Dear People Who Keep Company With God,
I woke up this past Monday morning with this scripture in my mind.
But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. 1 Thess. 5:8
When we receive by the Holy Spirit the eternal forces of faith and love upon our hearts and the helmet of hope upon our minds, healing, renewal and restoration will happen. I particularly sense the Holy Spirit is emphasizing the helmet of hope to us.
Rick Renner, a Greek New Testament scholar had some enlightening comments on the Roman helmet Paul used as imagery for the helmet of salvation.
“The Roman soldier’s helmet was a fascinating and flamboyant piece of armor, very ornate and intricate. Highly decorated with all kinds of engravings and etchings, the helmet looked more like a beautiful piece of artwork than a simple piece of metal formed to fit the head of a soldier.
It was not uncommon for a Roman helmet to be decorated with depictions of pastoral farm scenes, complete with all kinds of animals. Frequently the entire helmet was fashioned to look like an animal, such as an elephant or a horse. Some of the helmets had intricate engravings and etchings depicting fruit.
It would be very hard to walk past one of these soldiers without taking note of him. It would be hard not to notice a man who had a piece of sculpture on his head or who wore a helmet with a brightly colored plume standing straight up on top of it! Yes, these helmets made the Roman soldier noticeable!
Paul calls this marvelous gift the helmet of salvation. He likened salvation to these flamboyant helmets that were worn on the head where everyone would notice. By using this example, Paul is telling us something very important. When a person is confident of his salvation and when he walks confidently in the powerful reality of all that salvation means for him he is a noticeable individual!”
Why would the Holy Spirit compare a piece of armor like this to our salvation? To our modern eyes the helmet looks a little odd, but our salvation is the most beautiful, most intricate, most elaborate, most ornate gift God ever gave to us! And it is very powerful because it is the mind of Christ (Eph. 4:23-24).
Our natural minds are inclined to be negative and even the most optimistic among us will default to negative thoughts when pressure comes. So to guard our minds against this and release His mind to us we are to put on the helmet of salvation.
Putting on the helmet of salvation means that you have confident expectation of good coming your way. It means that you choose to believe in the midst of these trying times that it is temporary because God is going to get you through it. Just like the Father got Jesus through His worst moments. It means you believe all the shaking and difficulty will end with your salvation, which is Sozo – wholeness in body, soul, mind and spirit. I encourage you to put on this gracious gift and walk confidently in the powerful reality of the mind of Christ.
Many Blessings, BW