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Ephesians 6:14-18 (NIV)14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
We are now onto part five which is the first half of verse 17 Take the helmet of salvation.
It is such a small statement and yet holds so much information!
The Helmet
The montefortino helmet would likely have been the style of helmet Paul saw while imprisoned in Rome during his time of writing the letter to the people of Ephesus. The helmet is of simple, yet effective design. It had a protruding neck guard and hanging side guards.
This may seem like a silly question, but what is the point of a helmet?
Merriam-Webster defines a helmet as a covering or enclosing headpiece of ancient or medieval armor. But the second definition is of greater importance, any of various protective head coverings usually made of a hard material to resist impact.
Do you remember why Paul told us we needed to put on the armor of God in the first place? Let’s revisit verse 6:11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. And what are the devil’s schemes? We can read that in John 10:10a The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.
So the helmet is to help us protect our head and resist the impact of Satan’s attempt to steal, kills, and destroy – our mind!
2 Corinthians 10:4-6 (NIV)
4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6 And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.
Salvation
Satan wants us to believe the lie that we can do it ourselves. That we can make it on our own and don’t need Jesus. He attempts to alter our thoughts and scramble our focus.
So how do we receive that protection?
Salvation!
Salvation is the deliverance from the power and effects of sin. As Christians, we know that the only way to achieve salvation is through Jesus Christ. We are not able to receive eternal life of our own accord. There is no amount of “good deeds” or striving to be a “good person” that is going to get you to heaven.
*If you have not asked Jesus into your heart and acknowledged Him as Lord and Savior of your heart I encourage you to read this post.
Why did Paul put the helmet with salvation?
Again we see Paul using Old Testament scripture:
Isaiah 59:17 (NIV)
17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate,
and the helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on the garments of vengeance
and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.
But let’s also look closer at the order of armor that Paul listed before the helmet – belt, breastplate, boots, shield. That order doesn’t make sense, as a soldier would have put on a helmet prior to picking up his shield. However, when we look at what each of the articles of armor is associated with, the order becomes clear.
We must first know the truth about Jesus (belt of truth). And in that truth, we acknowledge righteousness (breastplate of righteousness) and are able to have peace (boots of peace). Those three lead us to faith (shield of faith) or complete trust and confidence in God.
It is with those elements in place that we choose salvation.
Even if the first four are not firmly established, as we are called to continue to grow in each of these areas. A person has generally thought about and/or acknowledged them before choosing salvation.
Without a helmet, the other pieces of armor are not much help. Think of any contact sport. If the player doesn’t have a helmet on, it doesn’t matter what other aspects of protection they have with them.
The same is true of salvation. Without it, we don’t have the ultimate safety of eternal life.
1 Thessalonians 5:8-9 (NIV)
8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
I pray that you have made the active choice of salvation to arm yourself against Satan’s schemes, but even more, to be adopted into God’s family for eternity.
The Armor of God
- Part One: The Belt of Truth
- Part Two: The Breastplate of Righteousness
- Part Three: The Boots of Peace
- Part Four: The Shield of Faith
- Part Five: The Helmet of Salvation
- Part Six: The Sword of the Spirit
- Part Seven: Pray in the Spirit
God bless!
Melissa
p.s. Check out all of the beautiful sites I link up with.
I had never thought about the order of the armor of God before, but I totally see it now.
I’m so glad the post gave you a new piece of information to digest and process! I love when I stumble upon and learn new lessons from passages I’ve read so many times before. Thank you for stopping by and sharing your thought. God bless!
Love the explanation of the Roman helmet. Reminds me of how important it is to walk out our salvation with fear and trembling. We do this by renewing our minds and taking every thought captive so we only think God’s thoughts. Excellent post
Thank you Ailie! Yes, it is so important that we take every thought captive. When we don’t we open ourselves up to Satan whispering lies without our recognition. It is to be an active process. Thank you for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. God bless!
Wow! Thanks for the reminder to daily put on the armor of God to protect my mind against the schemes of the devil. Starting the day off with the protection of God truly does make a difference.
It really does! Since staring this series I have been more intentional about talking myself through each piece of armor as I physically get dressed. What I have noticed is that I am each day overwhelmed by the love and protection God gives us. And I have found myself to be stronger in my mind and emotions. Thank you for stopping by Erin and sharing your thoughts. God bless!
I love the idea of the helmet helping us to resist the impact of Satan’s attempts to destroy our life through our minds.
I found that idea so great, too! Our Salvation is what ultimately saves us and it is with that in mind that we are able to know Satan will never win! Thank you for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. God bless!
I love how thorough a student of the Word you are. So excellent!
Thank you Alice, for that beautiful compliment! That means a lot.
Its interesting that there was ear protection on the helmet isn’t it! So many attacks from the enemy comes through hearing & listening to things which then start to play on our minds that does not glorify God!
You’re most welcome to drop by for a cup of inspiration!
Jennifer
That’s such a great point Jennifer. Yes, far too often we are inundated with false statements packaged as “truth” and it can alter how we think and view ourselves and others. Thank you for stopping by and sharing your insights. God bless!
Melissa, you’ve offered such good nuggets here that encourage us to look at the Word more closely. Thanks for sharing your insights and inspiring me to dig deeper!
Blessings to you.
Marva I’m so glad you found the post beneficial! There are so many nuggets and pieces of wisdom in every single verse just waiting for us to explore. God bless!
I’ve enjoyed this series so much! The helmet is the most important part especially since we hear Jesus’ words that say we wage a spiritual war that is in our minds!
I’m glad you are enjoying the series, Julie! I find it so fun and exciting to breakdown and better understand God’s Word. Yes, both the helmet and salvation are most important! God bless!
You broke this down so beautifully and practically, Melissa. I needed this reminder today! So often I forget that there is a very real and unseen battle taking place all around me!
Thank you Stacey, for those kind words. I’m glad that you found the post beneficial and encouraging! God bless!
The armor of God is so important and you’ve pulled some great insight. Love seeing the picture of the old helmet.
Thank you Kelly! I enjoyed researching what the armor of the time would look like. Thank you for stopping by! God bless!
The armor of God is one of my favorite subjects. You did an awesome job explaining the helmet of salvation. Also, I loved your discussion on the order of the armor. Thank you!
Thank you so much for your kind words! It’s a topic I thoroughly enjoy as well. Thank you for stopping by and God bless!
I love this!! What a wonderful explination of why the items are in the order that they are. I have learned in recent years how important it is to protect ourselves (our minds) from the devil. Thank you for this reminder!
Visiting from #MommyMoments
Blessings,
Amy
Thank you so much Amy! I’m glad you enjoyed the post. It is so important that we take every thought captive and guard both our heart and mind from the devil. Thank you for stopping by. God bless!
I love the way you broke this down and expounded on each piece in a series!! Super cool, sister! You helped me grow in appreciation for this armor analogy…
There was just too much there for me to share all of the information in one post! I’m glad you found it beneficial and enjoyable. Thank you for stopping by. I always appreciate your support! God bless!
Melissa,
I love the Armor of God and I have a knight in shining armor by my front door to remind me everyday of the importance of wearing my armor. The helmet is vitally important because it is a great visual to protect your physical head, and your spiritual mind. These lessons have been wonderful and I appreciate all the work you have put into these lessons.
That is so neat that you have a knight next to your front door as a reminder! Thank you for your kind words and I’m glad you have found them beneficial. God bless, Sheila!
Very interesting and amazing thoughts about the amor of God
Thank you for sharaing with us.
Love Greetings from Germany Petra
Thank you for your kind words Petra! I appreciate you stopping by and God bless!
I love word definitions…and this one, resist impact, is powerful!
I loved that definition, too! Especially when we view it in the context of defending ourselves from Satan. It’s so amazing that God equips us with all of the tools necessary. Thank you for stopping by and God bless!
I have the helmet of salvation. I am thankful for that. I am facing a spiritual battle at my work. Daily need to put on the full armor!
Spiritual battles at work can be so difficult. Praying for you and your situation. I praise God, Tracy that you have the helmet of salvation!
Thanks for this continuing study helping to think through the pieces of armor and how we can best use them. It’s interesting to see the types of armor used at the time of Paul. Blessings to you! Thank you for sharing with us at the #LMMLinkup.
I really enjoy seeing the armor of that time as well. It gives me a visual to go along with each attribute Paul described. Thank you for reading through each post along the way! God bless Gayl!
Wow! Great revelation .. especially this one line… So the helmet is to help us protect our head and resist impact of Satan’s attempt to steal, kills, and destroy – our mind!
resisting our mind from the thoughts on distrust is what this Helmet of Salvation does.
It’s so amazing how such a short little half verse can have such a powerful effect on our lives! Thank you for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. God bless!
I love how the helmet seals us until the day He calls us home! Such a wonderful act of Love from our good Father!
So true on both points! It’s humbling to know how much love He has for us and what great lengths God has gone through to bring us back to Him – both on earth and eternally. Thank you for stopping by Tiffany! God bless!
It seems with each new situation and challenge, I gain a deeper meaning to the true security of the armor of God.
Isn’t that the truth?! Yes, the greater our connection with God and with every opportunity for growth, a few more pieces seem to click in place. Thank you for stopping by Crystal and God bless!