The Helmet Of Salvation

    And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. Ephesians 6:17,18

     The word of God defines the helmet of salvation as the protection of the soul which consists in our hope of salvation. Hope is our joyful expectation and confidence of obtaining eternal life. The helmet is that confidence that strengthens our faith and allows us to move forward on the journey knowing that we are more than conquerors in Christ!

     The apostle Paul addressed the Ephesian church admonishing them to put on the full armor of God to protect them from the powers of darkness, but the armor he is speaking of is something that cannot be put on daily. Only through practice and experience does this supernatural protection grow and become the very fabric of the believer's life.

     Like developing muscle by working out, the armor grows as the believer exercises his faith. The more he stretches his spiritual muscle the more it grows and expands covering his entire body. For instance the shield of faith grows as the believer overcomes fear and doubt in various areas of spiritual warfare encountering the enemy of their soul. Fear is the enemy of faith and perfect love casts out fear, faith is the confidence we have in Christ to defeat that which comes against us to stop our spiritual progression.

     But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. I Thessalonians 5:8

 THE MIND OF CHRIST

     If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:1-3

     One cannot walk in the realm of God's spiritual kingdom with an earthly mindset. The kingdom of God is a supernatural dimension that the believer lives in and in order to enter, his mind must be renewed by the word and the Holy Spirit. Like an astronaut entering an alien environment, he must have his mind trained to exist in an unfamiliar place.

     Colossians 1:13 says that we have been delivered from the power of darkness and conveyed into the kingdom of the Son. In other words when we become followers of Christ we die to all earthly existence, we are buried with Him in baptism and raised up into the kingdom of Heaven to rule and reign with Christ. Our minds are then guarded by the helmet of our salvation experience.

     The prophet Zechariah gives an account of Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him, and the Lord rebuked him and said that he was a brand plucked from the fire. Now Joshua was clothed in filthy garments, representing our fleshly works and good deeds with which we try and please God with.

     Then the Lord said, "Take away the filthy garments from him and clothe him with rich robes, symbolizing our robe or covering of righteousness that we receive through grace, and put a "clean turban" on his head representing the helmet of salvation." Joshua could now stand before the Lord, not in self righteousness, but in God's righteousness given freely through His mercy.

     And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2

 DEFEATING THE ENEMY OF DOUBT

     And the HolySpirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from Heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased." Luke 3:22

     Jesus began His ministry by being baptized in water and then being baptized in the Holy Spirit as His Father ordained Him by telling Him that He was His beloved Son. The Son of the living God began a mission that would shake the very foundations of the world and set mankind free from their sins.

     As Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness the devil tempted Him for forty days and the first scheme that Satan tried was to get Him to doubt who He was by saying, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." Was there any doubt, He was just spoken to by God Himself in an audible voice and experienced the Holy Spirit in bodily form? No, Jesus knew exactly Who He was and to Whom He belonged as He promptly used the sword of the Spirit to vanquish Satan's plot to defeat Him.

     Today, sadly, many thousands of Christians are defeated and are sitting on the bench of doubt, taken out of the game by the enemy's lies and schemes convincing them that they have either lost their salvation, or have displeased God in some way, or never even got saved in the first place and I have seen it time and time again. Fear, doubt and unbelief are the devil's arsenal against the believer to stop his forward motion, he doesn't have to kill you, just render you powerless and take you out of the fight.

     Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

Your servant in Christ, Timothy Laughlin
   Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ