Read: Acts 16:25-34
. . . and take the helmet of salvation. (Eph. 6:17)
What’s the most important piece of God’s armor? If I had to pick one, I’d have to say it’s the helmet. We can survive blows to the body but not to an unprotected head. Likewise, in terms of the metaphor, salvation also has a position of preeminence. The Bible from beginning to end is the story of God’s saving acts in history, culminating in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Salvation means deliverance from sin and its consequences into eternal life. The requirements to receive it are repentance and faith. These are simple enough statements. Yet salvation is one of the deep mysteries of the Christian faith. Are you saved? Am I? The Holy Spirit gives us assurance of our own salvation, but even here we must be careful before answering too quickly (see Luke 13:23-24). Remember, one thief was saved that none might despair, but one only, that none might presume.
Salvation is a paradox. Everything depends on God, yet it requires a response from us. We have been chosen in Christ from before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4), yet we must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12). Just because we cannot understand this paradox intellectually is no reason not to embrace it. God’s promise to us is that we have been saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved. Thanks be to God, and to him be the glory.
As you pray, thank our Loving Father for salvation in Christ, and may we never take it for granted.
About the Author
Tom Bast
Tom Bast lives in Indianapolis, Indiana, in retirement from a career in publishing.
