Transformation of one’s life can only take place through the renewal of the mind (Romans 12:1-2). The mind can be your greatest asset or liability depending on how you use it. It is also one of the doors the devil uses to attack you and this is why it is important to “take our thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ ( 2 Corinthians 10:5).
Taking thoughts captive means gaining control over your thoughts and directing them toward what aligns with God’s will. It’s about choosing to focus on positive, God-honouring thoughts rather than letting negative or destructive thoughts dominate. This involves recognising negative thoughts, rejecting them, and replacing them with thoughts that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable (Philippians 4:8).
However, God through His immense love for you and I made sure He provided a cover in the form of a “helmet”.
How would like you to have supernatural protection wrapped so tightly around your head that it would safeguard your mind from every mental assault of the devil? Well, you may not realise it, but if you are a child of God, you have already been given this kind of safeguard to protect you from the enemy’s attacks against your mind. In Ephesians 6:17, Paul writes, “And take the helmet of salvation.…”
In this final chapter of Ephesians, Paul deals extensively with the subject of spiritual armor. By the time we come to verse 17, he has already talked about the loin-belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of peace, and the shield of faith. Now Paul speaks to us about the helmet of salvation, using the illustration of a Roman soldier’s helmet to make his point. Let’s see what we can know about the helmet of a Roman soldier.
The word “helmet” in Greek is taken from the Greek word perkephalaia, and it is a compound of the words peri and kephale. The word peri means around, and the word kephale is the Greek word for the head. When you compound these two words into one, you discover that the word perkephalaia denotes a piece of armor that fits very tightly around the head.
The Roman soldier’s helmet was a fascinating and flamboyant piece of armor, very ornate and intricate. Highly decorated with all kinds of engravings and etchings, the helmet looked more like a beautiful piece of artwork than a simple piece of metal formed to fit the head of a soldier.
It was not uncommon for a Roman helmet to be decorated with depictions of pastoral farm scenes, complete with all kinds of animals. Frequently the entire helmet was fashioned to look like an animal, such as an elephant or a horse. Some of the helmets had intricate engravings and etchings depicting fruit.
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Furthermore, as if these fabulous engravings and etchings were not enough, a huge plume of brightly coloured feathers or horse hair stood straight up from the top of the helmet. If the helmet was designed to be used in a public ceremony or parade, this brightly coloured plume could be very long — long enough to hang all the way down the soldier’s back.
The helmet was made of bronze and was equipped with pieces of armor that were specifically designed to protect the cheeks and jaws. It was extremely heavy; therefore, the interior of the helmet was lined with sponge in order to soften its weight on the soldier’s head. This piece of armor was so strong, so massive, and so heavy that nothing could pierce it — not even a hammer or a battle-ax.
It would be very hard to walk past one of these soldiers without taking note of him. It would be hard not to notice a man who had a piece of sculpture on his head or who wore a helmet with a brightly coloured plume standing straight up on top of it. Yes, these helmets made the Roman soldier noticeable.
Why would the Holy Spirit compare a piece of weaponry like this to salvation? Because your salvation is the most gorgeous, most intricate, most elaborate, most ornate gift God ever gave to you.
Paul calls this marvelous gift “the helmet of salvation.” He likened salvation to these flamboyant helmets that were worn on the head where everyone would notice. By using this example, Paul is telling us something very important. When a person is confident of his salvation — and when he walks confidently in the powerful reality of all that salvation means for him, he is a noticeable individual.
But why did a Roman soldier need a helmet that was so tightly wrapped about his head, as the Greek word perkephalaia implies? This kind of helmet was essential because the Roman soldier’s opponent carried a short-handled ax called a battle-ax — and when battle-axes were used, heads rolled.
If the Roman soldier didn’t have a helmet on when he went out to fight, he could be absolutely sure that he would lose his head. Thus, the Roman helmet was not merely a beautiful piece of weaponry but a defensive weapon designed to save a man’s head.
That’s exactly what salvation will do for you when you wear it like a helmet on your head. But if you don’t walk in all that your salvation entails, you may feel the brunt of the enemy’s battle-ax as he comes to attack your mind and steal your victory.
If your salvation is not worn tightly around your mind like a helmet, the enemy will come to chop the multiple blessings of your salvation right out of your theology. He will try to hack away at your foundation, telling you that healing, deliverance, preservation, and soundness of mind were not really a part of Jesus’ redemptive work on the Cross. By the time the enemy is finished with your mind, the only blessing he will leave you with is Heaven.
Many believers try to do the work of God without making it a personal goal to walk in the full knowledge of their salvation, and they are spiritually slaughtered as a result. By exposing their unprotected minds to the devil’s insinuations, they place themselves in a position to be severely attacked and possibly deceived.
Facing the adversary without your “helmet of salvation” is foolish. You must have this helmet if you are going to be useful and successful in the Kingdom of God.
You see, the devil knows that if he can seize your mind and fill it with lies, he can then begin to operate from this lofty position in your life. He can try to manipulate your emotions, send signals of sickness and disease into your body, and so on. To protect you from such attacks is the very reason God has given you the “helmet of salvation.”
The fact that Paul likens our salvation to a helmet means that we must know all that our salvation includes inside and out. We must spend time studying what the Bible has to say about healing, about our deliverance from evil powers, about God’s desire to bless and prosper us, and about the benefits of our redemption in our everyday lives.
Our intellectual comprehension of all that salvation encompasses must be ingrained in our minds. When our minds are convinced of these realities — in other words, when our minds are trained and taught to think correctly in terms of our salvation — that solid knowledge becomes a helmet in our lives.
At that point, it doesn’t matter how hard the devil tries to hack away at our spiritual foundation; we know beyond a shadow of doubt what Jesus’ death and resurrection purchased for us. This knowledge has become a part of us, preventing the enemy from attacking our minds as he did in the past. That’s how the full knowledge of our salvation puts a helmet on our heads. It is very important that we don’t tolerate what God has already defeated. However, without the full knowledge of what is included in the full package of salvation, the devil will give you crumbs when heaven calls you a son and are supposed to feast from the table prepared by your Father.
