Skip to main content

Salvation

                 Take the helmet of salvation (Ephesians 6:17)

He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak. (Isaiah 59:17)

For those who think that Paul was being especially inventive in describing things like righteousness and salvation in terms of garments, the second passage shows that Isaiah was likely his “Shakespeare.” Like the breastplate, it is designed to be donned and simply allowed to do its job. And now, on to the content.

While we have historical or literary precedent for salvation being associated with helmets, it’s not the association I would have chosen. Helmets protect the head, and therefore, the brain, or the mind. I would have expected truth. But the curious, interesting, and wisdom of the armor is that it seems to protect against weaknesses with the unexpected. Our emotions are protected by a belt of truth, which doesn’t seem to care about our feelings. Our wills are protected by doing what’s right, not whatever we will. So how does our being saved, and knowing we are saved protect the head, or our thoughts? Shouldn’t salvation, perhaps, be what protects our loins, belly, or emotions?

Here's a possible reason why salvation is precisely what we need to protect our minds. We tend to think of salvation as a fact or as a state of being. We “are saved.”  And, (praise the Lord!) we are. Maybe it’s a modern thing, or a fallen thing, but we tend to miss an obvious point. We are saved. We do not save ourselves. The point of salvation is not as much about the change of our condition, but about the cause of it. Salvation is about a connection or relationship with a savior, the omniscient, wise Savior. And it is on the basis of that relationship that we can strengthen others.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Pure...

            The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (I Timothy 1:5)   I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16) I’m probably cheating - or mishandling the Bible, but earlier I was thinking about love being pure and purifying. And hatred being pure and purifying. And anger…joy…patience… fear… jealousy… courage…lust… and other strongly felt feelings, attitudes, and beliefs. Today’s verse brings purity and love together, so it’s the verse of the day, but it’s not really the focus. That means my motive for sharing it with you probably isn’t pure. As you read through my list, you   probably thought, “Yeah” about some, and “What’s she on?” about others. But consider how much hatred, a...
Post a Comment
Read more