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1Th_5:8. The apostle passes over to a new image, whilst he, as the proper preparation for watchfulness and sobriety, requires the putting on of the Christians’ spiritual armour, with the help of which they are in a condition victoriously to repel all the assaults of internal and external enemies.[62] The apostle delights to represent the Christian under the image of a warrior; comp. 2Co_10:4 ff.; Rom_6:13; Rom_13:12; and especially Eph_6:11 ff. Here the transition to this new image was very easily occasioned either by the expression ἡμέρα , 1Th_5:5, inasmuch as in the day one is not only watchful, but also completely clothed; or by the idea of γρηγορεῖν , 1Th_5:6, inasmuch as whoever watches must also be provided with weapons. Whilst in Eph_6:11 ff. not only weapons of defence, but also of offence are mentioned, the apostle here names only weapons of the first description. He designates as weapons the three principal parts of the Christian life—faith, love, and hope; comp. 1Th_1:3 and 1Co_13:13.
πίστεως καὶ ἀγάπης ] are genitives of apposition. πίστις and ἀγάπη do not import “trust in God and Christ, and in connection with it love to Him and to our fellow-men, and to our fellow-Christians” (Flatt); but the first is faith in Christ as the Redeemer, and the latter love to our neighbour. The πίστις and the ἀγάπη are a θώραξ , a coat of mail (comp. Isa_59:17; Wis_5:19), i.e. they protect the Christian’s heart against the influences of evil, even as a coat of mail protects the breast of the earthly warrior.
καὶ περικεφαλαίαν ἐλπίδα σωτηρίας ] and as a helmet the hope of salvation. This hope of eternal salvation is so much the more a powerful protection against all the attacks and allurements to evil, as it by means of a reference to a future better world sustains our courage amidst trial and tribulation, and communicates strength to stedfast endurance.
The helmet is already in Isa_59:17 represented as a symbol of victory.
[62] This design of the armour is evident from the context. Schrader’s objection to the words, that “Paul elsewhere only speaks of an arming against evil in order to overcome it,” is therefore without meaning.