Put on the Full Armor of God (7) – The Helmet of Salvation
Paul beseeches us in Ephesians 6:17 to take the helmet of salvation which is the next piece of the armor of God. “The word “helmet” in Greek is taken from the Greek word perkephalaia, and it is a compound of the words peri and kephale. The word peri means around, and the word kephale is the Greek word for the head. When you compound these two words into one, you discover that the word perkepha laia denotes a piece of armor that fits very tightly around the head….The helmet was made of bronze and was equipped with pieces of armor that were specifically designed to protect the cheeks and jaws. It was extremely heavy; therefore, the interior of the helmet was lined with sponge in order to soften its weight on the soldier’s head. This piece of armor was so strong, so massive, and so heavy that nothing could pierce it - not even a hammer or a battle-ax.” (Source:http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/Sparkling%20Gems/11607137/)
Salvation is likened to the soldier’s helmet because the most likely place for the enemy to attack us is the arena of our minds. In the analogy of the Roman soldier, the helmet is worn tightly around his head because the enemy carries a battle ax that will guarantee to chop off the soldier’s head if he had not worn his helmet tightly on his head. Similarly for believers, if the helmet of salvation was not worn tightly on our heads, the devil will come along and shoot doubts into our minds, especially when we sin or miss the mark. It is therefore of utmost importance that we know what salvation means for us as believers.
The word "SAVE" transliterated as sōzō in Greek means σώζω
sōzō
Thayer Definition:
1) to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction
1a) one (from injury or peril)
1a1) to save a suffering one (from perishing), i.e. one suffering from disease, to make well, heal, restore to health
1b1) to preserve one who is in danger of destruction, to save or rescue
1b) to save in the technical biblical sense
1b1) negatively
1b1a) to deliver from the penalties of the Messianic judgment
1b1b) to save from the evils which obstruct the reception of the Messianic deliverance
As believers, not only have we been saved from our sins (past, present and future), through Christ’s finished work on the cross, we have also been saved from sickness, poverty and danger.
When we do not put on the helmet of salvation, we are leaving the vulnerable arena of our mind unprotected and making it an easy target for the enemy.
“By exposing their unprotected minds to the devil’s insinuations, they place themselves in a position to be severely attacked and possibly deceived…
You see, the devil knows that if he can seize your mind and fill it with lies, he can then begin to operate from this lofty position in your life. He can try to manipulate your emotions, send signals of sickness and disease into your body, and so on. To protect you from such attacks is the very reason God has given you the “helmet of salvation.”
The fact that Paul likens our salvation to a helmet means that we must know all that our salvation includes inside and out. We must spend time studying what the Bible has to say about healing, about our deliverance from evil powers, about God’s desire to bless and prosper us, and about the consequences of our redemption in our everyday lives.
Our intellectual comprehension of all that salvation encompasses must be ingrained in our minds. When our minds are convinced of these realities - in other words, when our minds are trained and taught to think correctly in terms of our salvation - that solid knowledge becomes a helmet in our lives!
At that point, it doesn’t matter how hard the devil tries to hack away at our spiritual foundation; we know beyond a shadow of doubt what Jesus’ death and resurrection purchased for us. This knowledge has become a part of us, preventing the enemy from attacking our minds as he did in the past. That’s how the full knowledge of our salvation puts a helmet on our heads!” (Source : http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/Sparkling%20Gems/11607137/)
When we put on the helmet of salvation, not only are we putting on the knowledge of our salvation, more importantly, we are putting on Jesus as our salvation. His very name (Yeshua in Hebrew) means He will save, ““… You shall call his name JESUS; for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21 NKJ). Doubts and fears are the most common arrows that the devil shoots into our minds. That is why Isaiah 12:2 tells us “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid, For Yah, the Lord is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation." NKJ). When we have Jesus as our helmet of salvation resting firmly on our heads, we will be immune to the devil’s arrows of doubt and fear because Psalm 140:7 assures us that Jesus, our salvation will protect our minds : “O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation, you have covered my head in the day of battle.” (NKJ)
---------------------to be continued-------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment