Prevailing In Salvation Series

“I WILL PREVAIL”, Part 5:

Prevailing in Salvation.

The Armor of God: Finding the Strength in

Your Struggle to Stand for Jesus!

We continue with our Series “I Will Prevail”. And today we speak about prevailing in SALVATION!

Say this out loud with me: “I will be right with God! I will stand in the strength of the Lord and in His mighty power; I will take up the whole armor of God and take my stand against the devil’s schemes.

I put on the belt of truth around my waist. I choose to hear, believe, speak and live by the truth.

I put on the breastplate of righteousness and have it in place. I am in a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and my conscience is clear towards others. I take my stand against the devil’s schemes to question who I am in Christ.

I have the good news of peace with God through Jesus Christ on my feet and I go telling others about peace with God and with those around me.

Today, I take up the shield of faith and with it quench all of the fiery darts of the enemy—to keep immature or deceived. I trust in God alone.

I put on the helmet of salvation.

I played football in Junior High and High School. I loved running the ball; and I loved tackling too! The helmet is a fairly important piece to your equipment. Not only does it protect your head, but it shows which position you play and which team you are on.

The helmet is made of up of just a few pieces. There is padding on the inside to cushion any impact to the head. There is the outer shell made of (metal? no) hard plastic so it is light enough to wear and hard enough to protect. It is painted the same color as your teammates. You also have a facemask; back-fielders have less bars for visual acuity and linemen have more bars for greater durability. There is also a chin strap which snaps to the helmet to keep it on.

A Roman helmet was made of thin yet hard metal and fashioned much like the rest of his battalion’s. Some had no pieces, some had high plumes, others had ear guards. But all were made so you could see and speak yet have your head protected from falling objects or an enemy’s attack. If you want to take someone out quickly, go for the head!

The helmet’s main purpose is to protect the head and the brain. The brain is the object the mind uses to think and reason—to discern observations from all of the five senses and make decisions based on those observations.

Paul said to TAKE the helmet OF salvation in chapter 6.

There are two places where salvation is used in this letter—Ephesians 1:13-14 and 2:5, 8:

5, 8 For it is by grace you have been SAVED (and again in verse 8 only it adds) through faith; this is a gift from God.

13 And you also were included IN Christ when you HEARD the word of TRUTH, the GOSPEL of your SALVATION. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

HEARD  the Word of Truth = the Gospel of your Salvation

BELIEVED 

MARKED  with the a seal = the promised Holy Spirit

= a deposit guaranteeing our

Inheritance

GOD’S POSSESSION =to the praise of HIS glory

REDEEMED! =have been and will be

If you want to take someone out quickly, go for the head!!! Satan knows this, and he will mess with your head. Protection comes from Salvation.

Are you saved today? Have you been saved? Are you being saved? Will you be among those who will be saved?

We have been saved from SIN’s PENALTY

We are being saved from SIN’S POWER & PLEASURE

We will be saved from SIN’S PRESENCE

(A.W. Pink)

How? One way we are saved is by:

(1) What you heard.

Paul told the Corinthians is was through the foolishness of preaching! A sower went out to sow the seeds of the Gospel.

Paul told us in Romans that Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God = it is an act of grace! In the UM tradition we believe in what it is called prevenient grace. Prevenient means PRE = that which comes before, and VENE like in the word “intervene” = on behalf of, in between the two. There is a grace of God that he grants to those who are coming towards him in salvation. A grace then enables faith to work—to take root in the heart, grasped and believed. I don’t know how this works, I just know that it does!