The Helmet of Salvation

In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; ¹⁷ and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, ¹⁸ praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. 

Ephesians 6:16-18

In our examination of the whole armor of God discussed in Ephesians 6:10-18, we’ve reflected on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, and the shield of faith. Today, we’re going to look at the final piece of armor: the helmet of salvation.

As I shared earlier in this series, the more God grows me up, the better I realize that every word in His Word is placed specifically where He wants it. In the list of the armor of God, the helmet of salvation comes last (because the sword of the Spirit is offensive more than defensive, but more on that later). The placement of the helmet of salvation as last makes sense in a way because the last piece of armor a soldier in Bible times would have put on was a helmet. Helmets were often taken off to eat or sleep or rest. Considering this, I am reminded of the sidelines of a football game. The only players who wear their helmets on the sidelines are those players who are ready to get into the game. The players on the bench leave their helmets at their feet or on the bench next to them.

However, in another way, the helmet of salvation coming last seems a bit odd to me because without God’s salvation, we do not have access to any of the armor at all. As I was wondering why God would put what we needed first – salvation – last in the list, I began to think about what a helmet does. You see, even though the helmet was the last piece of armor that a solider put on, it protected the most important part of the soldier – the brain – as well as other vitally important body parts, the eyes and the ears.

A soldier who is dazed, blinded, or deafened on the battlefield is an easy target for the enemy. Thinking on this, I realized that while salvation, gifted through God’s grace by the blood of Jesus Christ, is a one time atoning price for our sin, securing an eternity in Heaven for us, there is more to salvation than just our eternal resting place (Romans 6:10; John 3:15).

Sweet friends, eternal salvation doesn’t just happen in eternity. Eternal salvation is salvation from the enemy in the here and now (Romans 8:33-34).

The helmet of salvation protects our minds from the rot and decay of worldly thinking by renewing our minds in Christ Jesus (Romans 12:2).

The helmet of salvation protects our ears and eyes from being tricked into faithlessness when what we see and what we hear doesn’t match what God has promised us (2 Corinthians 5:7).

The helmet of salvation blocks the lies of the enemy when he says we are useless, irredeemable, unloved by God (Jeremiah 29:11; 1 Peter 2:9; Ephesians 2:10).

Beloved, the helmet of salvation isn’t a one-and-done piece of armor. It’s a grab it up and wear it every day piece of armor. It’s an assurance of eternal salvation, a perfect final destination in Heaven with God and a protected destiny and journey with God every day of this earthly life (John 14:3; Joshua 1:9; Deuteronomy 31:8).

To access it, we must receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, believe on Him as the Son of God who was born, crucified, and resurrected as the perfect sacrifice for our sin (John 3:16). From that moment on, the helmet of salvation is ours, a blessed assurance of an eternity in Heaven and victory here on earth (1 John 5:4).

Thank you God for the helmet of salvation, for eternal protection from the wages of sin and for protection from sin here on earth as well!

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