Football helmets, good news and the…Helmet of Salvation, Part 1

There’s been a lot of research put into football helmets because of concussions. What we see in the video below is the development of a helmet that is intended to “save” people. 

In Ephesians 6, verse 17, we learn about a different kind of helmet intended to save people. This verse is part of a larger 10-verse-long section called the Armor of God.  In this teaching Paul is describing how Christians can stand firm against the schemes of the devil, when the devil tries to tempt or discourage us.  So far we have learned about the Belt of Truth, the Breastplate of Righteousness, the Boots of Peace, and the Shield of Faith.  This week we learn about the Helmet of Salvation. 

As you can see in the phrase at the beginning of Ephesians 6, verse 17, Paul doesn’t tell us anything about this piece of armor. He only gives us five words, which is basically the title: “Take the helmet of salvation”

Like football helmets, the headgear of ancient soldiers, as with modern soldiers, is designed to protect, to save, the precious organs inside the human head.  Most importantly, the brain.  But also the face, eyes, nose, mouth and ears.  All organs critical to human flourishing. 

Every piece of the Armor of God, though, is not made of metal for use in physical battle.  The Armor of God are habits and practices designed to help us stand firm and find victory in spiritual battle. So what is the Helmet of Salvation?

Paul likely had the ancient Israelite prophet Isaiah in mind.  In Isaiah 59:17, the prophet writes “He put…the helmet of salvation on his head.”  The prophet is referring to the coming of the savior, the Messiah, who would lead his people into freedom from oppression.  We know that savior, the Messiah, is Jesus.

Salvation is found in Jesus.

But what is salvation?  And how do we wear it like a helmet?

I consulted one scholar who said this, “The phrase [as Paul wrote it originally in ancient Greek can] be translated as ‘accept salvation as something like a protection for the head.’”^[1]

I get what protection for the head is.  A football helmet.  A motorcycle helmet.  A bike helmet.  Protection from impact.   Protection from blunt force trauma. 

But how might that relate to salvation in Christ?  Does salvation protect us? 

Yes.  Salvation protects because we are saved from something.   Here is a classic illustration describing how Jesus saves us from the consequences of our sin:

Imagine a person who is trapped in a burning building.  Fire fighters enter the building, and courageously scoop up the person and carry them to safety.  The fire fighters save the person from severe injury or death. 

The person is saved.  In Christian theology we say that a person is saved because Jesus died and rose again, defeating sin, death and the devil, and thus when we place our faith in Jesus’ victory, we no long have to face the eternal consequences of our sin.  We are forgiven by God, through the saving work of Jesus.  The is the good news message of salvation. 

Often we stop right there and say, “Case closed.  End of story.”  Except that’s not anywhere close to the end of the salvation story.  There is so much more to the story! 

In the next post, we’ll start to learn the rest of the story of salvation.

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Photo by Melissa McGovern on Unsplash

^[1] Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 57.