| Helmet of SALVATION "And Take the Helmet of Salvation" The most important part of your body is protected by the strongest bones—the bones of your skull. Your brain is encased, like a helmet, more than any other part. It is the part of your body that, if grievously injured, can more quickly kill you, or completely incapacitate you. You truly are your mind. You "live" inside your brain. Perhaps you have known a person who has lost a limb. He or she might say, "I lost my leg in an automobile accident." The person is still there, with perhaps a prosthetic leg. But the personality, the memory, the character, the conscience, the decision-making ability—all are intact, for the mind is unhampered by even such a massive injury to the body as loss of a limb. God's Holy Spirit comes to engender a new spirit creature in our minds when we surrender, in heart-broken repentance to God; when we are baptized, symbolizing the death, burial and resurrection of the "old man" (Ephesians 4:22), and have hands laid upon us for the receiving of His Spirit (Acts 2:38). You and I have a human spirit. Millions call it the "soul," thinking it survives, consciously, when the body dies. This is not true. It IS true that there is a spirit connected to our brain; that the "spirit in man" gives us our humanity, our conscience, our ability to feel empathy for others, and our capacity for forgiveness. It is this "human spirit" that lifts man above all animals. It took two lives to produce your one life. Your father's life united with your mother's life in her womb, and in an instant of time you were a living, human creature, destined to be formed, shaped and created in the womb of your mother. From the instant of conception, the genetic code from your two parents had already determined your general characteristics; your appearance, coloring, kind of hair and skin, your proclivities—even talents, such as music, art, sports, and the like. This is merely a physical analogy for how God begets each of us as His own child, to be formed and shaped through prayer, study of God's Word, living a life of overcoming Satan and the world; being gradually developed within the "womb" of the Church of God, until we are finally to be born into God's own family (I Corinthians 15:50-52). God's Holy Spirit does not come into our elbow, or our ankles, or our kneecap. It comes into our mind, but into the part of our mind, the frontal lobes of our brain, that contains the spirit, the human spirit that God gives us at our first breath, if not earlier. Paul wrote, "So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin [the "old man" has died, for the wages of sin is death], but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken [make alive!] your mortal bodies by His Spirit That dwelleth in you .... For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear: but ye have received the Spirit of sonship [margin], whereby we cry, Abba, Father!" (Romans 8:8-15). These are vitally important scriptures. First, notice that God has not given us the spirit of "fear." Fear is the deadly enemy of faith. Fear is uncertain, unknowing, apprehensive, unsure. Unfortunately, there are thousands of believing, professing Christians who are not really sure of their salvation! Worse, there are thousands whose own ministers have KEPT them in constant fear of "losing out" on salvation! Have you been one such? Think back. Do you remember sermons which have beaten you down, frightened you, made you fearful that you would be "put out," or that you would not "make it" into God's Kingdom? Have you left church meetings on occasions where you were virtually trembling in fear because you knew you could never become as "righteous" and "close to God" as you assumed the minister in the pulpit was? Now, notice: "The Spirit Itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs: heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together" (Romans 8:16). When you were being formed in the womb, the life of your father bore witness with the life of your mother that you were to become a member of your own family. You would inherit your place as a full-fledged family member. You were not born as a lesser creature, placed in a little house out back, or a cage. No, you were tenderly nurtured, nursed, changed, powdered, fed, protected, and taught. You were lovingly received into the bosom of your family! If we are heirs with Christ, what did Christ inherit? He said, "All POWER is given unto Me in heaven and in earth" (Matthew 28:18). "All the gold and silver is Mine," God says. Christ rules the universe. He will soon return to this earth to rule it with a rod of iron (Revelation 2:26; 20:4). If you and I are to be co-heirs with Christ, we are to share in HIS vast, powerful inheritance! This is what salvation is all about! Salvation is to receive the very Mind, Nature, and Spirit of our Heavenly Father into our minds, coupled with our human spirit, to create a new creature in Christ within us! Notice: "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (II Corinthians 5:17). To possess the "helmet of salvation," you need to know you are saved! Notice that! I did not say "think" you are saved; or "hope" you are saved! I said you need to KNOW your ARE SAVED! God's Word tells us that salvation is complete when God's Holy Spirit begets us as His children! Just as you were human, and a member of your family from the instant of conception, so it is that, at the moment God places His Holy Spirit with your human spirit, you become a child of God, a "new creature in Christ." Scripture tells us, "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself, he that believeth not God hath made Him a liar: because he believeth not the record that God gave of His Son. And this is the record..." NOTICE THIS! NEVER FORGET IT! "...that God HATH GIVEN TO US ETERNAL LIFE, AND THIS LIFE IS IN HIS SON. " This is past tense! It is a past act. It is something which has already been accomplished, not something which is yet to be decided, or something still in doubt! Notice further these absolutely wondrous, encouraging, inspiring words: "He that hath the Son HATH LIFE; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life" (I John 5:11,12). I know of thousands of people who were continually kept in doubt of their salvation. They were never given the peace of mind to know that they HAD BEEN SAVED when they were baptized after repentance, when they received God's Holy Spirit through the laying-on of hands. It was terrible of harsh, overbearing "ministers" to keep thousands of God's children in doubt; in trembling fear; not knowing, always wondering! Instead, they should have been encouraged to pick up, and put on, the "helmet of salvation," knowing they were saved, and to face the decisions of each day with confidence and with faith! The way to wear the "helmet of salvation" is to know you are saved, to know you are the child of God, to know you are a "new creature in Christ," to know you will be in God's Kingdom. That way, you will be wearing the "helmet of salvation" when you wage your daily battle against Satan and the world!
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