Armor of God part 6 (helmet of salvation)

Ephesians 6:17, “And take the helmet of salvation,”

This is going to be a more in depth analysis of what I touched on briefly in update, which is the imputed righteousness of God, the free gift of saving grace, the only means of salvation. It is impossible to put any one piece of the armor of God to use if you do not first belong to God. This armor is just not available to you until you have been born again.
The first step to receiving salvation is recognition of your sin. Matthew 19:16-17, “And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” He didn’t say just wait a little while and I’ll die for you then you believe in me and you will be saved. What Jesus did was point the man to the Ten Commandments that he had not kept. In doing this he was basically trying to get this man to recognize his sin. He said no one is good but the God. Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
What are the Ten Commandments? Exodus 20:3-17, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.”
We may say, “Well I could have taken the Lords name in vain a few times but I have certainly never murdered someone.” It doesn’t matter. If you break on commandment, you break them all. James 2:10, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”
We may say, “I am basically good, I don’t deserve hell.” How could we possibly know that for sure? Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” I often wonder about when I was living according to the flesh how many times I deceived myself into thinking I was doing something good when in fact it was evil. How many times did something happen that seemed bad but in the end turned out to be for the better. The point is, only God is good. If any good is done through us it is just that, through us by God. It is not of our own volition.
John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Second to knowing you are a sinner in need of grace is believing in Jesus Christ as your one and only savior. Knowing that Jesus Christ is who he said he is. He is not just a prophet from history but the true son of the most holy God. That he was sent here as a perfect sacrifice for our sins and that in his death and resurrection he gave us the ability to die to our flesh and be born again into the spirit. You must be willing to present yourself a living sacrifice, knowing that only by Gods grace and guidance can his perfect will for your life be realized. Romans 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
Once you know your desperate state away from the grace of God you need to openly and humbly admit this in prayer and ask for the grace of Jesus to cover your sins. Invite the Holy Spirit to reside in your heart as a guide to keep you in the will of God. I’m not going to give you some word for word prayer to recite. Ask God what he wants you to say and he will write it on you heart.
Once you have done this, go to work putting on the full armor of God for the battle that lies ahead.