February 11 2026

Wednesday February 11

The Hope of Our Salvation

Ephesians 6:17

“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

Today we are continuing in Ephesians 6:17. We are talking about the whole armor we are supposed to put on to stand against the wiles of the devil. Yesterday we started talking about a very important piece of that armor—the helmet of our salvation in verse 17. What is this helmet? Yesterday we mentioned it is not getting saved again. We do not need to get saved again every day. We are already saved. The helmet of our salvation is our assurance and our hope. It is the confidence that we belong to Jesus Christ.

Remember yesterday we said Satan shoots two darts at our heads that are very powerful: the dart of discouragement and the dart of doubt. This is so true because Satan often whispers in our ears to our minds.  (That is his dart—he throws his thoughts into our minds.) The helmet is the armor that protects our mind against the lies of the devil. He loves to whisper, “God is tired of you. You have failed too many times. If you were really saved, you would not struggle like this. God cannot use you anymore.

I cannot tell you how many times one of the greatest servants of God I have ever known, would get discouraged after a great ministry of service overseas, and would come home saying, “God is through with me. God does not want to use me anymore.” That is a devil’s lie. The devil says you will never change. You will never finish well. God has abandoned you. Please do not let the devil’s lies come into your mind.

When you are discouraged and doubt settles in, those things do not just affect your emotions. They affect your obedience. They affect your worship. They affect your ability to serve. Before long, a Christian who should be standing is one who is retreating. That is why the helmet of salvation is tied to hope. In 1 Thessalonians 5:8 Paul calls it “the hope of salvation”. In other words, our helmet of salvation is the settled confidence that God has saved us, is saving us, and will finish what He started.

My life’s verse has always been Philippians 1:6, from the first few months after I got saved: “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” That is the helmet of our salvation. We are confident that He who began that work will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Peter knew about discouragement. He knew about failure. He knew about Satan lying to him. On one occasion Jesus even told him, “Get behind Me, Satan,” because Satan was trying to use thoughts in Peter’s mind to keep Jesus from going to the cross (Matthew 16:23).

So Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:3-9, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.” Then verse 5: “who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” 

Peter goes on to write about in verses 6-7, that even when you are getting knocked down, being tried, and going through fire, he encourages us in verses 8-9 and says, “Whom having not seen you love, though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.” You are saved. You have confidence in that salvation.

It is the hope of your salvation is the helmet that you need to put on daily to keep your protection strong against the attacks of the evil one, who throws lies into your mind to discourage you and cause you to doubt the goodness, love, grace, and mercy of God.

God bless you, and may you have a wonderful, wonderful day.