith - a faith that we confess with our mouths (Rom. 10:9). I want to assure you of your salvation - if you have received it by faith - but I also don’t want to give you a
false sense of assurance. We should be able to see evidence of that faith in each other. We won’t be perfect but we will be in the process of becoming more holy. If you are unsure, go to someone else in the church or one of the deacons or elders and ask “Do you see evidence of my salvation in how I live?”
Brother and sister in Christ, our enemy wants to undermine our salvation. He wants to cause us to doubt and question whether or not we’re saved, whether or not we’re good enough.
Take up the helmet of Salvation. Be constantly reminded that:
you did not earn your salvation - God chose to save you - because he loves you
your salvation was a gift - given freely by God - if you have received it by faith - you are saved
This gift will not be taken away
God decided in eternity past that He would save you.
Closing thoughts
Closing thoughts
There are some church traditions that utilize an invitation, an altar call regularly in their worship services. I grew up in that kind of church. While there is value in that, value in having a moment in time to think back on - there is also a danger. There are people who will constantly walk the aisle - they will “get saved” every week - because they have come under a new conviction or have begun to doubt whether or not they were sincere enough.
I want people to to be saved. If you are not saved - I want you to be saved. I want you to respond to the gospel. I want you to receive, by faith, the free gift of God’s grace. But I want you to recognize that none of your salvation is based on you. It’s not your sincerity or your goodness or your holiness.
You are saved...
from God’s wrath
by God’s grace
because of God’s love
into God’s family
for God’s glory - and I will add
eternally!
Sources
Sources
Erickson, Millard J., Christian Theology, 2nd Ed., Baker Books, Grand Rapids, 1998.
Foulkes, Francis: Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: The Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians, Erdmans, Grand Rapids, 1974, p. 176
Lange, John Peter, Philip Schaff, Karl Braune, and M. B. Riddle. A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2008.
Lawrence, Michael, Conversion, Crossway, Wheaton, IL, 2017.
MacArthur, John. Is Your Salvation Secure?, Grace to You, 2020.
O’Brien, Peter Thomas. The Letter to the Ephesians. The Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1999.
Snodgrass, Klyne: The NIV Application Commentary: Ephesians, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 1996, p. 343.
Waterhouse, Steven W. What Must I Do To Be Saved? The Bible’s Definition of Saving Faith, Westcliff Press, Amarillo, TX, 2000
(https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html)
