Thursday, May 24, 2018 - Ephesians 6:17

The Armor of God, Pt. 22. 

The Helmet of Salvation, Pt. 1.  Introduction.

Lesson # 18 - 056      

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZlKoL1lmr8&feature=youtu.be

Grace Fellowship Church

Pastor/Teacher, Jim Rickard

www.GraceDoctrine.org

Stand in Warfare – Eph 6:10-20.

3. The Equipment, vs. 13-17.  

Vs. 17, “And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

In this verse we have the last two, fifth and sixth, pieces of armament from God that allow us to “stand firm against the schemes of the devil;” the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit. We will begin with the “helmet of salvation.”

In the NASB translation, “helmet of salvation” is capitalized to indicate that it is a quote from the OT. In this case, it is from Isa 59:17, which also speaks about the “breastplate of righteousness,” as we have noted above.

Isa 59:17, “He (the Lord) put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head; and He put on garments of vengeance for clothing and wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle.”

The humanity of our Lord put on the armor of God, so that He could go to the Cross to defeat Satan, sin, and death, thereby providing salvation for the entire world. For those who believe in His saving work, they too can put on the armor of God including the knowledge of their own personal salvation through Christ and all that entails, as we will note below.

We begin with the exegesis of this verse. The first word is “and,” which is the Coordinating Adjunctive use of the Conjunction KAI that can be translated, “and, even, or also,” Here, it emphatically links the helmet and sword with the other piece of armament provided by God in the “Full Armor of God.” We translate it “also.”

“Take,” is the Verb DECHOMAI, δέχομαι in the Aorist, Middle Deponent, Imperative, 2^nd Person, Plural, for “you all take.” It can mean, “take, receive, accept, approve, etc.”

In vs. 11, we had “put on,” ENDUO, “dress, clothe oneself, put on,” for the full armor of God.

In vs. 13, we had, “take up,” ANALAMBANO, “take up, take on board,” for the full armor of God.

In vs. 14, we had, “put on,” ENDUO once again, for the Breastplate of Righteousness.

In vs. 16, we had, “taking up” ANALAMBANO once again, for the Shield of Faith.

In vs. 17, we have, “take” DECHOMAI a synonym of ANALAMBANO that can mean to “take or receive.” If we had a passive construction, we would translate it “receive,” but we have a Middle Deponent with an Active sense, so we translate it, “take.”

DECHOMAI is used extensively in the NT and Greek literature. It essentially means “to receive, to accept”; from that there are many shades of meaning. In our passage it means, “to take hold of or seize” the Helmet of Salvation.

The Constative Aorist tense is used to view the entirety of the action of taking the helmet of salvation and putting it on for combat inside the Angelic Conflict. Under the constative principle, we have the helmet of salvation which includes the 40+ things we receive at the moment of our salvation. We are to use them, and all that is associated with salvation, to protect our souls from the attacks of Satan’s cosmic system.

The Middle Deponent voice has an active meaning. The believer takes the helmet for himself.

The Imperative mood is for yet another command to take the armor of God. This is a command to believers only, as they, and only they, have already received salvation and only the believer can wield salvation.

This command comes after a string of Participles used regarding the first four pieces of armor that emphasized the command in vs. 13, to, “take up the whole armor of God.” Now that we are concluding the original command, the Imperative is brought back in.

The first thing the believer is commanded to take is, “the helmet,” HO PERIKEPHALAIA, περικεφαλαία, which is a Noun in the direct object Accusative case that means, “protective armor covering the head or a helmet.” It is only used here and in 1 Thes 5:8, regarding the same armament.

1 Thes 5:8, “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.”

“Hope,” is the Greek word ELIPIS that means, “hope or expectation.” In 1 Thes 5, we have added emphasis to the helmet of salvation. We are to be confident in our salvation and have a great expectation of what it means, both in time and eternity. We will discuss this further below.

The Greek word for “helmet,” PERIKEPHALAIA, is made up from the Preposition PERI, “around or about,” and the root word KEPHALE that means, “head or authority.” So, we see a sense of authority, leadership, or rulership wrapped around the head, i.e., associated with this helmet.

As you know, the head is the most fragile and the most important part of the body. It is the place where your soul resides and you do your thinking. The head controls the entire body. The head is the leader or ruler of your body and soul, just as Jesus Christ is the head of His body, the Church, Eph 5:23.

In our verse, we see that our head needs protection. It needs a form of a helmet to protect it from the schemes of the devil. In reality, the protection for our head is Jesus Christ and His Word, summed up in the word “salvation,” as we will see below.

In the ancient world, (comma) the PERIKEPHALAIA (comma out) was generally a bronze or iron cap with leather attachments, or of leather strengthened with metallic plates, 1 Sam 17:5, 38; 2 Chron 26:14, and had a long flap to cover the cheeks and ears. It generally offered some protection to the neck, cheeks, and chin. On marches, it was slung on a strap. But when the enemy was near, it was put on. Therefore, “putting on the helmet” marked the beginning of battle. Because we are in the battle of the Angelic Conflict, and the main skirmish of this warfare is the control of your soul, the head must absolutely be protected, so that sin and Satan do not control it.

The most ornamental part of ancient armor, yet hardly less important than the breastplate or the shield, was the helmet. This means that the helmet in particular, was adorned or decorated. This is analogous to adorning our souls with Bible Doctrine, the Word of God, and in particular, the Doctrine of Salvation. Without the Word of God being resident within your soul, you will be a casualty on the battle field of the Angelic Conflict. The unbeliever is already a casualty positionally, because they are without Christ and without His Word in their soul, but can be saved at any time. Likewise, the believer in reversionism or without Bible Doctrine in his soul, is easily defeated and a causality experientially, and can rebound and recover at any time.

Therefore, the helmet is used figuratively to express the idea of “protection” or “safety” in its only two occurrences in the NT, as we are in the battle of the Angelic Conflict. The helmet represents the opportunity for a certain hope, (confident expectation), with no chance of disappointment, Rom 5:5.

Rom 5:5, “And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

The strength of the soldier’s helmet was based on the strength of the bronze, iron, or leather it was made from. The believer’s strength of the helmet is “of salvation,” HO SOTERIOS, σωτήριος, which is an Adjective in the substantive Genitive singular that means, “delivering, saving, salvation, etc.” It was used to denote the act of “saving, delivering, or preserving,” but here, it means the salvation itself. In ancient Greek, it was used “in the sense of an acutely dynamic act in which gods or men snatch others by force from serious peril, and denotes “deliverance” from judicial condemnation.” (Theological Dictionary of the NT). In the NT, it is always used for spiritual salvation.

Its root word is the Verb SOZO that means, “save, keep safe, preserve, rescue, make well, etc.” It is used in Luke 2:30; 3:6; Acts 28:28; Titus 2:11.

The righteous man Simeon said regarding the infant Jesus in Luke 2:29-32, “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, according to Your word; ³⁰For my eyes have seen Your salvation, ³¹which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, ³²A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, and the glory of Your people Israel.”

John the Baptist, quoting Isa 40:3-5, preached in Luke 3:4-6, “As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'make ready the way of the lord, make his paths straight. ⁵every ravine will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be brought low; the crooked will become straight, and the rough roads smooth; ⁶and all flesh will see the salvation of God.'”

Paul preached in Acts 28:28, “Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will also listen.”

Paul also wrote in Titus 2:11, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men.”

We have noted the cognate nouns SOTERIA, σωτηρία; SOTER, σωτῆρ; in Eph 1:13; 2:5, 8; 5:23.

Eph 1:13, “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.”

Eph 2:5, “Even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).”

Eph 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

Eph 5:23, “For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.”

And in our passage, Paul notes that we are to take this helmet of salvation and put it on to fight the evil temptations of Satan and his cosmic system, especially those that tempt you to not trust in the salvation God has given to you.

The book of Psalms uses the word “salvation” more than any other; over 60 times. Isaiah is second, with over 25 usages. The other books use it only a handful of times. In addition, in the LXX, (Septuagint), it is used as a substantive to refer to the “peace / thank offering,” Lev 3:1-16, which the translators of the Septuagint understood it as a “salvation offering.”

In Eph 6:17, the context tells us that these saints were already “saved,” in the sense that they were justified. The salvation spoken of here must therefore be salvation from the power of sin in this present life, salvation from the onslaught of Satan and his cosmic system. To have salvation from the onslaught of Satan and his schemes, the believer must remember his salvation founded in Christ. Satan wants to attack your mind, your thinking, the way you think, the same way he defeated Eve in the Garden, Gen 3; 2 Cor 11:1-3.

2 Cor 11:3, “But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.”

The helmet refers to the mind controlled by God. It is too bad that many Christians have the idea that the intellect is not important, when in reality, it plays a vital role in Christian growth, service, and victory. When God controls the mind, Satan cannot lead the believer astray. The Christian who studies his Bible and learns the meaning of Bible doctrines is not going to be led astray very easily. Therefore, we need to be “taught in Him as the truth is in Jesus,” Eph 4:21. We are to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” 2 Peter 3:18. Wherever Paul ministered, he taught the new believers the truths of the Word of God, and this helmet protected them from Satan’s lies and deceptions.

Stopped here will continue on Sunday.

What ultimately protects believers is that God has already rescued us from bondage to the prince of the power of the air and seated us with Christ in the heavenly realms, Cf. Eph 2:1-10. Thinking of our salvation in terms of a fait accompli, we gain confidence in our everyday walk in Christ. Christ, in providing salvation, has already defeated Satan, sin, and death. Then, by giving us this salvation, we have been given the victory over Satan, sin, and death. By appropriating this salvation as our helmet, we have every reason to be confident of the outcome of the battle, and every confidence that we can win the tactical battles within our soul. When we put on the helmet of salvation, we cannot lose the tactical battle for our thinking, we cannot sin, 1 John 3:1-11.

What adorns and protects the Christian, which enables him to hold up his head with confidence and joy, is the fact that he is saved. He is one of the redeemed, translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. If we were still under condemnation, if still estranged from God, a foreigner, and alien, without God and without Christ, we could have no courage to enter into this conflict. Yet, it is because we are a fellow citizen of the saints, a child of God, a partaker of the salvation of the Gospel, that we can face even the most potent enemies (temptations) with confidence, knowing that we will become more than a conqueror “through Him that loved us,” Rom 8:37.

As such, we are to put on the hope that we have in Christ. To resist the Devil, we must be assured of our eternal salvation. We need to go to God daily and be reminded of the great object of our faith: Christ. Our hope is in Him. If you are trusting in Him, then do not listen to the Devil’s lies. Say to the evil one, “I have been saved from sin’s penalty, I am being saved from sin’s power, and I will one day be saved from sin’s presence.” Say to him, “I am alive with Christ, redeemed, forgiven, reconciled, raised with Christ, and seated with Christ.” Put your helmet on, and do not let the evil one get to your head.

Titus 2:11-14, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, ¹²instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, ¹³looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus; ¹⁴who gave Himself for us, in order that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”

The putting on of the helmet means trusting in your given salvation, and as a result committing yourself fully to the commencing struggle against the sinister powers which seek to prevent salvation.