The Helmet of Salvation: What is It? | Ephesians 6:17-18
“Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit — which is the word of God. Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.”
Ephesians 6:17-18
The tense of the original Greek conveying Paul’s instruction, which we translate as, “And take the helmet of salvation,” is in the imperative mood. In other words, Paul is giving a command. This is not optional—it is non-negotiable. If we are going to stand against the enemy of our souls, we must have our spiritual helmet on to protect our minds (Ephesians 6:16).
Imagine a Roman soldier in the middle of fierce combat with no helmet protecting his head. One blow from a sword or battle axe, and his life would end instantly. That image illustrates why the fifth piece of armor—the helmet of salvation—is so crucial. God has given it to protect the believer’s mind, thought process, and very brain through the power of the Holy Spirit. In this message, you will learn six rules for having a healthy, Spirit-filled mind. Ground zero for every spiritual battle is not your circumstances—it is your mind.
Think about how incredible your God-designed mind really is. Your brain can process information at speeds up to 268 miles per hour. No computer on earth can rival this. In fact, your brain performs about 1,000,000,000,000,000 operations per second. Its storage capacity is estimated at 2.5 petabytes—that’s the equivalent of one million gigabytes. For perspective: just 1 gigabyte can hold 500,000 pages of plain text, 75,000 Word documents, 2,000 PDF files, or up to 2,000 eBooks. That is astonishing. Yet as powerful as it is, your brain must be surrendered to the Holy Spirit, because only He can filter and guard your thoughts, so they remain in allegiance to Christ.
So, let me ask you: what dominates your thinking? Do you feel in control of your thought life? Or do your thoughts control you? Scripture is clear, “We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). There is hope in the helmet of salvation. With it, you really can have a Spirit-filled, disciplined mind that is under God’s control. Peter exhorts us, “Let nothing hinder your mind as you put it to work” (1 Peter 1:13).
Writers and leaders across history have understood the power of the mind. John Milton observed, “The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.” Cicero noted, “The diseases of the mind are more destructive than those of the body.” And Hitler chillingly admitted, “What luck for rulers, that men do not think.” That is why the helmet of salvation must constantly guard your thoughts.
In this message, we will also review five reasons why some believers neglect to put on the helmet of salvation and consider the devastating consequences that follow. Salvation in Christ equips us to overcome the broken, fallen mind we inherited from Adam. Harold Ockenga explained it this way: “Once one fully understands his position as a child of God, as an heir of the eternal possessions and of his security in the Lord, he has a sufficient helmet to protect him from all evil.”
