Identified and prepared

In my last article I said I wanted to do a small series looking at the armor of God from Ephesians 6:10-18. Last time I wrote about the sword of the spirit and the shield of faith. This time I would like to take a look at the helmet of salvation and the shoes that Paul describes in this way: “your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” So what do these two pieces of armor look like historically and how do they help us understand the spiritual implications Paul is addressing?

Let’s start with the helmet of salvation. The soldiers that Paul would have been looking at when he wrote this letter would have most likely been wearing the Imperial Italic helmet which was in use right before the 1st century through the 3rd century. It is referred to as “the iconic Roman helmet.” These helmets served two important roles for the soldiers. For one, they protected their heads from injury and lethal blows. Secondly, it identified them as Roman soldiers. So why did Paul describe salvation as the helmet?

Salvation can be seen as the last line of defense to protect us from a lethal blow to the head. If an attack gets through our shield of faith and our knowledge of the sword (the Bible), we still have salvation to deflect attacks. Salvation can’t be taken away from us and is a gift from God to protect us when our defenses fail.

In addition, salvation is the key identifier for the Christian soldier. When in the heat of battle and you find yourself alone, all you need to do is look around and you can easily identify who is on your side. When we wear our salvation, the world should be able to tell we belong to the Lord’s army because we wear his identification upon our heads.

The shoes of readiness, in this time period and location, would have been the Caligae. The Caligae is an open toe sandal made to be comfortable and to be worn all day even on long journeys or standing in a guard position for long periods. Though they did not offer any protection beyond the terrain, they were designed to be worn always so the soldier was ready to go even if he was resting and if they were removed they could be put on quickly. When we are fitted with the gospel of peace, we can rest assured we will be ready for anything at a moment’s notice.

The gospel says that Jesus is coming back some day, so Christian soldiers, strap that readiness on your feet and always be prepared for either a battle or for when the Commander comes back.