“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy,peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” Galatians 5:22-23
- The Meaning of Peace. In English, the word ‘peace’ conjures up a passive picture, one showing an absence of civil disturbance or hostilities, or a personality free from internal and external strife.
- God as the Source of Peace. God alone is the source of peace, for he is ‘Yahweh Shalom’ (see Judges 6:24). The Lord came to sinful humankind, historically first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles, desiring to enter into a relationship with them. He established with them a covenant of peace, which was sealed with his presence (see Num 6:24-26). Participants were given perfect peace as long as they maintained a right relationship with the Lord (see Isa 26:3; 2 Thess. 3:16).
In Philippians 4:7 we have a wonderful promise: “The peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” It is important to note the context of this promise because that’s where we find the condition: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (verse 6). God’s peace is promised to guard those who pray—with thanksgiving—about everything. This peace will transcend our ability to understand it. (1)
The Old Testament anticipated, and the New Testament confirmed, that God's peace would be mediated through a messiah (see Isa 9:6-7; Micah 5:4-5). Peace with God came through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Rom 5:1; Eph 2:14-17; Col 1:19-20; see Heb 13:20). Peter declared to Cornelius: "This is the message of Good News for the people of Israel—that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all." (Acts 10:36 NLT).
- The Relationship of Righteousness to Peace. The Lord established a covenant, which resulted in the participants receiving his peace ‘like a river’ in abundance (see Isa 48:18); however, peace could be disturbed if one did not live before the Lord and others in righteousness; in fact, peace is one of the fruits of righteousness (Isa 32:17-18).
One cannot overlook the fact that the harmony spoken of throughout eternity will never happen until man has a right relationship with God; it will be the result of the righteous rule of the "shoot from the stump of Jesse"who has upon him the Spirit of Yahweh; he is the "Prince of Peace" (Isa 9:6; see Jer 33:8-9). (2)
Next we will take a look at ‘patience’. Until then, walk with the King and be a blessing.
In His Name & for His Glory,
Richard Keller
Bread of Life Ministries
(1) https://www.gotquestions.org/peace-that-passes-all-understanding.html
(2) https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/peace/
* YHWH – “A name for God thought to represent the original pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton among the ancient Hebrews.” The Jews never said his name, they spelled the letters YHWH to represent Yahweh, their name for Almighty God.
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