THE HELMET OF SALVATION - Holy Pictures of Jesus

THE HELMET OF SALVATION OR HELMET OF SALVATION, WHAT IS IT? BIBLICAL SIGNIFICANCE

What is the helmet of salvation as part of the armor of God, biblical meaning

“For the rest, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can stand firm against the wiles of the devil. For we do not fight against flesh and blood, but against against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this century, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly realms.

Therefore, take the whole armor of God, so that you can resist on the bad day, and having finished everything, stand firm. Stand firm, then, with your loins girded with truth, and clothed with the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, take the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the fiery darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6: 10-17)

The helmet of salvation must always be present in the Christian

I remember one of my Bible teachers in high school telling me: “You have to put on every piece of armor except the helmet of salvation, that is, the helmet of salvation. If you’re a Christian, you’re armed with that permanently from the start.”

Put on the helmet of salvation

Yet it never seemed to make sense to me: Why would Paul admonish Christians to put on the helmet of salvation if they already had it from the beginning? Although this might spark a debate as to whether or not one can lose their salvation, entire books and articles have been devoted to that subject, and this article cannot cover the breadth of it.

The helmet of salvation, crucial piece of the armor of God

This article will endeavor to take an in-depth look at the helmet of salvation as a crucial piece of God’s armor without diving into a study of Soteriology: The study of the doctrine of salvation.

To understand some of the answers soteriology seeks, read Titus 3:5-8. He explains how we are saved, reborn, and renewed by God’s grace, and not by ‘doing righteous works.’

WHY IS THE HELMET OF SALVATION SUCH A CRUCIAL PIECE OF ARMOR?

What is a helmet? Biblical meaning as a piece of spiritual armor

For any of us who have seen the movie Saving Private Ryan, there is a scene where a soldier takes off his helmet to analyze a bullet that just hit him. Just as he does, a soldier takes advantage and shoots him in the exposed head, killing him instantly. Due to the discretion of the readers, I decided not to include the video clip, since it contains violence.

In the same way, the helmet of salvation protects us spiritually from a powerful blow of doubt from the devil. Without the helmet (The Helmet of Salvation), we leave ourselves exposed on the spiritual battlefield.

What is helmet of salvation in the Bible?, meaning

In the Roman army, the helmet was the helmet that served as protection for the head. It was a vital piece of armor, as an attack to the head could result in instant death; therefore, the helmet of salvation becomes another important part of the armor of God.

Now the helmet of salvation (Ephesians 6:17) according to my high school Bible teacher is given to a Christian from the very beginning of their journey. In other words, we put on Christ himself. Christ protects our head (and our whole being) from spiritual death.

Head, symbolically in the Bible, tends to mean the whole person. It is the most essential part of a person in the scriptures. People would place their hands on a person’s head when that person was being blessed (Matthew 19:15). Curses would fall on someone’s head (Genesis 49:26). When Jesus crushes the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15), he delivers a serious and irrevocable blow. Basically, he completely destroys it.

WEARING THE HELMET OF SALVATION

What it is to wear the helmet of salvation, meaning

Therefore, we must protect our heads at all costs, wearing the helmet of salvation. Putting on Jesus; but if we put on salvation from the beginning of our journey, then why does Paul here seem to tell us to put on the helmet of salvation regularly? Do we take off our salvation before we go to bed at night? No. Salvation (or justification) is a one-time thing.

We must put on the helmet of salvation

So how do we put on the helmet of salvation if we already have salvation? The passage, according to Wesley’s explanatory notes, also seems to focus on the hope of salvation. We have confidence that God will work in and through us, and he will offer us ‘forgiving love’ if we follow him.

So, in essence, we put hope in our heads every day.

How to dress ourselves with the helmet of salvation?

In the Roman army, the helmet would be last. Why not first? After all, if a soldier suffered head injuries, the rest of the armor would be superfluous.

Salvation is a protection that comes only from the Lord. We cannot ‘put it on’; God’s salvation puts it on us; however, we have to put on the helmet of salvation every day, that is, the helmet or helmet of the hope of salvation.

The helmet of salvation gives us protection

The devil likes to plague us with doubts about our salvation, inject us with worldly ideas (Romans 12:1-2), and cause us to focus on the minute, instead of eternity. The helmet of salvation protects us from this.

Some commentators have said that the helmet of salvation is intended to assure us of salvation, through the anchor of hope (Hebrews 6:18-19). It helps us when we enter the battlefield of the mind, where the devil can strike hard, sometimes fatal blows.

Hope of salvation as the helmet of salvation

If the devil plagues us with doubts about our eternal position, of course we will be susceptible on the battlefield. Of course, we won’t spend time spreading the Gospel through the sword of the spirit, because we are busy treating head injuries.

1 Thessalonians 5:8 seems to align with this interpretation, since it exhorts us to put on the hope of salvation as a helmet. The verse reads like this: “But we, who are of the day, let us be sober, having clothed ourselves with the breastplate of faith and love, and with the hope of salvation as a helmet.”

The hope of salvation as the helmet of salvation

Before we enter any battlefield, and every day is a spiritual battlefield, we must make sure to put on the helmet of salvation. But how? We need to refresh our memory every day by staying in the Scriptures, praying in all circumstances, and remembering who has the ultimate victory.

Satan wants to keep us stuck in the here and now. We see terrible tragedies on the news, we find doubt and he worries us that we have lost our salvation. But at times like that, we have to renew our trust in God.

We have to remember that if God says that he will save us, and that we have put our trust in him, he will not abandon us in Sheol ( Psalm 16:10 , Acts 2:27 ).

What does Jesus say about salvation?

Salvation was one of the most discussed topics in Jesus’ sermons. No wonder, since salvation comes only through him ( John 14:6 ).

Jesus said that he came for our salvation from sin (John 3:16-18), and that anyone who makes a believing faith commitment to him will not be condemned to eternal death. When we do, when we trust him and make him the Savior of our lives, we become children of God (John 1:12). He adopts us into his family.

If you haven’t had an opportunity to commit to the Lord and want to be saved and adopted into God’s family, consider talking to a pastor or friend who is a believer and asking them to guide you in participating in salvation.

WHERE ELSE IS THE IMAGE OF THE HELMET OF SALVATION USED IN THE BIBLE?

The phrase the helmet of salvation

The phrase ‘the helmet of salvation’ is used in terms of the divine warrior in Isaiah 59:17. This passage speaks of God sending a warrior also armed with a breastplate of justice and a cloak of zeal. The verse says the following:

“For he put on justice as a breastplate, with a helmet of salvation on his head; he took clothes of vengeance for clothing, and covered himself with zeal as a cloak” (Isaiah 59:17).

The Bible does not seem to include many other instances of a helmet or helmet of salvation in a symbolic sense, but it does have several images for salvation.

Helmet of salvation in the Bible

Salvation comes through the images of a rock and a solid foundation (Psalm 18:2), a fortress or refuge, a mystery revealed (Ephesians 3:9), a gift (Ephesians 2:8), and many others.

Salvation is key in the Bible, as is hope and trust that the Lord will do what he says he will do. Without that hope and without that salvation, we arrive on the battlefield vulnerable.

We need the Lord to protect our heads, where the devil likes to attack. Hope and trust in the Lord can protect us from all the blows that the devil may try to give us.

When God arms us with the helmet of salvation, we can be sure that He is our rock, strength, light, and life, and that He will never abandon us on the battlefield.