Author: Gary Witcher

Christian Walk: By the Spirit - Peace

     The Christian walk involves walking by the Spirit.  As we have seen in Galatians 5:22-23, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
     So far we have considered love and joy.  The next item on the list is "peace."
     One of the earliest concepts of peace that we find in the Old Testament involves an exterior social or group peace.  It is the same as a lack of conflict, an exterior well-being.  In other words, if there was no war, then there was peace.  To the Jewish way of thinking, peace meant the same thing as the salvation of the nation.
     "Show us Thy lovingkindness, O Lord," David pleads in Psalm 85:7-9, "and grant us Thy salvation.  I will hear what God the Lord will say; for He will speak peace to His people, to His godly ones; but let them not turn back to folly.  Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, that glory may dwell in our land."
     "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem," David advises in Psalm 122:6-8, "'May they prosper who love you.  May peace be within your walls, and prosperity within your palaces.'
     "For the sake of my brothers and my friends, I will now say, 'May peace be within you.'"
     The Jews realized that the kind of peace that they were seeking was the result of obedience to God.  They realized this because God had told them.
     In Leviticus 26 God explains to His people what will happen if they obey Him.
     "I shall also grant peace in the Land," God says, "so that you may lie down with no one making you tremble.  I shall also eliminate harmful beasts from the land, and no sword will pass through your land."
     It is obvious from this verse that God was in control of the situation.  He provided peace when the people obeyed Him.  On the other hand, He removed peace when the people turned their backs on Him.  So it is easy to see why God did not like for false prophets to promise peace when there was to be none.  Often, false prophets would say what the people wanted to hear so the people would continue to listen to them and pay them.  Does this sound familiar?
     "Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray;" Micah 3:5-6 states, "when they have something to bite with their teeth, they cry, 'Peace,' but against him who puts nothing in their mouths, they declare holy war.
     "Therefore it will be night for you-without vision, and darkness for you-without divination.  The sun will go down on the prophets, and the day will become dark over them."
     It's not hard to see that we are discussing something that is based on the absence of something else.  It is a good that is based simply on the lack of bad.  But all of us have seen situations where there was no external conflict, but we certainly would not say that there was peace.  So peace must go beyond the simple lack of war.
     In fact, this very concept is made evident in the Old Testament.  The prophet Jeremiah points out to the people that material well-being is not the same as peace.  Exteriors can be deceiving.
     "And they heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially," Jeremiah 8:11-12 states, "by saying 'All is well, all is well'; but there is no peace.
     "Were they ashamed because of the abomination they had done?" the prophet continues, "They certainly were not ashamed, and they did not know how to blush."
     In Ezekiel 34:25-26, God promises for His people a peace that transcends the simple lack of conflict.
     "And I will make a covenant of peace with them and eliminate harmful beasts from the land," God says through the prophet, "so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.
     "And I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing.  And I will cause showers of blessing to come down in their season; they will be showers of blessing."
     So, although God is obviously still promising His people protection from their enemies, He is also offering showers of blessing.
     God makes this even clearer in His promise in Ezekiel 37:24-27.
     "And My servant David will be king over them," Ezekiel records, "and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances, and keep My statutes, and observe them.
     "And they shall live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons, and their sons' sons forever; and David My servant shall be their prince forever.
     "And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them.  And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever.
     "My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people."
     If obedience leads to the first kind of peace, then what things lead to the second, more complete, kind?
     Obviously, obedience to the commandments of God is still important.  And Isaiah 48:17-19 states this fact.  Isaiah 32:17 adds that righteousness will lead to peace.  Isaiah 54:11-14 notes that the teachings of God will lead to peace.
     But it is Isaiah 9:6-7 that gets to the real heart of our search.  This passage promises the coming of the Prince of Peace, the Messiah.
     Micah 5:2-5 also mentions the Messiah.  "And this One will be our peace," verse 5 concludes.

     From the beginning, New Testament peace involves the relationship between God and man and man and man, with the emphasis on interior peace.
     When Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, is finally able to speak after the birth of his son, he praises God and the Messiah whose path John has come to prepare.  In Luke 1:79 Zacharias says that Jesus is to "guide our feet into the way of peace."
     In Luke 2:14, the angels herald peace to the world as they announce the birth of Jesus to the shepherds.
     As the ministry of Jesus draws to a close, he laments in Luke 19:41-44 over the condition of the city of Jerusalem.
     "If you had known in this day," He cries in verse 42, "even you, the things which make for peace!"
     In Acts 10 we have the record of the first Gentile converts.  In verse 36 Peter notes that God's word preaches peace through Jesus Christ.
     Paul explains in Ephesians 2:11-22 how Jesus is synonymous with peace.  In Ephesians 6:15 Paul identifies the good news as the "gospel of peace."
     Hebrews chapter seven compares Jesus with an Old Testament character named Melchizedek.  Verse two points out one of the important parallels between the two.  Melchizedek is identified as the king of Salem, which is the king of peace.
     What are some of the things that lead to the peace that we find in the New Testament?  Before looking at these, we need to remember that Jesus explains in John 14:27 that the peace He offers is not the peace of this world.  So we should not judge His offering of peace by that which is sought by the world.
     John 16:32-33 teaches that Jesus leads us to peace.  This is a peace that endures through tribulation.  Romans 5:1 says that we have peace with God through Jesus Christ when we are justified by faith.  Romans 8:5-6 notes that a mind set on the Spirit leads to peace.  Verse 13 of chapter 15 states that believing results in peace.  And Colossians 1:19-20 points out that peace comes through the blood of the cross.
     The New Testament is filled with references to peace, including the statement of Jesus in the beatitudes recorded in Matthew chapter five.  "Blessed are the peacemakers," the Lord says in verse 9, "for they shall be called sons of God."
     "If possible," Romans 12:18 urges, "so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men."
     "For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking," Romans 14:17-19 observes, "but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.  So then let us pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another."
     Christians should live in peace, 2 Corinthians 13:11 says.  We must let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, according to Colossians 3:15.  We must pursue after peace, as we read in 2 Timothy 2:22.  Hebrews 12:14 instructs us to pursue peace with all men.  James 3:18 teaches that the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
     "Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things," 2 Peter 3:14 says in reference to the new heaven and new earth, "be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless."
     The Christian walk involves peace.  This peace goes beyond the lack of external conflict to a state of mind.  It includes being at peace with ourselves, with others and, most importantly, with God.  It is available only through Jesus.
     What result can we expect if we follow this pathway?
     "And the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet," Romans 16:20 promises.
     Knowing this truth and putting it into practice will set us free from the devil.

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission."