Peace: the Fruit of the Spirit Part 4

“But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

Like love and joy, peace is closely intertwined with the other qualities of the fruit of the Spirit. The Greek word used for peace in the New Testament means a quietness, rest, or unity.

Peace is such a common word throughout the New Testament, it can be difficult to know where to begin studying it out, but as with anything, it is usually best to begin at the beginning.

Peace with God

When the angels appeared before the shepherds after the announcement of the newborn Savior, they proclaimed,

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” (Luke 2:14)

Looking around at our world today, you might wonder where that peace on earth went! Yet, Christ came not to establish an earthly peace between nations, but rather a heavenly peace on earth in the hearts of His followers. Jesus said,

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Jesus offers us peace that, like joy, transcends earthly circumstances. But in order to enjoy this peace, we first have to be reconciled to God: to have peace with God.

Romans 5:1-2 says,

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

This is a packed verse, but notice how we get peace with God: we are justified by faith, through Christ. We all need to be justified, because as Romans 3:23 says, “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

Christ’s sacrifice paid the penalty for all our sin, giving each individual the opportunity to be made right with God. Ephesians 2 puts it this way:

“But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us” (vv.13-14)

Christ’s payment of our penalty satisfied the perfect justice of God, while at the same time showing His mercy to us.

Once we have placed our faith in Christ, trusting His sacrifice alone to justify us in the sight of God, we are no longer separated from God. Our sin is covered by the blood of Jesus, and we can enter into a real relationship with God. We are no longer enemies. We are family. Galatians 4 explains,

“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” (vv.4-7)

Notice that one aspect of our adoption is the sending of the Holy Spirit. Peace comes from the Holy Spirit indwelling our hearts, helping us to be rightly related to God.

The God of Peace

Throughout the New Testament, God is referred to as, the God of peace. What does the God of peace do? There are two areas specifically connected in Scripture to God being the God of peace: sanctification and victory over sin.

Sanctification

Sanctification is the process by which God makes us more and more like Himself. It is the purging of sin and strengthening of our faith. The word sanctify means to make holy

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He that calleth you, Who also will do it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)

Notice here how much God sanctifies us: wholly. The mention of spirit, soul, and body which follows also adds to the idea of completeness. Sanctification is to affect every part of us: our minds, our souls, our physical bodies.

That seems like a hard standard to meet, but that is why I included that next verse: “Faithful is He that calleth you, Who also will do it.” You see, we are not expected to be holy in our own power. It is the power of God that does the work: we just have to decide to let Him do it.

Victory

The God of peace also gives us victory over sin:

“And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.” (Romans 16:20)

In modern America, we live far removed from the true concept of war. Victory to us is the idea of winning, accomplishing a feat, or overcoming an obstacle. But for Christians in the age of Rome (and in many countries of the world even today) peace often meant freedom from violence.

In a spiritual sense, the peace of God is freedom from the violence of Satan’s attacks as we yield to the Holy Spirit.

Sanctification is a fight against a real and literal foe who actively seeks to destroy us any way he can. Yet the battle is not in our own strength, but in God’s. That’s why it is God who will crush Satan under our feet.

Peace of Mind

When we use the phrase “peace of mind,” we often mean it to encompass both mind and emotions. The peace of God is perfect peace that fills every part of us, quieting both the restless mind and the anxious heart. Philippians 4:6-7 says,

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

It is easy to underestimate the importance of our thoughts, but Romans 8:6 tells us that,

“to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”

“carnally minded” means to have thinking that is in line with our naturally sinful flesh. It is to think as if we have never been made alive in Christ, as if we were still “dead in trespasses and sins.” (Ephesians 2:1)

Peace comes as we surrender our own desire to figure things out ourselves and decide to trust Him. Only then will the peace of God keep, or protect, both our hearts and minds. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 says,

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high things that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ”

The battle against sin often begins in the mind, and as with anything else, we cannot have victory over our thoughts without the power of the Holy Spirit.

Philippians 4:6 tells us to be “careful for nothing.” but how are we to do that?

The verse goes on to tell us that the antidote to worry is prayer.

As we pray, bringing our requests to God, our hearts and minds are brought into line with the Holy Spirit, and we trade our worry for peace as we choose to trust God.

And notice how we are supposed to bring our requests to God:

“in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Philippians 4:6)

The giving of thanks is a crucial part of having a heart and mind filled with the peace of God. Colossians 3:5 says,

“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.”

The peace of God means bringing our thoughts under the control of the Holy Spirit, bringing our sorrows and problems to God instead of keeping them to ourselves, and also allowing the Holy Spirit to cultivate in us a heart of gratefulness to God.

Peace with Others

The Holy Spirit’s primary work is in the inside of the Christian, in the heart and mind, but as faith without works is dead, (James 2:20) so internal sanctification without a change in outward attitudes and actions is not true sanctification.

A changed heart will always lead to changed actions. This is why the characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit are linked with our interactions with others.

Remember the admonition of Romans 14:17-19 which we looked at in our study of joy? Notice again what it says we should follow after, or pursue.

“For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and the things wherewith one may edify another.”

When the peace of God rules our hearts and minds, we will look to help others have that peace as well.

This could mean sharing the truth of the gospel to point a lost one to peace with God, or it could mean helping another believer grow in their own submission to the Holy Spirit so that they can enjoy the peace of God as well.

Whatever the practical steps the Spirit leads us to take, the peace of God, will lead us to do what we can to help others have that same peace.

Another outworking of God’s work of peace within us is peace between ourselves and others:

“I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowiness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:1-3)

Our flesh hates to forbear, to show longsuffering and respond to another’s pride with meekness, but that is exactly how the Holy Spirit will lead us to respond.

This does not guarantee that we will always live friction-free lives with those around us, though. Even the most Spirit-led Christians in our lives are still sinners saved by grace, and so are we.

In addition to this, the world hates true peace, because it comes from the holy God who sees their sin as it really is. I think this is why Romans 12:18 admonishes us,

“If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.”

It may not always be possible to keep peace with others, particularly if they have not received Christ as their Savior. It is, however, our responsibility to make sure that any friction between us and others is not due to sinful actions or attitudes on our part.

Peace Always

Just as Jesus said that His joy was to remain, peace is likewise to be an ever-present quality of the Spirit-led life. 2 Thessalonians 3:16 says,

“Now the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all.”

We are to have peace always. Not just when we are sitting in the silence of an early morning with our cup of coffee and our Bible, not just when things are going well, nor just when we feel like everything is right with the world: but always.

No matter what is going on around us, we have access to the peace of God at all times, if we will only surrender our hearts and minds to the Holy Spirit’s control.

To put our mind, will, and emotions in the care of the Holy Spirit, not allowing any ungodly thought to roam free, committing all to the care of the God who cares for us: that is how we live a life of peace.

“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” 

Romans 15:13