Peace. This is where the rubber meets the road. Even as I write, the city of Mariupol, Ukraine has been wiped off the map at the hands of a twisted world leader who doesn’t seem afraid to enter World War III. Every other conflict up to this point in my memory seems like a skirmish by comparison. But even skirmishes are deadly to those who are in them, and something is always up – which leads us to a reality I think some of us would rather deny – we are never going to have world peace. There will always be injustice and unrighteousness in the world, selfishness, envy, and jealousy – and these things lead to conflict. However, in this very horrifying current situation, we must understand some things very clearly because we run the risk of widening a rift between our faith on the one hand and what we consider the day to day living of our lives on the other – something James might call “double minded.” (James 1:8)
To be honest, we are always in danger of “spiritualizing” our walk with Christ, forgetting He walked this earth with us in very physical form – but this rift becomes much more evident and even dangerously intentional when we’ve seen the world go crazy like it has this past month and we scramble for answers to questions we usually just ignore. So here it is – when we pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven it’s because it is not done on earth. And it will not be done on earth until everyone submits to the Lordship of Jesus. How far are we from that point? You know as well as I that just affirming Jesus as the way and the only way often leads to violent verbal rebuttal as we are labeled spiritual bigots. This affirmation of the exclusivity of Christ is scary to the unsaved world and I’m afraid way too often we shirk our responsibility to the lost because we don’t want to frighten anyone or arouse ire.
But it is equally true in times of great upheaval and war, when the world draws up actual physical battle lines and evil shows its true face, that the spiritual battle lines become sharp and we see our call to action clearly. Not just any action, however. Not as equal instruments of violence, not as instruments of coercion. But rather as instruments of peace as we hold on to the word of life (Philippians 2:16). We must understand this like crystal – our struggle is not against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:10-18). It’s against Satan. And Satan’s power has been on full display this month.
We usually understand something about these difficulties is in our own lives – Jesus never promises His people a lack of conflict. As long as we are in the world, we will experience it. While it is not anywhere in His desire, He recognizes the conflict He brings to His people as He redraws the battle lines and snatches us from Satan’s clutches. Jesus clarifies this conflict most sharply in Matthew 10:34 when He states He does not bring peace, but a sword. Our own family can become caustically opposed to us as we move from darkness to light. Paul makes clear in Romans 12:18 that as far as it is up to us, we are to live in peace with everyone, but this demonstrates we are only one side of an equation. If someone chooses not to live in peace with us because of our faith or for whatever other reason, that is not on us. Peter acknowledges we may suffer for doing good (I Peter 3:14), but states that even so, we are blessed.
If all this war-like and conflict imagery seems counter to the fruit of peace in Galatians 5:22, let’s get down to it. We, as children of God, are uniquely and exclusively qualified to create peace. But we need a firm grip on the concept. The peace Jesus gives us is of a far different quality than anything the world has to offer as He affirms in John 14:27. It surpasses understanding as Paul states in Philippians 4:7. But that doesn’t mean we can’t grasp it. Let’s grasp it.
First, when we talk of peace, the Biblical peace we see in the New Testament, we see it is tied directly to the reality of salvation found in Jesus. When Jesus was born, listen to what the angels said in Luke 2:14 – “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.” This is not simply a parallel to, but rather the substance of salvation – peace! It is the power behind Jesus’ words in John 14:27 as He contrasts what He offers in comparison to the world. Peter affirms peace as salvation to Cornelius in Acts 10:36. Even the warlike imagery of Ephesians 6:15 has Christians rushing into spiritual battle not to commit bloodshed, but rather fitted in readiness with the gospel of peace!
But this peace also is reconciliation. This is first and foremost reconciliation to God as we see in Romans 5. Through Jesus Christ we have peace with God as verse one clearly states. Verse ten states we are no longer enemies with God because of Jesus’ death. Whole swaths of the book of Hebrews speak of this reconciliation we have because of Christ (chapters 9 and 10 for example), but this passage in Romans nails down the concept tightly – the peace made in Jesus is reconciliation with the Father.
This reconciliation is also between people – but this is important to note, it is only between people who chose Jesus as the peace between them. Ephesians 2:14 affirms Jesus is our peace. Is. Through Him, and only through Him do we have peace! We don’t come to one another and try to hash out peace. We cannot come to each other in our own strength and find peace. We cannot hope to make peace. We can only come to Jesus – and He is our peace!
So we come to this fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22. And we come to a world devoid of peace. And we ask how they relate. For ourselves, knowing where our salvation lies, we have no reason to fear anything. The peace we have in Christ is sure, and even if the worst happens to us, we know we stand saved from all trouble as Romans 8:35-39 affirms. This certainly doesn’t mean we won’t have trouble, but as Jesus also said the same night He was betrayed, “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). As we are transformed by the Spirit, we come to realize this more and more as we grow in Christ, and it does, in fact, surpass understanding; to much of the world it seems totally insane. And that’s the thing – we are also in this world – and this peace, this salvation, this bold assurance, this fruit of the Spirit, is made to be shared. As the events of this past month have shown, the need to share is urgent and this closes the gap between our faith and our walk in this crazy, messed-up world. The world, as the world, will continue to rattle sabers and make war – but many in the world, because of us, will come to peace. “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation….” Isaiah 52:7