The Helmet of Salvation
Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.
As we continue in our study of the armor of God, let’s first review the pieces of armor we’ve already put on.
- We started with the belt of truth – Jesus Christ is the Truth, and the truth both protects us and sets us free. If we do not know the truth, we are left utterly unprotected.
- Then we continued with the body armor of God’s righteousness – having a right relationship with God, the kind that’s only provided by God. This protects us by putting us in the right place – in covenant with God.
- Next we put on our shoes – the proper shoes being the readiness to proclaim the Good News of peace. The good news is that we can have Shalom – health, friendships, prosperity, security, and salvation. In essence, we can have wholeness. This good news was meant to be shared, and the shoes we put on help to prepare us to do so.
- Last week we took up the shield of faith. This is our confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; and the assurance about things we cannot see. This faith enables us to please God and it allows us to see glimpses of the big picture of what God is doing, even through struggles.
Today we put on the helmet of salvation. You’ve all seen helmets; they’re 
everywhere. Bike helmets, football helmets, motorcycle helmets. The reason for wearing a helmet is simple – they protect your head.
The apostle Paul tells us to put on salvation as our helmet. Before I get to the helmet part, I feel like I need to do some more defining. The concept of salvation is one that is easily misunderstood, especially as it gets redefined by every generation. In Old Testament times, salvation referred primarily to divine deliverance from enemies. The exodus from Egypt was one such deliverance, and God was the deliverer.
In the Greco-Roman world, the term savior was well used, referring either to gods (who might offer assistance in delivering their devotees from danger or promoting physical health) or even to certain human rulers (who wanted to demonstrate their divine status). The New Testament, however, is consistent in who it calls "savior." Jesus is Savior, specifically through his death and resurrection.
Thus for the Christian, salvation is always linked with Jesus Christ and His action on the cross. Indeed, in Acts 4:12, Peter reminds us that, "There is salvation in no one else" but Jesus. Yes, that is an extremely exclusive statement, but I believe it bears repeating: There is salvation in no one else but Jesus.
This salvation is more than simply being snatched from the jaws of death – it’s more than defeating your enemies or being delivered from slavery or oppression, and it is more than being physically healthy. Even as the Jews cherish the memory of the exodus from Egypt, that salvation was only temporary – Israel was led into exile twice after that.
The exodus from Egypt, however, gave them a framework through which they could talk about salvation – looking forward to an even greater salvation.
Isaiah 51:6 says, "Lift up your eyes to the heavens and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and those who live on it will die like gnats; but my salvation will be forever, and my deliverance will never be ended."
Listen to Isaiah 25:6-9:On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, rich foods filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
Isaiah was speaking to a troubled people, a people under siege. And compare his words to the words of John, from Revelation 21:
I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God’; they will be his people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.’
This should stand as a reminder that God’s salvation is greater than anything that the world has to offer. Indeed, God’s salvation is eternal.
So, who can be saved? In Matthew 19 and Luke 18, the disciples asked Jesus that very question, and Jesus told them that what’s impossible for mortals is possible for God – with God, all things are possible.
Salvation is indeed only possible through God – through the person of Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:8 tells us that we are saved by grace, through faith. This means that God doesn’t have to do it, but that because He is merciful, He chooses to do so. Remember what I said about a covenant? That only the innocent party can re-establish a broken covenant? Well, that’s what God’s grace is all about. As the innocent party, He re-established the covenant through the sacrifice that Jesus made.
Some people can discern a specific moment in time when they knew that they were saved. John Wesley writes of a meeting at Aldersgate Street where he "felt his heart strangely warmed." He writes, "I felt I did trust in Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."
This is the case for some of us, but it is not always. The work that is required for salvation has already been done – by Jesus. So what does that leave for us to do? Joel 2:32, Acts 2:21, and Romans 10:13 all state that "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." In Acts 16:31, the Apostle Paul states that all that is necessary is belief in Jesus Christ. In Romans 10:9, Paul writes, "If you confess with your lips, ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."
You might be wondering if salvation only has to do with eternity – does our salvation have anything to do with the here and now? It absolutely does! We are not only saved from eternal hellfire, but here and now, we are saved from sin. We are saved from the guilt of sin, from the penalty of sin, and from the power of sin.
Very quickly, being saved from the guilt of sin means that whatever we had done before is no longer counted against us. Because those sins are no longer counted against us, we are also saved from the penalty of sin, which is eternal separation from God. Finally, because Jesus’ sacrifice has saved us from the power of sin, we are no longer slaves to sin. God already paid a high price for us. We are each a new creation with the purpose of living for and pleasing God.
This is how we put on salvation as a helmet – and doing so protects us from sinning! After all, because of our salvation, we no longer have to sin!
We put on salvation as a helmet – but that doesn’t mean we’re stupid about it. Unfortunately I’ve seen a lot of people who don’t know how to wear a helmet. I see lots kids on bikes wearing their helmets slung way back on their heads, leaving their foreheads exposed. I see lots of adults who choose to wear their motorcycle helmets attached to the back of their bikes. Can
you imagine seeing a football player carefully remove his helmet before a play because he doesn’t like the way it messes up his hair. Helmets that are unworn or worn improperly don’t help at all!
So how do we properly wear the helmet of salvation? Philippians 2:12 tells us to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." 2 Timothy 1:9 reminds us that God saved us and calls us to live a holy life. It’s not that your work or your holy life is what saves you – quite the contrary – but that work, that holy life, is how you properly wear your helmet.
Beyond this, 1 Peter 2:2 reminds us to crave pure spiritual milk in order to grow up in our salvation. As you grow up in your faith, show it by devouring the Word of God. Show it in leading others. Grow through personal and group Bible study, through fellowship with others, through worshiping God – even in other times and places than in this building on Sunday mornings. Crave that which will help you to grow more like Christ.
As we go this morning, I ask you to put on the helmet of salvation. And as Jesus told the so-called sinful woman who anointed his feet with precious oil, bathed his feet with her tears, and dried them with her hair, "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."We are all given the same opportunity – to go in peace, knowing that the helmet of our salvation will protect us. We need not worry about anything, because we are protected. We are no longer under Satan’s power or the power of sin. So go in peace.
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