“...And take the helmet of salvation...”  Ephesians 6: 17

Looking at what the helmet of salvation covers is really the key to
understanding this piece of armor. We can have no understanding of why
salvation is so important in covering the head if we have no knowledge of
the warfare of the mind.  The mind is the place where thoughts are
transmitted into actions. When the brain is damaged or impaired by
disease, the first thing to go is control of the body and its functions.
Many of these functions take place automatically.
        
My Grandma, before she went home to be with the Lord, was not in complete
control of her faculties and body functions, but one thing that remained
was that she could remember the Lord Jesus Christ. If you were reading
the scriptures to her and didn’t do it right, she would correct you. The
foundation and hope of her salvation was firmly established in her heart
and mind. She never lost the vision of Christ. Praise God!

By digging deeper into the spiritual side of this armor, we find a verse
in I Thessalonians 5:8-9:

“Let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith
and love; and for a helmet the hope of salvation, for God hath not
appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.”

We have a hope to which we can cling , a hope that fadeth not away,
reserved for us in the heavenlies, a hope that has come through our Lord
Jesus Christ, a hope that is steadfast and sure, for it is founded upon a
rock, and that rock is Christ. Now the enemy is always seeking a way to
hinder and distract us. He is doing that by bringing an attack upon the
salvation that God has provided. Satan begins by casting doubt upon the
assurance of salvation and eternal security. I say to you, ”What is wrong
with having the assurance of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ?” Is
God one who gives a gift and then takes it back?

Whether we realize it or not, the attack upon these two areas are
designed to discredit the power of God. “God is unable to keep us, or to
keep us saved,” is really what people are saying when they teach such
falsehoods! We blaspheme God by this lie which has absolutely no
scriptural backing. It is a lie that Satan uses to bring down those who
are not grounded in the truth, those who still believe that they must
struggle to become righteous and holy before God. What better way is
there to paralyze and render helpless the believer than to take away the
hope that there is in Jesus. Without salvation there is no peace!
        
Let me remind you again, that the wiles of Satan are designed to turn us
to self and to instill doubt as to the validity and truth of God and
Jesus Christ (Please refer to Genesis 3:4-5). If Satan can get you to
look to yourself for salvation, then he, for a time, has won the battle.
If I can be saved one day and unsaved the next, then I have no peace. If
I am in control of my destination, then where does faith come in?

Looking at this from another side, we find that there is a battle raging
for control of  the mind, a battle that can be influenced by the world
around us (Satan’s domain).This world has fully succeeded in influencing
the Church to such an extent that many of its ways have been incorporated
into Christian living. Much of this has come through the mind as the
teachings of this world have become firmly planted in the minds of the
next generation. If we are not aware of what is going on then we are in a
position to be deceived. Truly it is a wide gate that leadeth away from
God and such is the way of those who buy into the success and prosperity
that drives this world’s system.

A while back it was mentioned to me that Satan could not put thoughts
into the believer’s mind.  I fully agree with this statement, but I want
to impress upon you that the world of which Satan is head, namely, the
lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, which is
manifested all around us, can influence the believer if his mind is not
renewed in the Lord. Hopefully, we are aware of the battle that rages
when we feed upon the world and take our own pathway. Light and darkness
do not mix, but I fear that many are not aware of what is going on, and
that confusion reigns when the two become mixed. In this day the
opportunities and ways of gratifying the flesh or self are mind-boggling.
Much of these activities are covered like a caramel apple with a rotten
core. On the outside they look good and may even be a way to temporary
success, and that is what it is called “temporal.”
        
To walk the streets is becoming a real challenge, for every evil and
theology is openly being displayed. To wear the helmet of salvation is a
must, for the mind must be guarded against such evils. Can we find a
better way to guard our minds, than by keeping our eyes and minds fixed
upon the blessed hope that has come through our Lord Jesus Christ?
Nothing else shall keep us.

Looking deeper into the physical side of this armor, we see a helmet that
fits upon the head, securely and in the position of prominence. This
shows forth not only that Christ is our Savior, but that He is to be our
Lord, our Head (Please refer to I Corinthians 11:3). Now there is
security if we lay hold of this and surrender ourselves to it. The
rebellious man will always refuse to surrender his headship to the
headship of Christ. He will always seek to establish himself as the
center of salvation. This is a mind set or thinking that becomes
dangerous for there is no way that he can purchase salvation; it is a
gift that comes from God. Praise God that He is able to overcome the
error of our thinking by bringing in circumstances and chastening to
bring about correction, and by transforming our minds through His Holy
Spirit.

Praise God that our hope is found in Him and in the work that He has
begun in each one of us in bringing us into the Kingdom. May we bow to
His headship and embrace the salvation that He has so freely given. Let
your mind be fixed upon Jesus Christ, for in Him is our hope and in Him
we can have the assurance of salvation.  Amen! 

M. H. G.
     

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