The Whole Armor of Godਨਮੂਨਾ

If the shield is our faith, the helmet is our eternal hope, which Christ secured on the cross! Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5:8 ESV, "But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet the hope of salvation.”

The Helmet of Salvation

The Roman soldiers’ helmets were made of iron that fit securely over the head and protected the skull. Heavy! Think of a cast-iron frying pan on your head. Many had a neck guard, cheek plates, a deflector band across the forehead, reinforcements, and a chin strap to secure it.

Paul tells us to put on the helmet of salvation. He began his letter to the Ephesians in an exaltation of praise for our salvation: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him” (Eph. 1:3-4 ESV). He continued on and on—he could not contain his praise.

We are already saved; we do not and cannot save ourselves. So, what does Paul mean? He is instructing us to grasp the hope and assurance we have in our salvation and wear it as if we were putting on a physical helmet. As we praise God for our salvation, we are putting on our divine helmet—protecting our minds from the fiery darts of doubt, the spears of fear, devastating war hammers of discouragement and despair!

17th-18th-century theologian Matthew Henry encourages us to work to establish our peace, rest, and hope in our salvation: “A good hope of salvation, well-founded and well-built, will both purify our soul and keep it from being defiled, and it will comfort it and keep it from being troubled and tormented by Satan.”

What can you do to establish your peace, rest, and hope in your salvation?