This is the third in a series of blogs on Salvation as a part of the Armor of God.
We should understand that the knowledge of God’s grace and unmerited favor toward us to save us, and to forgive us, is the helmet of salvation that protects our thoughts. Through His salvation we become His children and we can now have a close relationship with Him, and with our brothers and sisters in Christ. But there are a lot of brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. And as the Apostle Paul told us in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, the body of Christ has many different brothers and sisters, and each has a different purpose and different gifts.
As we grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ, we also grow in our relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Our human tendency is to compare our self with our brothers and sisters. Also, those brothers and sisters compare themselves with us. That’s a lot of comparing. Unfortunately, this kind of comparing can result in unrealistic expectations. Examples are one Christian desiring to be like another Christian or desiring the gifts that another Christian has. A Christian who feels superior because of a gift they have disparages other Christians who do not have that gift. A Christian who does not believe in a certain gift because they don’t have it, mocks those who profess to have the gift. The Apostle Paul wrote about these unrealistic expectations in the 1 Corinthians passage.
So, what does this have to do with the helmet of salvation? By remembering that God saved us with His unmerited favor, and we did nothing to deserve it! We have no right to expect that our position in Christ deserves any special consideration. If God gave another Christian a specific gift, we have no right to expect that He give that same gift to us as well. If God has the ultimate power to save us, then He has the ultimate wisdom to know what is best for us. Therefore, we should also use the helmet of salvation to provide the reasoning and situational awareness to protect our thoughts, and to accept the role God gave us in the body of Christ.
The principle we need to understand is that the Lord chooses how He relates to us, not the other way around.
It took a while for me to understand this principle. It actually came to me while I was reading a passage in the Old Testament as part of a read through the Bible reading plan. I have to admit that some sections in the Old Testament can be pretty boring, and it’s difficult to find truth that applies to our lives today. For example, reading through Leviticus and Numbers had been pretty dry for me in the past. After all, reading about the various offerings and ceremonial laws, the feasts and festivals, and the many other topics covered in these books are not high on my list of reading topics. Especially since these laws are not part of our new relationship with Jesus Christ.
But there are subtle truths in these books and we just need to let the Lord show us what they are. For example, how many times did the Lord call the Israelites a stubborn and obstinate people? I’ll just say, more than once. And since I have a touch of stubbornness myself, I can understand why they wandered in the wilderness for forty years! So, they had the same attitude problem I do, and what I learned from these boring Old Testament books is that if I don’t change my stubborn attitude, I will be wondering around in the wilderness too. And being in the wilderness for me just means that I’m not in the Promised Land in close fellowship with the Lord!
So, on one of my trips through these Old Testament books I came across a story where Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses, and make a curious statement in Numbers 12:2, “They said, ‘Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Hasn’t he spoken through us too?’” When I read this verse the Lord perked my interest, and the passage led me to an understanding that the Lord chooses how He relates to us.
The Lord was angry with them and confronted them. In Numbers 12:6-8 the Lord said, “If there were prophets among you, I, the Lord, would reveal myself in visions. I would speak to them in dreams. But not with my servant Moses. Of all my house, he is the one I trust. I speak to him face to face, clearly, and not in riddles! He sees the Lord as he is. So why were you not afraid to criticize my servant Moses?”
After the Lord spoke Miriam was struck with leprosy, and Aaron cried out to Moses for mercy in verse 11, “Oh, my master! Please don’t punish us for this sin we have so foolishly committed.” Eventually Miriam was healed, but not right away.
What flew out at me during this reading was the realization that Moses spoke directly with the Lord, and that Miriam and Aaron were jealous about that. As prophets, both Miriam and Aaron had received visions and dreams demonstrating the close relationship they had with the Lord. But when Moses did something they didn’t approve of, they criticized him and justified themselves by presuming to have the same relationship with the Lord that Moses did. Well they didn’t. And the Lord punished them for their sin.
Why did this jump out at me? Because there have been times when I compared myself to another Christian and believed myself to have a closer relationship with the Lord than they did. And the justification I used was based on my limited understanding and experience. In essence I can only presume this. The Lord chooses the relationship He has with each of us and we must learn what He has chosen for us and accept it.
This was further clarified for me when I read a portion of the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:12, “and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.” What is clear to me is that my relationship with the Lord is greatly impacted if I am unwilling to forgive others who have offended or annoyed me; because He has forgiven them.
The Lord humbled me by showing me the subtle arrogance in my own life towards others, and how this had affected the relationship that the Lord was willing to have with me. These scriptures forced me to realize that first of all, I need to focus on developing my relationship with the Lord independent of His relationship with others around me. Second, if I want to have a better relationship with the Lord, I need to be accepting and forgiving of others without holding any grudges. Finally, I dare not presume anything about the relationship the Lord has with other Christians. That’s His business and not mine.
This principle is very simple. All we need to do is to submit to the Lord and use the helmet of salvation to provide the reasoning and situational awareness to protect our thoughts, and to accept the role God gives us in the body of Christ; shaken not stirred.
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All Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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