Notes of Faith September 19, 2024
Protect Your Mind
And take the helmet of salvation.
Ephesians 6:17
While every part of the human body is important, the two parts most critical for life are the heart and the brain. It is no surprise that soldiers past and present have sought to protect these two parts. (Witness modern bullet-proof vests and helmets.) Even ancient soldiers wore breastplates and helmets.
Isa 59:17
17 He put on righteousness like a breastplate,
And a helmet of salvation on His head;
But so did the Messiah—at least in Isaiah’s figurative language. Paul derived his image of the breastplate of righteousness and helmet of salvation from Isaiah’s image of the Messiah (Isaiah 59:17; Ephesians 6:14, 17)—and used the image of a Roman soldier as a ready reference for his readers. So to put on the armor of God was like putting on the Messiah Himself: His truth, righteousness, faithfulness, salvation, and Word (Ephesians 6:14-17). But why the helmet of salvation? How does salvation protect the mind? When Satan tempts us to doubt our salvation and the love of God which secures it, we rely on what we know to be true.
Memorize, in your mind: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
One of the highest and noblest functions of man’s mind is to listen to God’s Word, and so to read his mind and think his thoughts after him.
John R. W. Stott
Rom 12:1-2
12 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
We renew our minds by being in the Word of God, by being in relationship with God, to know His heart, His mind, His will. This allows us to stand firm in the faith through what we know to be true. Let us renew our minds in God’s Word every day, speak to Him in prayer often (without ceasing), and use what provides to keep us safe from the evil one.
Pastor Dale