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Ephesians 6:17 (NLT)
Put on salvation as your helmet, [and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.]

DRAWING NOTES:

TIME OF DAY:
Indeterminate.

LIGHTING NOTES:
A single source of light comes from above & to the right.

CHARACTERS PRESENT:
None.

RESEARCH/ADDITIONAL NOTES:
This is the fifth of 7 “scenes” depicting each of the pieces of the armour mentioned by the apostle Paul. Putting on the whole armour of God protects us in the battles of life & faith.

I used some reference photographs from the internet to help me draw this Roman helmet. I imagine the apostle Paul looking at his Roman soldier captors whilst he was in prison, & getting the ideas for the various pieces of the Armour of God from observing the Roman arms & armour before him. Thus it seemed right to illustrate a Roman helmet for this piece of equipment.
I enjoyed colouring up this illustration & applying brush textures to it to represent the smooth, hammered, curved, polished reflective metal of the helmet. I like the grey iron/steel with the yellow accent metal edges.

I decided early on in the design process to include a white cross on each piece of the armour, which is my way of signifying that this is not merely metal armour, but is spiritual, God-given armour, empowered by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.

Helmet of Salvation: what is it & what’s it for?
To get a broader sense of what the belt of truth is, lets look at several versions of the Bible:

New Living Translation
Put on salvation as your helmet, …

Amplified Bible
And take the helmet of salvation …

New International Version
Take the helmet of salvation …

New King James Version
And take the helmet of salvation …

‘The outline is divided here because the Greek word take is an imperative, rather than another participle. This parallels the imperative “stand” in verse 14. The helmet and sword are the last two pieces a soldier takes up. A helmet, being hot and uncomfortable, would be put on by a soldier only when he faced impending danger.‘
(Source: The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures by Dallas Seminary Faculty.)

‘The helmet protected the soldier’s head. Helmets were made of leather and brass, or sometimes bronze and iron—no sword could pierce a good helmet. Isaiah 59:17 [1] describes God wearing a helmet of salvation.’
(Source: Life Application New Testament Commentary.)

The leather (& in later history) metal helmet is fashioned, designed & manufactured to protect a soldier’s head & neck. Without it, a soldier would be vulnerable to assault to his head from enemy weapons. Indeed, without a helmet an enemy soldier might aim his blows at the unprotected head.

Application: why a Helmet of Salvation?
Having one’s head guarded by a helmet gives a sense of safety, so the helmet of salvation refers either to present safety from the devil’s attacks or to a future deliverance, “the hope of salvation as a helmet” (1 Thes. 5:8).
(Source: The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures by Dallas Seminary Faculty.)

‘Believers’ salvation, already accomplished, will be consummated when Christ comes to claim his own. With the assurance of salvation protecting their minds, Christians can stand against Satan’s attacks. As a blow to the head often means death, so a person without hope of salvation will be easily defeated by the enemy. When the enemy, the Devil (1 Peter 5:8), seeks to devour and destroy God’s people with empty or evil thoughts, trying to get us to doubt our salvation, we can trust in the protection of the helmet. Our salvation will be accomplished, for God has promised it.’
(Source: Life Application New Testament Commentary.)

‘Salvation has brought us a new life and identity. By keeping our identity as Christ’s living church constantly before us, our perception of life is transformed. Satan’s dreams of distorted relationships cannot cloud the mind of a person who grasps the full meaning of the salvation we enjoy in Christ.’
(Source: The Teacher’s Commentary.)

Notes on the above reference:
1) The Helmet of (our) Salvation provides assurance & a sense of safety. The Lord God intends us to remain confident, & well protected, in all our skirmishes with spiritual powers & dark forces of this world.

2) Our protection is present & future: we can be assured that our Salvation is ever-lasting, coming in to effect the moment we become a Christian, & lasting for all eternity.

3) The Helmet of (our) Salvation reminds us that the battle is a spiritual one: the focus of which is often our minds. The enemy (Satan) knows that if he can influence our minds he can alter the course of our lives, hoping to lead us down false trails & into sin.
The fact that our battleground is predominantly a mental one is why we are told (in Romans 12:2 [2]) to renew our minds, which we do by reading scripture, prayer & meditation on the Bible. The Lord God knows that our behaviour comes from our thinking & so changing our thinking will change our behaviour, for our good & His glory.

Bible References
[1]
Isaiah 59:15b-17 (NLT)
15b The Lord looked and was displeased to find there was no justice. 16 He was amazed to see that no one intervened to help the oppressed. So he himself stepped in to save them with his strong arm, and his justice sustained him. 17 He put on righteousness as his body armor and placed the helmet of salvation on his head. He clothed himself with a robe of vengeance and wrapped himself in a cloak of divine passion.

[2]
Romans 12:2 (NLT)
2 Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.