The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.

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In the previous post, we began exploring the full armor of God — the offensive and defensive means of engaging in battle with the evil one. Now, we complete our review with the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit.

The helmet of salvation

The helmet, of course, protects the head. This is perhaps the most vital part of our bodies since it is the seat of thought and the core of action. In the first century, Roman soldiers wore helmets called galeae. These were fashioned out of bronze or iron, with leather or linen padding, hinged flaps to protect the jaws, a flange in back to shield the neck, and a crest of colored horsehair on top. Each helmet typically weighed 1.3 pounds. Some were fitted with visors to protect the face. 

Like a helmet, salvation – deliverance from Satan, sin, and death through a covenant relationship with Christ – is our most vital possession. The gift of everlasting life encompasses all that God has done, is doing, and will do for us. It stretches from eternity past in foreknowledge, election, and predestination into the present in regeneration, justification, and sanctification, and out into eternity future in glorification. Salvation is a finished work with ongoing benefits. Paul makes this clear in Romans 8:29-30 as he lays out the golden chain of redemption:

For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified. 

Note that Paul lists even our future glorification in the past tense. That’s because it’s an accomplished work. The Lord’s salvation is unstoppable. It truly is the helmet in the full armor of God.

Even so, Satan seeks to bash our skulls. He knows he cannot reclaim those whom Jesus has plundered from the strong man’s house (Matt. 12:29). He cannot kill those Christ has given everlasting life (John 14:19). He cannot erase what God has written in heaven (Luke 10:20). But he can swing his weapons wildly for our heads in hopes of causing a spiritual concussion that rattles our confidence in Christ. 

He may wield persecution so we “curse God and die” (Job 2:9). He may flank us with enticements to sin so we ruin our testimonies and dishonor the name of Jesus. He may sucker-punch us with false doctrines or promises of prosperity. Or he may bludgeon us with doubts so we sink to the ground in despair. Our salvation, like a helmet, remains secure, but we have been spiritually diminished in our capacity to engage in battle with the evil one.

Though Satan may buffet us in many ways, Paul wants us to know that the helmet of salvation is God’s irrevocable gift. It keeps us from the mortal blow of sin, and it protects us from the power of sin as we look forward to the day Christ delivers us from the very presence of sin. Perhaps that’s one reason Paul writes these words of encouragement to the Thessalonians:

But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled and put on the armor of faith and love, and a helmet of the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,  who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him (1 Thess. 5:8-10). 

As King David writes in his prayer for deliverance, “LORD, my Lord, my strong Savior, you shield my head on the day of battle” (Ps. 140:7).  

The sword of the Spirit ​— ​which is the Word of God

This is the only offensive weapon listed in the armor of God, although, admittedly, shields could be wielded to bludgeon enemies. Paul uses the Greek word machaira for “sword.” This is a small sword or dagger, with either a curved or straight blade, designed to kill animals and engage in close combat. It is the type of sword Jesus’ enemies carry when they come to arrest him in the garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:47). It is distinguished from the rhomphaia, a long, broad cutlass. In John’s visions of Jesus in the Book of Revelation, he sees the glorified Lord with a two-edged rhomphaia protruding from his mouth, a symbol of his authoritative voice (Rev. 1:16; 2:12, 16; 19:15, 21). 

As rhomphaia depicts the spoken words of Jesus, Paul uses machaira to describe the written Word of God. In Ephesians 6, he instructs us to take “the sword (machaira) of the Spirit – which is the word of God” (v. 17). Elsewhere, the author of Hebrews writes, “For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword (machaira), penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). 

When Satan presses near, we are to brandish the sword of the Spirit – the inspired, inerrant, infallible, and sufficient Word of God – to drive him to retreat. When Jesus is severely tested in the wilderness, he plies Scripture to send the evil one away (Matt. 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13). 

The Bible is the Spirit’s sword because he is the primary agent through whom the Scriptures came to us. That is, the Spirit inspired the human writers who penned the very words of God (2 Sam. 23:2; 2 Tim. 3:16; Heb. 3:7-11; 9:8; 10:15-17; 1 Pet. 1:10-12). Peter writes, “Above all, you know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:20-21).

As one commentary expresses it, the two-edged sword cuts both ways, striking some with conviction and others with condemnation. It is in the mouth of Christ (Isa. 49:2) and in the hand of his saints (Ps. 149:6). Christ’s use of this sword in the temptation is our pattern of how we are to wield it against Satan. “There is no armor specified for the back, but only for the front of the body, implying that we must never turn our back to the foe; our only safety is in resisting ceaselessly.”

The sword of the Spirit wounds the evil one, laying bare his lies and separating truth from falsehood. But we must remain on guard, for a wounded lion may return to his prey. Even Jesus, after sending the tempter away in the wilderness, finds relief only “for a time” (Luke 4:13). It takes the return of the glorified Christ to dispense with the serpent, who is cast into the lake of fire and sulfur to be tormented day and night forever and ever (Rev. 20:10). Until then, followers of Jesus are to keep the sword of the Spirit close at hand. 

Pray at all times

Paul follows his teaching on the full armor of God with these words, “Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints” (Eph. 6:18). We should always keep in mind that the armor is God’s, the gospel is God’s, and the mission is God’s. Prayer is the deliberate means of clothing ourselves in God’s provision. It acknowledges the Lord as our commander in chief and enables us to hear his voice over the din of raucous spiritual warfare. Just as our Savior provides us with suitable armor to engage the enemy in the unseen realm, he grants us prayer as a means of clear and constant communication throughout the battle. 

The Holy Spirit is our helper in prayer. He lives in us – specifically in our human spirits, the holy of holies of our bodily temples (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19). He is the Spirit of adoption, enabling us to call God our Abba, or Papa (Rom. 8:15-16; Gal. 4:6). He empowers us to pray and intercedes on our behalf, as Paul writes in Romans 8:26-27:

In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with unspoken groanings. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

As one commentary sums it up, “Even when you are clothed with the armor of God, you need to bathe it all in prayer. Prayer brings you into communion and fellowship with God so that His armor can protect you.”

In Ephesians 6, Paul paints a vivid portrait of the Christian soldier. The apostle covers his canvas with bold brushstrokes that reveal the severity of spiritual warfare and the necessity of being fully armed. Just as the Old Testament portrays God in his armor – a mighty warrior slaying the enemies of his people – so the New Testament tells us that followers of Jesus must put on the full armor of God so we may stand against the evil one’s schemes.

This concludes our study of What Every Christian Should Know about Satan