Protecting Our Thoughts 

A helmet protects your head. Your head is the seat of your thoughts. The Hope of salvation is a helmet precisely because it protects our thoughts. Just like any helmet, it makes sure you can keep your thoughts straight and not become disoriented.

… let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the Hope of salvation as a helmet (1 Thessalonians 5:8).

Note that Paul is not speaking of “a hope of salvation” or of just “hope of salvation.” He speaks of the Hope of salvation. There is only One True Hope. It's the same Hope we find when we study the list of the unity of the spirit: One Body, One Spirit, and One Hope (Ephesians 4:4).

Paul grew up as a Roman citizen and saw helmets everywhere he went. Roman soldiers donned a helmet that made them easy to spot and difficult to attack. Look at the design to appreciate the amount of protection their helmets gave them: it even protected their cheeks and the back of their neck.

Which Thoughts?

Again, helmets make sure you can keep your thoughts straight and not become disoriented. So, what specific thoughts does the helmet of the Hope protect?

Surely the helmet of the Hope is not to help you memorize your favorite team's stats--how many points they got in a recent game. It's not to protect your thoughts of chemistry, mathematics, or geography. No.

If Jesus’ primary and most fundamental subject in his preaching was the Kingdom, and the Gospel is the Good News of the Kingdom, that means Jesus wants us to reflect deeply on the Kingdom--he wants us to think about it. Do you agree?

Jesus wants the Kingdom of God to reign among our thoughts. So, the thoughts the Hope protects are Kingdom thoughts.

Now, let's go to Luke to prove that our thoughts should revolve around the Kingdom of God. The physician and writer Luke demonstrated in his Gospel account that Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom was Jesus' preeminent message. Jesus did not have another subject that was even remotely as important as the Kingdom.

The Kingdom of God in Luke

1. God sent Jesus specifically to proclaim the Kingdom.

… he [Jesus] said, ‘I must proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent’ (Luke 4:43).

2. Jesus promised the Kingdom to his disciples.

Looking at his disciples, he said: ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God’ (Luke 6:20).

3. Everywhere he went, Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom.

Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of God (Luke 8:1).

4. Jesus sent his Apostles out to proclaim the Kingdom too.

… he sent them [the Twelve Apostles] out to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick (Luke 9:2).

5. Jesus constantly spoke about the Kingdom to the crowds.

He welcomed them [the crowds] and spoke to them about the Kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing (Luke 9:11).

6. Jesus ordered other followers to proclaim the Kingdom.

Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the Kingdom of God’ (Luke 9:60).

7. Jesus told the Apostles to proclaim that the Kingdom had come near.

Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The Kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But when you enter a town and are not welcomed… say, ‘… be sure of this: The Kingdom of God has come near’ (Luke 10:9-11).

8. Jesus commanded people to seek the Kingdom above all else.

… seek his Kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well (Luke 12:31).

9. After his Resurrection, Jesus dedicated 40 days to instruct the Twelve about the Kingdom.

He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the Kingdom of God (Acts 1:3).

Do you have any doubts that Jesus’ mission was to declare the Kingdom of God? He launched his ministry by proclaiming the Kingdom, and called the message of the Kingdom the Good News, the Gospel of the Kingdom.

Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the Good News of God. ‘The time has come,’ he said. ‘The Kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the Good News!’ (Mark 1:14)

Protect Your Thoughts

So, the Hope protects our thoughts of the Kingdom like a helmet protects our head. Thoughts are vitally important because thoughts always bear forth the fruit of words and actions--and we’ll be judged by our words and actions! Cultivate a sound thought life and you'll cultivate a future.

It's vital that the Hope encompass our Kingdom thoughts. The Hope should surround our thoughts. It should be wrapped around our thoughts. When you put a helmet on your head, you fasten it with a buckle. You tighten it. You strap it on. Similarly, we must place the Hope, our spiritual helmet, securely around our thoughts. We surround our Kingdom thoughts with the Hope.

We buckle the Hope around our thoughts because we know that they need to be protected. We're assaulted by worldly and vain thoughts all the time. They threaten to disrupt our focus. We can't let them do that.

The Top Three Virtues

… let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the Hope of salvation as a helmet (1 Thessalonians 5:8).

Not only this passage, but another well-known passage also identifies faith, hope, and love as the three greatest virtues. That passage can be found in 1 Corinthians 13. It is the world-famous “love passage” that people quote in weddings and in many other situations. Here it is:

And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13:13).

Bronze, silver, and gold medals are great honors for athletes to win. Anybody who wins a silver medal has much to be proud of. Anybody who takes home a bronze medal is a winner.

Hope is something you should be very proud to obtain. Hope stands on the podium. It is a champion among virtues, standing only a little lower than Love, the undisputed champion.

The Armor of God

Back to the armor of God. The helmet of salvation (Ephesians 6:17) is often interpreted as the assurance that we’re not going to Hell. Error-prone pastors will point out that when a soldier puts on his helmet, he knows that he won’t die instantly with a blow to the head. But you could say the same for the shield of faith and the breastplate of righteousness—that with them a soldier knows he won’t die instantly. With them he also blocks fatal blows.

So assurance that we won't go to Hell can’t be what’s special about the helmet of salvation. If that's not what's special, then what is special about it?

We need to interpret the helmet of salvation--the Hope--in a positive light. It is the certainty that we will inherit the Kingdom of God. It’s being sure that we will inherit the Kingdom. The Hope of the Kingdom is a positive thing.

Saved in This Hope

We have to let the Bible interpret itself, and we know that the helmet is the Hope of salvation because 1 Thessalonians 5:8 says so. The Hope is about salvation.

If 1 Thessalonians 5:8 is not enough for you to believe that the Hope is about salvation, then take Romans 8:23. It affirms the same thing, saying that we were saved in this Hope.

… we ourselves, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this Hope we were saved (Romans 8:23)

Do you understand the expression 'in this Hope we were saved'? Do you get the idea? Let's interpret it. Being saved in this Hope means that the Hope is our means to get saved!

The Hope of the Kingdom is the manner to get salvation, the way. God uses means. Salvation doesn't happen in a vacuum. It is the product of the message of the Kingdom, our Hope.

The Power of a Positive Promise

The Hope, which is the helmet of salvation, is not a wish that we will not go to Hell. That negative aspect of salvation is not the Bible focus, it's not the Good News. Agreed? Rather, we trust in God's positive promise of something we don’t have yet—the Kingdom.

Hope is based on the power of a positive promise. The Hope of salvation is the confidence that we will be saved from this World through the Resurrection. We are hoping in something yet to come--something God has promised us, something certain.

The Redemption of Our Bodies

Paul states specifically what this Hope is in the passage above—it’s the redemption of our bodies. That can only mean the Resurrection. Our bodies will be transformed in the twinkling of an eye, and we’ll be saved from the power of sin forever.

So, the Hope is initially fulfilled in the Resurrection—something which we have not attained yet. Our Lord Jesus has attained to it, but we have not.

No Hell is Not Hope

The Resurrection is something we have not accomplished yet. It is our salvation because we will be freed from our sinful human nature—our flesh—when the Resurrection takes place.

Our salvation is future-facing and positive! The helmet of salvation, the Hope, is the assurance of a positive future: the Resurrection unto Kingdom life.

The Hope has nothing to do with not going to Hell. You'll hear pastors say that the helmet of salvation of Ephesians 6 is “knowing that you’re not going to Hell.” They call that the “assurance of salvation.” For them, the Hope is fire insurance, but that's not the biblical Hope.

Certain congregations are obsessed with the idea of assurance. Their goal is for everyone to have assurance of salvation, and not to have the slightest thought that they might go to Hell. They’ll have long sermons on assurance and will treat it like it’s the very message of the Church. They preach “you’re not going to Hell,” but that is not the Gospel. It's too negative to be Good News.

Eyes on the Positive

First Thessalonians 5 gives us the balanced approach to the Hope. Remember what we read earlier? Here it is again:

… let us be sober, putting on… the Hope of salvation as a helmet (1 Thessalonians 5:8).

The Gospel message is not "you won't go to Hell." The Gospel is not a negation of something negative. It’s the affirmation of something positive: Jesus' promise of the Kingdom.

Since salvation will be fulfilled in the Resurrection, a Christian’s thoughts should be focused on the Resurrection event and all it will lead to. We look forward to our salvation and strive after it. Hoping in such a great salvation protects our thoughts. Again, that's why the helmet of the armor of God is the Hope of salvation.

Conclusion

In conclusion, if our thoughts are protected by the Hope of the Kingdom, our actions will be holy. We’ll live with a purpose: to reap rewards. The Kingdom is a way of thinking. It's a culture. We maintain thoughts of the Kingdom constantly in our mind because our helmet is buckled on. The Hope of salvation guards our thoughts and our minds.

Don’t forget the passage we just read:

… we ourselves, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this Hope we were saved (Romans 8:23)

Paul argues here that we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship. Do we really do that? What does that even mean? Do churches ever teach it?

Adoption is when you become someone's child legally. We’ll become children of God in the Resurrection. Then we will become heirs of God. Becoming a child is becoming an heir, but what does being an heir of God mean exactly? It means we will inherit God’s Kingdom.

All of us who are children of God will inherit the Kingdom of God. That’s not just a wish, it’s a certainty--the Hope. Our inheritance in the Kingdom is based on God’s sure promises. Pursue the fulfillment of those promises like a soldier pursues victory--but before you start fighting, don't forget to put on your helmet!