The Helmet of Salvation (Eph. 6:17)

This sermon was preached on 30/10/2011

The next piece of armour that Paul mentions is the helmet, which he says depicts salvation. The Roman helmet was designed obviously to protect the head. It was made of bronze, covered his head, with a front piece coming down on the face to protect the eyes and nose. In using this illustration Paul is saying that salvation is the particular doctrine that will protect the believer’s mind and vision.

Paul has already mentioned the Christian use of the mind when he wrote that the Christian soldier has to gird up his loins with the belt of truth, which we noted had both an objective and a subjective application. Objectively it means the body of truth found in the Bible and subjectively it means a truthful or sincere character.

These features are necessary before we begin to put on the armour. Paul means that we have to know the Bible and have a holy character before we can fight a successful warfare. Of course, he does not mean that the only time a Christian uses the Bible is before he puts on the armour. The various pieces of armour that he has listed must all be understood from the Bible. Nor did he mean that holiness could be sacrificed in the battle. Righteousness, reconciliation, and the shield of faith have their practical outworkings. Nevertheless his use of this illustration of the soldier’s armour enables him to make particular application of these various doctrines.

The example of Christ

We noticed also in previous studies that Paul takes this image from Isaiah 59 which describes the victory of the Messiah when he will come to deliver his helpless people. In verse 17, the prophet affirms: ‘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.’ This is a reminder that we fight our warfare with the same type of weapons that Jesus used. Remember that we are fighting the same spiritual enemy, the devil.

What can we say about the mind of Christ that we should follow as we fight? Paul in Philippians 2:5 exhorts believers: ‘Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus’ (KJV). As we read further into that passage we find that the chief feature of the Saviour’s mind that Paul stresses is humility. He reminds his readers that Jesus displayed humility before he came into the world when he agreed to make himself of no reputation and take on the form of a servant. And he also displayed humility once he was in the world because he became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. He voluntarily made himself nothing. Applying this to his conflict with the devil, we should note that this outlook of humility is the opposite of the outlook of the devil, which is pride.

Another feature of Christ’s mind was his regular habits of personal devotions and attendance on public worship. These practices revealed two important features of a Christian soldier: dependence and discipline. We are apt to think that Jesus, because he is a divine person, did not need such human qualities. Yet we must recall that he is also a man, possessing a full human nature. The various graces that the Saviour possessed in his human nature were the product of the work of the Spirit in his heart. During his earthly sojourn, he engaged in spiritual conflict with Satan and each time the Saviour was enabled by the Holy Spirit to defeat the devil.

We can see his dependence and his discipline combining at his baptism. Jesus knew that he had been promised the Holy Spirit in an increased way in order to enable him to fulfil the task given him by the Father. There, at the Jordan, he comes to receive the Spirit, but he is also praying, and it is difficult to imagine that he was not praying for the Father to fulfil his promise. In connection to Jesus’ baptism, we can remind ourselves of the prophecy of Isaiah 42:1: ‘Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.’ There the Father points to his humble Servant and mentions two things about their relationship up to that point: first, he upholds the Servant (which indicates that he was dependent); second, he delights in the Servant (which indicates that they had fellowship together).

Jesus was not only marked by humility and habit as he fought his spiritual war; a third characteristic was his heroism. Throughout his life, he valiantly proceeded against the powerful enemy of our souls, the devil. From his baptism, Jesus marched into battle against Satan and defeated him comprehensively in the desert, in the most uncongenial of surroundings (Matt. 4). In his three years of public ministry, our heroic Warrior defeated the powers of darkness as he liberated people from demon possession and other forms of satanic bondage. On the cross, he engaged in fierce conflict with the powers of darkness and made a show of them openly. Although he died there, this was not a sign of defeat, but a further stage in his campaign because through death he destroyed him that had the power of death (Heb. 2:14) and emerged from the tomb as Conqueror of all.

And he displayed his heroic qualities when he overcame his apprehension of the cross in the Garden of Gethsemane. There he began to appreciate in a new and more intensive manner the awfulness of the conflict about to engulf him. The most powerful weapon that was against him was not the devil’s arrows but the Father’s sword. Zechariah’s ancient prophecy was about to be fulfilled: ‘“Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me,” declares the LORD of hosts. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; I will turn my hand against the little ones”’ (Zech. 13:7). Jesus proceeded on his way, knowing that he would be wounded very sore when he paid the penalty for the sins of his people by enduring the wrath of God against them.

So far, we have made some comments on the Saviour’s outlook as he journeyed through life. What about his vision, on what he saw as he fought his warfare? We noted earlier that the helmet was designed in such a way that the soldier could see clearly. What was conspicuous about Jesus’ vision? The writer to the Hebrews points out that Jesus was marked by hope as he looked ahead: ‘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’ (Heb. 12:2). The Saviour anticipated by faith his final victory. Although on the cross he entered a battlefield that no-one had been on before, he approached it confident that he would come through it triumphantly. He looked forward to his Father’s welcome, and he anticipated the great throng of the redeemed that would follow him there down the centuries.

The activity of the Christian soldier

So we see that Jesus, the heavenly Warrior, was noted for his humility, his practices, his valour and his expectancy. What about his people as they continue fighting in this world against spiritual enemies? Because they are sinners, they view salvation differently from the way that their Leader did. It is usual for salvation to be described as having past, present and future aspects. As we think of each Christian soldier protecting his mind in the midst of the battle, we see that he needs to look back (a good memory), to look up (a right attitude), and to look ahead (clear-sighted about the future).

Looking back

As he looks back, there are three levels of reminding himself about the salvation he has received. First, he can look back to the time when he came to know Jesus personally as his Saviour. His conversion may have been a dramatic one, about which he can name the exact time. Yet many believers cannot identify when they were converted, the change in their lives seemed to be a gradual one. What is important is that both types have been converted. Christian soldiers, in the midst of the conflict, have to remind themselves that they belong to the Lord because of their conversions.

Second, the Christian soldier can look back farther than his conversion, right back before the creation of the world to the thoughts of the triune God in the past eternity. As he looks back, in the midst of the battle, he encourages himself that God has eternally loved him, not because he would fight a good warfare without a wound, but because he loved him. The eternal God wanted him not only as a soldier but as a son in his family.

Third, as he fights the devil, the Christian soldier can recall many incidents in which he has been enabled by God to overcome the ruses and attacks of the devil. Often, the soldier was at his wit’s end, bombarded from all directions by Satan’s fierce attacks. Yet, in the midst of his weakness, as he looked to his Commander, strength came into his heart and mind and he won the victory.

These three aspects of the past should be at the forefront of our minds as the devil assaults us. Each should say, ‘I belong to Jesus by personal choice (conversion), by divine covenant (God’s eternal plan), and by ongoing deliverance. The next arrow from Satan, while it may wound me if I am not careful, will not destroy me.’

Looking up

The Christian soldier also experiences salvation in the present. If in the past he was delivered from the penalty of sin, in the present he is being delivered from the power of sin. He needs to be delivered from this power because it is an ally of the devil and will do its utmost to cause the Christian to fall. Therefore the Christian soldier must weaken this indwelling power.

Strong though this power is, it is not stronger than the resources the Christian soldier has at his disposal. Each believer possesses the power of the indwelling Spirit, who, as the apostle John says in 1 John 4:4, is ‘greater than he who is in the world’. The Spirit enables the believer to both put to death heart sins and replace them with holy characteristics. This activity of the Spirit in each believer’s life is a constant one, although it is the case that believers can grieve the Spirit by their sins and they will not know his power overcoming such sins until they repent of them. This does not mean that a believer can ever be in a state, in this life, of not having to repent of personal sins. But there is a big difference between a believer fighting against inward sin, such as wrong thoughts, and a believer ignoring them. Repentance for such sins is accompanied by spiritual power to overcome the sins.

When under attack, the Christian soldier should cry to God for divine aid by the Spirit. At the same time he should remind himself of the power of the Spirit, perhaps recalling the way he worked in the lives of biblical characters, even in those, such as David, who were overcome by a sin. Further, he can see the way he is working in the lives of his fellow-soldiers, which can be a useful means of encouragement.

It is crucial for the Christian soldier that this second aspect of salvation be maintained in a lively spiritual manner. Peter shows its importance in 2 Peter 1:1-11 where he urges his readers to continue adding Christian graces to their characters. He stresses that if a Christian fails to do this, he will develop a bad memory and also become short-sighted: ‘For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins’ (v.9). Failure to look up results in inability to look back or to look far ahead.

Looking ahead

If the first aspect of salvation is deliverance from the penalty of sin and the second aspect is deliverance from the power of sin, then the third aspect, which is the future one, is deliverance from the presence of sin. Paul refers to this aspect when he elsewhere mentions the helmet of salvation: ‘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’ (1 Thess. 5:8).

The hope mentioned there by Paul does not mean an uncertain wish. In biblical usage, the word means confident expectancy. As he is under attack, the Christian soldier reminds himself of the many promises of full salvation that will be fulfilled at the second coming of Jesus. He reminds himself that although he is under attack, this does not mean he is on the losing side. Even if he is wounded in the warfare, it will not be a fatal blow. Rather he can say to the devil, ‘Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me’ (Mic. 7:8). He has the promise of Romans 16:20: ‘The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.’

There are many promises of this future deliverance. Here are some of them. James 1:12 (KJV): Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.’

2 Timothy 4:8: ‘Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.’

Philippians 3:20-21: ‘But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.’

1 Corinthians 15:54-55: ‘When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” ’

What a victory parade there is going to yet be in heaven as the soldiers of Christ will march towards their General’s throne to receive from him the grand assessment, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.’ Let us keep our eye on this future glorious occasion as we see the fiery arrows of the evil one coming towards us in the present.