Hard Hat Area - Part 2
And take the helmet of salvation [Ephesians 6:17].
Hats and helmets! Hats and helmets! How to decide which to wear? Ah, that is the question. If we’re on the sidelines during the football game, we would choose a hat, or more specifically, a cap to wear. But if we’re out in the trenches of the football field with the big uglies, well, we had best be wearing the helmet!
You see, the context determines what to wear, does it not? Yes, it does. We mustn’t forget Rule #1 for Bible study, “A text without a context is a pretext.”
If I am going to the office in a suit and tie, a helmet would be rather odd-looking on my head…unless I drove a motor cycle to work. But if I worked atop the frame of a skyscraper welding steel beams together, a baseball cap or a top hat would be out of place. In that location under those conditions a hard hat is called for.
So what is the context of Ephesians 6? Well, Paul itemizes the pieces of “the full armor of God”, to be used by the Christian in conducting spiritual warfare. Okay, then what sort of outfit is suitable for going to war? Should the soldier bedeck himself in a tuxedo and top hat? You think? Wouldn’t we expect to see him outfitted in camouflage attire with a helmet on his head? Yep, I do believe that would be the likelihood.
The Christian is to march off to conduct spiritual warfare. The fifth piece in “the full armor of God” is “the helmet of salvation”. Marching off to war with a helmet protecting the head: that seems about right.
Oh, but this is not just any old helmet. This is “the helmet of salvation” with which we have to do.
Someone is befuddled, “Huh? What in the world is ‘the helmet of salvation’? Never heard of the thing!”
And that is not surprising, kind sir, because it is a special piece of armor developed by the Lord for exclusive use by His soldiers, as they conduct spiritual warfare on His behalf. The Lord even owns the patent on this helmet. No one else can make use of it.
In order for us to get a handle on what “the helmet of salvation” consists, we would do well to press F5 and refresh the old noggin a bit. In Scripture the Holy Spirit employs visible physical realities to teach invisible spiritual truths.
In the case of Ephesians 6 the visible physical reality is physical warfare, while its counterpart in the spiritual realm is spiritual warfare. Other visible physical realities are the pieces of armor worn by the Roman legionnaire. The spiritual counterparts to these are “the full armor of God”, as Paul enumerates them in Ephesians 6.
Oh, dear. Not again. We are out of time. We’ll have to wait another day to learn more about this matter. But we can still grow from what we’ve already devoured today. Just sit a while with Jesus and see for yourself.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Hats and helmets! Hats and helmets! How to decide which to wear? Ah, that is the question. If we’re on the sidelines during the football game, we would choose a hat, or more specifically, a cap to wear. But if we’re out in the trenches of the football field with the big uglies, well, we had best be wearing the helmet!
You see, the context determines what to wear, does it not? Yes, it does. We mustn’t forget Rule #1 for Bible study, “A text without a context is a pretext.”
If I am going to the office in a suit and tie, a helmet would be rather odd-looking on my head…unless I drove a motor cycle to work. But if I worked atop the frame of a skyscraper welding steel beams together, a baseball cap or a top hat would be out of place. In that location under those conditions a hard hat is called for.
So what is the context of Ephesians 6? Well, Paul itemizes the pieces of “the full armor of God”, to be used by the Christian in conducting spiritual warfare. Okay, then what sort of outfit is suitable for going to war? Should the soldier bedeck himself in a tuxedo and top hat? You think? Wouldn’t we expect to see him outfitted in camouflage attire with a helmet on his head? Yep, I do believe that would be the likelihood.
The Christian is to march off to conduct spiritual warfare. The fifth piece in “the full armor of God” is “the helmet of salvation”. Marching off to war with a helmet protecting the head: that seems about right.
Oh, but this is not just any old helmet. This is “the helmet of salvation” with which we have to do.
Someone is befuddled, “Huh? What in the world is ‘the helmet of salvation’? Never heard of the thing!”
And that is not surprising, kind sir, because it is a special piece of armor developed by the Lord for exclusive use by His soldiers, as they conduct spiritual warfare on His behalf. The Lord even owns the patent on this helmet. No one else can make use of it.
In order for us to get a handle on what “the helmet of salvation” consists, we would do well to press F5 and refresh the old noggin a bit. In Scripture the Holy Spirit employs visible physical realities to teach invisible spiritual truths.
In the case of Ephesians 6 the visible physical reality is physical warfare, while its counterpart in the spiritual realm is spiritual warfare. Other visible physical realities are the pieces of armor worn by the Roman legionnaire. The spiritual counterparts to these are “the full armor of God”, as Paul enumerates them in Ephesians 6.
Oh, dear. Not again. We are out of time. We’ll have to wait another day to learn more about this matter. But we can still grow from what we’ve already devoured today. Just sit a while with Jesus and see for yourself.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
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