Ephesians 6:13-17 - Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breast plate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
"Take the helmet of salvation..."
In a physical battle the purpose of the helment is pretty obvious. Protect your head! If you get knocked out your done. If you take a blow to the head you can be disorientated, confused and forget where you are. To a Christian the helmet of salvation is all about protecting our minds.
For most of us, the first thing that comes to mind when we think about "salvation" is that through Jesus, our sins are forgiven and the penalty is paid. But most of us think of salvation in the past tense. In what has been done for us. Salvation is the deliverance from the power and penalty of sin. Which means it's not just something that happened when we accepted Jesus; it's something that is ongoing in our lives. It's about renewing of our minds...
Romans 12:2 - Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind...
Colossians 3:10 - ...and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
2 Corinthians 4:16 - Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
Titus 3:5 - ...he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
Where is your battle? Where does sin start in your life? For most of us, it's in our minds. It's starts with what we let in, what we watch, what we read, look at...what we think. The thoughts we entertain. The battle is primarily won or lost in our minds.
2 Corinthians 10:5 - We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
If you are in Jesus, if you have accepted Jesus; your freely given gift is salvation. You must know that and own that. You are forgiven, the power and penalty of sin no longer applies to you. This is what you need to put on and remember each day. Without that knowledge, its impossible to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ. Without that knowledge, the power of sin remains in your life and Satan convinces you that you are bad and not worthy...
Lord I pray for a complete understanding of salvation in our lives. Not just in that we have been saved, but that you are continually saving each and every one of us. I pray that you will continue to renew our minds through the knowledge of God which is the Word. Lord, thank you for all you do and continue to do in our lives. Amen!
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