Who or what is directing your thoughts? How do you make decisions? Spiritual warfare is fighting the unseen battles through praying, praising, and pondering scripture. Only the Holy Spirit can see the unseen spirit world around us. The Holy Spirit is the helmet of salvation that protects our minds. Suppose we don’t take the helmet of salvation and put it on. In that case, we will be susceptible to every deception and temptation designed to destroy us. Temptations are made to look good but are deceitful, and they all begin as thoughts.
I said in the post called “What Happens If You Don’t Put On The Whole Armor?” that I thought Christian leaders fell into sin because they did not have on the “breastplate of righteousness.” After developing today’s post, I also believe they failed to put on their helmet of salvation. Not only did they not fear God and turn from evil, but they also did not rely on the Holy Spirit to discipline their minds. We, too, can be captured by sinful desires. Therefore, putting on all the spiritual armor of God has to be done every day because the unseen demonic world works 24/7. These evil entities seek to devastate your relationship with God and each other. We need the Holy Spirit to help us recognize thoughts of temptation and deception. He also convicts us of sin, so we can repent and restore peace with God and each other again. Ponder the following Scriptures:
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. – Romans 8:11
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. – Romans 8:5
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. – Galatians 5:16
How do you know you have on the helmet of salvation?
Suppose you believe the truth and rely on Jesus to be righteous, but you don’t renew your mind and instead continue to live a worldly life. In that case, evil spirits will maintain control of your mind and tempt you to doubt your salvation. Worldly living keeps you from bearing the fruit of the Spirit because you are not abiding in the words and life of Jesus Christ (John 15:1-8). In his book The Weapons of Your Warfare, Larry Lea suggested you may not have salvation if you are not excited about it.1 Read over the following facts, and if they don’t make you happy and grateful, you need to evaluate if you have believed from your heart and have the Holy Spirit as your helmet. So are you:
- Thankful that the blood of Jesus has redeemed you from destruction and the power of Satan.
- Excited that Jesus, the perfect sacrificial lamb, rescued you from the wrath of God and forgave your sins.
- Joyful that Jesus freed you from sin’s control that leads to death, and now you experience peace and abundant life.
- Grateful that Jesus is preparing a place for you in Heaven so you can spend eternity with Him.
- Thrilled that Jesus rose from the dead and sits next to God the Father interceding for you.
- And so on.
When we receive forgiveness and redemption through Christ Jesus, the helmet of salvation helps us work out our salvation by daily renewing our minds with truth from God’s Word (Philippians 2:12, Ephesians 4:23, and Romans 12:2). 2Corinthians 4:16 states, “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” You renew your mind by putting off resentments, false beliefs, and sinful desires, then putting on the truth and your new self. What does your new self look like?
Ephesians 4:24 states, “And to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
Colossians 3:10 states, “And have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”
In his book Dressed to Kill, Rick Renner said, “The devil’s entrance into the life of a believer is allowed primarily through that believer’s negligence. He slips in through an uncommitted, unrenewed area of the mind.2” When you renew your mind with truth from God’s Word, Satan can no longer influence your mind in that area.
With the “helmet of salvation” on, you can do the following:
You walk by the Spirit and bear the fruit of the Spirit. With the helmet of salvation on, the Holy Spirit can guide your thoughts that support spiritual life and peace. Romans 8:6 states, “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” When we walk by the Spirit, we will display the fruit of the Spirit of love, joy, peace, kindness, patience, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).
You can grow in your knowledge of God. Proverbs 2:5 says we find the knowledge of God when we fear Him. You reverently fear Him, and want to please Him. So you abide in His Word and practice your faith by keeping His commandments and doing good to others. Hosea 6:6 states, “For I [God] desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” And 1Corinthians 15:34 (KJV) states, “Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.”
We can take every thought captive to obey Christ. We must take every thought captive that goes against the knowledge of God. 2Corinthians 10:5 states, “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” Having on the helmet of salvation helps you capture arguments and lofty opinions the devil plants in your mind.
The Holy Spirit’s power will help you can submit to God and resist the devil. If you don’t submit to God and take ungodly thoughts captive, the ungodly thoughts will lure you into sin. When your thoughts are not submitted to God, you are not resisting the devil. Romans 8:7 states, “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.” With the helmet of salvation, you have the Holy Spirit’s divine power to take ungodly thoughts captive and submit your mind to God and be godly as you think His thoughts. See James 4:7-8. 1Timothy 4:7-9 states, “Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths [lies]. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”
Put on your helmet of salvation to safeguard your mind.
You have authority through Jesus Christ over ungodly thoughts. You have divine power through the Holy Spirit to not give in to sinful-fleshly desires but to live by the Spirit. Romans 8:13–14 states, “For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons [and daughters] of God.” And 1Peter 1:3 states, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.”
As a believer, you are a child of God, and you have the mind of Christ (1Corinthians 2:16b). So, because you have the mind of Christ, you can submit to the Holy Spirit and allow the fruit of the Spirit to control your life (Galatians 5:22-25). If you don’t submit to God and take ungodly thoughts captive, they will lure you into sin.
When I submit my concerns and conflicts to God, I can take offending thoughts captive, forgive, and not let the offense produce the fleshly desire to be angry and unkind. When I yield to the Spirit’s control and forgive offenses, I can be humble and patient. For example, someone was throwing trash in my yard when they drove past. Not just a little garbage, a lot. I suspected who it was through the process of elimination. I became offended, and I wanted to get them in trouble. Wait a minute, capture wrong thoughts. In prayer, I took my upsetting thoughts captive and put them off, and then I gave my frustration to God. The day I submitted my frustration to the Lord about the trash, someone had cleaned up the garbage in my yard when I was at work, and no one threw trash in my yard after that.
Conclusion
Daily pray: I put on the helmet of salvation and take every ungodly thought, offense, and unholy desire captive and make it submit to the Lordship of Christ Jesus. I have the mind of Christ and His authority to overcome every obstacle to my faith in Jesus, my Savior. I will forgive offenses quickly so the devil doesn’t get a foothold in my mind to produce the fleshly desire to be angry, impatient, and unkind. I will renew my mind with the truth in God’s Word daily. (2Cor. 10:3-5; 1Cor. 2:16b; Col. 2:9-10; Matt. 6:14-15; Eph. 4:26-27; Jam. 1:14-15.)
1. Lea, Larry. 1989. The Weapons of Your Warfare. Lake Mary, FL. Creation House.
2. Renner, Rick. 2007. Dressed to Kill. Tulsa: Teach the Nations.
RELATED POSTS:
Spiritual Warfare 1: HOW TO DISCERN THE TRUTH
Spiritual Warfare 2: HOW TO NOT DIE SPIRITUALLY
Spiritual Warfare 3: HOW TO BATTLE FOR PEACE
Are you in control of your life?
Part 2: How to Overcome Evil with Good.
Four Realities of the Spirit World
All verses are from the English Standard Bible. If you find my posts and website helpful, please share the links with your friends and family, hopeforcompletehealing.com. The information is copyright protected, and no part of the posts or my book may be reproduced without proper citation to Joyce Hanscom.
Check out my first book on Amazon. I would love to hear what you think.
If you read my book and find it helpful, please leave a review. Also, if you want to do a Bible study with it, email me and ask for a free PDF of the leader’s guide. The PDF will have suggested discussion questions after each section. Quick links to all the scriptures in the endnotes for you to review or to copy and paste into your notes. Website links to review supporting material. Contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com
Contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com, and ask for a PDF of Eight Prayers from the Bible. The prayers are for the Spirit of wisdom, renewal, spiritual strength, knowledge of His will, virtues of God, non-believers, 23rd Psalm, and victory. I will also send you the Lord’s Prayer Model to pray effectively. Please leave your name, so I know you are a real person making the request.
Hope for Complete Healing 