Chapter 5: The Helmet of Salvation

Chapter Introduction
TAKING THE HELMET OF SALVATION The next piece of armour we are told to put on is the Helmet of Salvation. The helmet is designed to protect the head in battle so as to keep the soldier fighting. If a soldier takes a blow to the head, even if he is not killed outright, he could be stunned and unable to think clearly and would be an easy target for a clear thinking enemy. The purpose of the helmet is to absorb a blow to the head that could otherwise be fatal and turn a fatal blow into as inconsequential a blow as possible. This is the purpose of salvation. When a Christian realizes they possess salvation, they have a home with God in heaven and they begin to understand what being saved implies, they are not easily stunned, weakened, or killed spiritually. Thus the Helmet of Salvation is designed by God to keep his soldiers fighting the good fight of faith with clear heads.

DIFFERENT THINGS THE BIBLE COMPARES SALVATION TO
There are a number of things in the Bible that are compared to different things. For example throughout the New Testament, Jesus used parables to compare the Kingdom of Heaven to different things and each one of these comparisons allows us to understand at least one aspect of the Church which is the Kingdom of Heaven. For example, if we studied the Parable of the Sower, it teaches us about how the gospel is spread and the responsibility each Christian has to cast the seed and to bear fruit while the Parable of the Fish Net teaches us not everyone who is baptized and spends their life in the Church is really serving God. Each of the many parables Jesus taught brings out important characteristics of the Church. In much the same way we can learn more about salvation by looking at some of the things salvation is compared to in the Bible. In this way, hopefully we will come to a better understanding of the importance of salvation and be better prepared to use it in the way God intended for us to use it in our Christian fight.

2 Samuel 22:36 "Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy gentleness hath made me great."

Here in 2nd Samuel, we see salvation being compared to a shield. As we noticed in our study on the shield of faith, shields were a weapon of defense. The main difference between the shield salvation is compared to here and the shield Faith was compared to is in the approximately 1,000 years from when the book of Samuel was written until the time of Paul’s writing, the shield had developed and changed from an individual protection to a means not only of protecting one person, but when used in conjunction with the rest of the army, was designed to provide protection to the entire group. While the men on the front line were using their shields and weapons to attack the enemy and defend the army from attacks from the front, the shields of those behind were held overhead to protect from arrows, darts, and spears.

What I see here is salvation is being compared to a means of personal defense. In the same way the shield of Samuel’s day was used to fend off the blows of an enemy, so salvation is used to fend of spiritual blows. Salvation when combined with Faith is a mighty defense. How can Satan get in a blow to weaken us if we trust in God and our home in heaven? Through knowing my wife for over 30 years of marriage, I have grown to trust my wife and her relationship to me, if someone accused her of cheating on me, I would not believe them and would be more concerned about the motives and the soul’s salvation of the person who accused her than I would worry about believing them. In much the same way, if someone comes to me now with a verse and an interpretation of the verse which is contradictory to what I studied and found to be true, if I do not know the answer, I would not just assume they were right. My faith in God and the knowledge of my salvation would help me to overcome any doubt that might come along, while at the same time giving me the time to study with a clear head the subject to able to understand the will of God.

2 Samuel 22:51 "He is the tower of salvation for his king: and sheweth mercy to his anointed, unto David, and to his seed for evermore."

Here we see God being compared to a tower of salvation by David. Towers were built in the walls of cities, and placed at regular intervals along the walls, those at the angles being always the largest and strongest; sometimes a large tower stood by itself within the town, as a refuge of last resort to the inhabitants in time of danger, Towers were distinguished by their elevation. They were placed on a high point within the city or high on the city wall, to which the ascent was by a flight of steps, the tower was always the last resort of the despairing inhabitants of a besieged city. The towers afforded for the most part a completely secure defense to the inhabitants, And thus, the writer, describing the safety of the righteous, even though he may be assaulted by adversity and foes which beset him in his pilgrimage on earth, uses the figure of a tower to describe how God and his salvation is a strong refuge; the righteous flee to it in times of danger, and are safe.

2 Samuel 22:47 "The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and exalted be the God of the rock of my salvation."

In these verses we see salvation being compared to a rock. What I visualize in my mind is not a small pebble, but a gigantic pinnacle that stands high on the side of a cliff in the middle of a stream, standing immovable against the surging waters when they cannot move aside the rock, is forced to split as it falls over the cliff in a mighty waterfall. This is the image I envision when I think of the comfort and stability the thought of knowing for certain I have a home in heaven gives me. This is what I think the comparison is intended to invoke. I think of the immovable rock serving as a basis of stability, much like the Rock of Gibraltar that stands tall and proud when it is viewed by passing ships. This is how we should feel about the knowledge we are guaranteed a home in heaven, if we but continue to stand steadfast, immovable in the knowledge of and obedience to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Psalms 116:13 "I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD."

Here in Psalms, David compares salvation to a cup. This was a comparison I did not understand, so I turned to a number of commentaries on Psalms 116:13 and I read six different commentators and each of these thought the cup referred to something different. One thought the comparison of salvation to a cup referred to the drink offering that was part of the Old Testament worship, while another said it could not refer to the drink offering. After reading, studying and meditating, I came to realize the so-called experts had no clue as to what was being spoken of, so I decided to try and study it out to where I felt at least a little confidence in what I wrote.

After studying and meditating and praying for guidance, I came to an understanding at least to me made sense. In every case where salvation is being compared to something, for example a rock, a tower, a helmet or a shield, the item being compared to brought out a strong point of salvation. Then I took a look at the purpose for a cup and the more I thought about it, the more I realized, the purpose of a cup is to hold a liquid and in every case the liquid takes on the shape of the interior of the cup.

The conclusion I came to is in comparing salvation to a cup, the writer is pointing out through this comparison the manner salvation shapes the child of God, the Christian into the mold of Jesus Christ. When we as Christians have grown to a certain point we have come to realize the stabilizing power of salvation, how it helps us to ward off the spiritual blows of Satan, who is our mortal enemy. When we realize we can have assurance by comparing our lives to the Word of God, the Bible, we can know we have a home prepared for us in heaven. When we have grown to this point, then one of salvation’s purposes is to begin to shape us and mold us into the image of Jesus Christ and we will begin to naturally produce spiritual fruits. This comparison may not be what is intended, but it makes sense to me.

WHAT KNOWING WE HAVE SALVATION SHOULD BRING FORTH IN US.
1 Samuel 2:1 "And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation."

Here in 1 Samuel, we see Hannah praying to God. If you remember the story, Hannah was getting old and she had not had any children. She had previously prayed unto God and asked God for a son, and she promised God if He would grant her prayer and give her a son, when he was old enough to be weaned she would lend him back to the Lord to serve God all the days of his life. Now this is where we find Hannah praying, after this son Samuel, who was probably one of the most righteous of the Judges of Israel, has been brought to Shiloh to the house of Eli, and given to Eli to prepare him for his life of service to God.

Hannah is giving praise to God and she does it because she rejoices in the salvation of God. She compares the joy she has as to a mighty horn or trumpet that is exalted through the noise it makes begin made in praise of God. She goes on to compare the joy the salvation of the Lord to the cheering that would come forth from the one’s mouth who has triumphed over their enemies. So we can see how Hannah shows forth the joy she feels from receiving the blessings of God and knowing and understanding the salvation of the Lord.

Exodus 15:2 "The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him."

These verses in Exodus show us when we realize we have a certainty of salvation in the Lord, this causes us to grow in strength until like the mighty heroes of faith of old, we too can have the strength to stand up for God when it is needed, and if we ever face a temptation as did these men of old, we too can stand even in the face of death. We will be singing like Paul and Silas in prison, even if we have been beaten, because God has considered us worthy being tested and we are preparing our bodies to be proper temples of God and in this way, we exalt God, we lift his name up in praise before all.

2 Samuel 22:36 "Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy gentleness hath made me great."

Here after comparing salvation to a shield this verse tells us our salvation combined with the gentle nature of God causes us to realize how great the salvation of God has made us. The fact that God deals with us gently, shows how great a value God has placed on us. When I realize God thought my salvation was worth the price of His Son, Jesus Christ then I can truly understand God has placed a great value on my soul. When I realize how valuable I am in the eyes of God, then I will want others to know how much God loves me and valuable I am to Him.

1 Chronicles 16:23-25 "Sing unto the LORD, all the earth; shew forth from day to day his salvation. Declare his glory among the heathen; his marvellous works among all nations. For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods.

Knowing we are saved from sin and its consequences, we as Christians will have the desire to sing forth the praises of God and to declare to all creation the joy we have because of this salvation. As a matter of fact, the joy which causes us to sing forth the praises of God is also one of the ways we show to our brothers and sisters in Christ and to the world we are a Christian, a child of God.

These verses also imply the converse, if we do not sing forth with joy in such a way as to show the world the glory of God and his marvelous works we need to reexamine our commitment to the Lord. These verses are similar to the verses in Matthew where it is written, “By this shall all men know ye are my disciples indeed, if ye love one another.” Jesus implies the same thing, if you do not show the love you have one to another in such a way the world can see it, you are not His disciple.

One of the ways God tells us we as Christians show forth the greatness of God is when we feel the salvation we have, we will not be able to contain our joy, but rather we will be forced to burst forth in song and sing forth the greatness and majesty of God. In addition when we have the proper respect and fear towards God we should have, we will show it unto the world through our life.

Psalms 24:5 "He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation."

When we recognize through our obedience to God we are saved and our obedience is counted by God as righteousness then we find ourselves in a position of being in Christ, where we have access to and receive all spiritual blessings.

Sometimes I do not think we understand what it means to have access to all spiritual blessings in Christ. Among other things it means before we accepted Jesus Christ as our personal saviour through being buried with him by baptism into His death, we had no access to spiritual blessings. When we stop and realize many of the things we as Christians take for granted are spiritual blessings which non-Christians have no access to, we should be in awe and be filled with thanksgiving to God. Things as simple as the ability to pray to our heavenly Father, Salvation, a home in heaven, and so many other fantastic gifts we as Christians have in overwhelming abundance, those who are not Christians have no access to them.

Just stop and think, not only does a non-Christian have no access to spiritual blessings, they can not even pray to God to ask for a simple physical blessing, since the Bible clearly teaches God heareth not the prayers of sinners. So if you know not God, if you have never obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine, by being united with Christ in baptism, then today is the day to make that change in your life and repent and submit to God in baptism.

WHAT SHOULD KNOWING WE HAVE SALVATION CAUSE US TO DO?
Just knowing we have salvation and everything that goes with it causes us to act in a fashion which conforms to the character of Jesus Christ. We want to take a few minutes for the rest of this chapter and see what the Bible teaches us. What should knowing we have our salvation bring out in us? In what manner should we act because we are the children of God?

1 Chronicles 16:35 "And say ye, Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us together, and deliver us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name, and glory in thy praise."

The first thing we notice is when we come to realize exactly what is meant by our possessing salvation that knowledge should cause us to be willing to tell everyone we meet and know what we think of the feelings we have and we should want to make sure everyone knows how we have been blessed by God. Our joy should reach such heights we expect the rocks themselves to join us in praise to God.

Psalms 51:12-13 "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee."

Another important thing we want to notice is when we begin to understand what salvation is, the joy we will possess should cause us to want to see everyone who are not Christians to be converted. An important truth the Bible teaches us is if we really want to be an instrument by which God converts sinners, we must have God restore our joy of salvation. In the New Testament, the Word of God says “knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.” From these verses, we learn while one of the factors that gives us the courage and energy to continue warning the Lost about their potential eternal fate is knowing the future that awaits them, the factors which cause the lost to be willing to turn from their sins and turn to the Lord, is not knowing the terror of the Lord, but instead seeing the joy we as Christians have just because we are Christians and also the love we have for one another.

Psalms 13:5-6 "But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me."

We see again here in Psalms trusting in the mercy of the Lord and counting our blessings causes us to burst out in song to the Lord God and we rejoice in our salvation. This is one of the reasons I believe so strongly in starting off each day with prayer, followed by a time of meditation for the purpose of counting the many blessings we receive from our all-mighty, all-wise, and all-powerful God. How can we show forth our appreciation to God and sing forth his praises for the blessings if we allow ourselves to become so wrapped up in the cares of this life we do not appreciate them? To appreciate something, we must realize we have it. How can we know we have these blessings if we do not take the time to understand who these physical and spiritual blessings come from? Unless we take the time to count our many blessings, how can we even know the immense number of blessings we receive from God every day? How can we truly know what it means to truly be saved, if we do not take the time to mediate and study and dwell on it?

Psalms 20:5 "We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions."

We see here in Psalms when we truly rejoice in our salvation, it is like carrying a banner declaring the name of our God, it is like having a ticker tape parade declaring the name of God and when we do this, the Lord listens more to our prayers and they are answered. One of the criteria we can use to know if we understand and appreciate the salvation God gives us is for us to begin tracking our prayers, if most of them are not being answered, then most likely we do not understand and appreciate the salvation we have in God like we should. Additionally, by no strange coincidence, the other factor in our life affects our prayers is our faith and when we stop taking the time to count our blessings, our appreciation of our salvation dwindles and our Faith in God begins to slip and our prayers are not as likely to be answered.

Psalms 71:15 "My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers hereof."

Lastly, we want to notice when we begin to understand what salvation is all about, we begin to show forth the righteousness of God. We begin to understand and appreciate the simple commands of God. Then we begin to teach the commands of God and rely on them to be the wisdom we want to be guided by. Since obeying God is counted as righteousness and if we will really know the salvation of the Lord, we will be practicing the righteousness of God. This means we will be teaching people to obey the commands of God. Do you want to truly understand the salvation of the Lord? The place to start is counting the blessings that come from God and they are without number, they are countless. When we do this every day, we will truly have the courage to stand up for the Lord each day, then and only then we will truly understand what drove the Apostles, the first century Christians to go everywhere preaching the gospel, and what motivated the martyrs to stand for the Lord, even to the point of being boiled in oil or of being pulled in half with horses. Truly they understood the salvation of the Lord and had the Faith that could move mountains.

Chapter Summary

1. The Helmet of Salvation is designed by God to protect our thoughts and mind during the Spiritual Warfare.
2. The Helmet of Salvation is designed by God to help us survive what otherwise would be a fatal spiritual blow.
3. Our Salvation is a Shield that helps protect us from Satan.
4. Our Salvation is a Tower that protects us in times of utter despair.
5. Our Salvation is a Rock that provides a firm foundation to keep us standing in times of trials and tribulations.
6. Our Salvation is a Rock that provides shelter in its cleft when the spiritual storms rage about.
7. Our Salvation is like a Cup which molds and shapes us into being like Jesus Christ.
8. Knowing and Understanding our Salvation causes us to declare the glory of God and sing his praises.
9. Knowing and Understanding our Salvation causes us to grow unto maturity unto the image of Christ himself.
10. Knowing and Understanding our Salvation causes us to become a fit habitation or house for God the Father to dwell in.
11. Knowing and Understanding our Salvation causes us to exalt and lift up God before men.
12. Knowing and Understanding our Salvation causes us to have tremendous value in the eyes of God.
13. Knowing and Understanding our Salvation causes us to want to break out in song and declare the glory and greatness of God.
14. Knowing and Understanding our Salvation causes us to understand and appreciate the many blessings God gives.
15. Knowing and Understanding our Salvation causes us to pray to God with Faith and Trust.
16. Knowing and Understanding our Salvation causes us to have the courage to teach others about what we have.
17. Knowing and Understanding our Salvation causes us pray in such a way God will hear and answer our prayers.
18. Knowing and Understanding our Salvation causes us to convert others to our Lord and Saviour.