Peace
I started reading Galatians again, and very early on, I was again reminded of a sentence that is quite frequent in the New Testament:
Galatians 1:3
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ…
How frequent is it? Well, this sentence, or something similar to it, is towards the beginning of every one of Paul’s letters. You’ll also find it in both of Peter’s letters, two of John’s (2 John and Revelation), and Jude. This type of phrase is called a ‘benediction,’ a fancy word that basically means that Paul (and others) said this as sort of a prayer for blessing, or words of well-wishing for the people who received the letters. May God’s grace be imparted to you, and may God’s peace follow you.
Christians talk a lot about grace, and rightfully so. Grace means “unmerited favor,” or “undeserved approval,” and it’s one of the huge foundation stones of Christianity. Without grace, we have no hope of getting into heaven. But what about this peace bit?
As I’ve studied Scriptures about peace, I started to notice a trend. I only had to look for other instances where “peace” is mentioned to see that the trend I saw is a clear and consistent message.
Luke 2:14
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!
Most of us know the Christmas story, right? When Jesus is born, angels appear to the shepherds in the field and declare “peace on earth, good will toward men.” This is based out of the King James Version of the Bible, but it’s interesting to see how more contemporary translations render the passage. My understanding is that more manuscripts are phrased as “peace on earth to men of good will” rather than “peace on earth and good will to men.” When you translate the former phrase, you get what the ESV shows us here.
This surprised me. We throw around “peace on earth” at Christmastime, but if this translation is correct, then it is only promised for those people whom God is pleased with!
Do other Scriptures back this up?
Ephesians 6:15
And, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
Romans 5:1
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
So here, we have two passages concerning the Gospel (the Good News of Jesus and salvation that comes from knowing Him) and knowing God. The first one shows us that the Gospel is a Gospel of peace. The second verse supports the message of the first, showing that after being justified by faith (accepting the Gospel), we have peace with God.
Before we continue, we definitely need to clarify what I mean when I say that the Gospel is a Gospel of peace. After all, if you read the other article I wrote this week, you’ll see that I make a very bold statement that seems to make Christians intolerant and divisive. Jesus Himself even says:
Luke 12:51
Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.
Matthew records roughly the same thing, with Jesus saying “I came not to send peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34). This isn’t a Biblical justification for religious war, though I’m sure it has been used to that end. What it means is that following Jesus can cause division, even in one’s own home, and what it means in the context of this article is that we’re not talking about a worldly peace. But don’t take my word for it:
John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, either let them be afraid.
What Jesus is saying is that the world does give peace. We can find some peace and quiet in our days, wars do occasionally end, and so on. But it’s nothing huge and certainly nothing permanent in comparison to the peace that Jesus gives to His followers. Jesus’ peace keeps our hearts from being troubled, and keeps us from fear! The world can’t match that.
Jesus, the man who could bring peace to a stormy sea, is also the God of a kingdom that, in its very essence, is peace:
Romans 14:17
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
The context of this passage is that Paul was addressing a problem where people were judging other people because of the foods they ate. Since the Jews were known for their refusal to eat certain things, people wanted to do the same thing in Christianity. Some people wished to be set apart from the world in their abstinence from certain things. But Paul here says that what should set a Christian apart in the world, what makes the Kingdom of God unique, is righteousness (a right standing with God), peace that comes from knowing Him, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
All of this is to say that real peace can only be found in the spiritual. Through Jesus, through salvation, in the Kingdom of God. The world has peace to offer people, but it’s incomplete, fleeting, and it won’t save you when it’s all said and done.
How do we attain real peace, then? Accept Jesus as your Savior, and join the Kingdom of God! E-mail ZA if you want to know more about that. Galatians 5:22 says that peace is a fruit of the Spirit, which means that if we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in our lives, then we will experience the peace of God more and more. Seek God!
Grace and peace,
Brendan
