What Does Biblical Peace Look Like?

The Fruit of the Spirit

Tonight we’re going to continue our sermon series through the Fruit of the Spirit. We’ll be giving our attention to the third Fruit of the Spirit – the Fruit of Peace. So if you have a Bible nearby, please turn with me to Galatians Chapter 5. If you’re using one our church Bibles, you can find our text for tonight on page 916. I’ll be reading from Galatians, Chapter 5, verses 22 and 23.

But before I read our text for this evening, from Galatians 5, please join me in prayer, and let’s ask for God’s help.

[Pray and Read Text]

Good, but Misunderstood

The world, by and large, understands that peace – some form of it – is a good thing. When contestants in beauty pageants are asked what they would like to see changed in society, the stereotypical response is World Peace. As people consider conflicts in the Middle East, and between Russa and Ukraine, there are calls for ceasefires, for treaties. As teenagers and young adults are paralyzed by feelings of stress and anxiety, they are longing for feelings of calm. They’re longing for peace. And they want it to be substantial. They want it to be powerful and persistent. They want peace that will last.

And as it turns out, God shows us, in the Bible, that he’s deeply concerned with peace as well. This word, or some form of it, appears in the Bible more than 400 times. In the ancient kingdom of the Jews, their capital city was called Jerusalem – which in Hebrew literally means something like “the place where peace is seen.” But as we’re reminded from Galatians 5, God also identifies peace as a fruit of His own Spirit. God’s Spirit is us is what allows peacefulness to grow from us. And this is because God himself is a God of peace.

It’s interesting, I think for most of us, when we think of how God is described in the New Testament, we may tend to think of 1 John 4:16, which mentions that “God is love.” Or some us may think of Hebrews 12:29, which says that “our God is a consuming fire.” And certainly, those descriptions are true. I don’t want to minimize the significance of those descriptions in any way. But there’s actually a different description of God’s character that’s repeated more regularly than any other. The New Testament repeatedly refers to our God as the God of peace – on at least eight different occasions.

And in connection with this, the apostle Paul begins each one of his letters in the New Testament with a specific greeting. He pronounces Grace and peace upon the recipients of his letter – grace and peace that ultimately come from God. So the Bible confirms what humanity instinctively knows to be true – that peace is deeply significant – perhaps even more than we may initially realize.

But what, exactly is peace? How do we define what it is? And if everyone wants it, why don’t we have it? How can we actually take hold of this spiritual tranquility and truly live in it?

These are the questions I want to attend to as we consider the third fruit of the Spirit this evening – three questions: First, what is peace? Second, what hinders it? And third, how do we live in peacefulness?

What Is Peace?

So first, what is peace? When the Bible speaks about peace, what is it talking about? It’s important to acknowledge there are no parts of the Bible that come straight out and say, “the definition of peace is this.” And that’s fine – there’s no compelling reason why we should expect the Bible to be written like a dictionary or a glossary. And in some sense, it wouldn’t even be helpful. Because in different parts of the Bible, the word peace is used with slightly different nuances.

In Acts 24:2, peace is used to describe environmental stability – the stability of outward circumstances in which people live – politically, economically, and culturally.

But peace is also used in the Bible to describe relational harmony. Relational harmony with other people is described by Paul 2 Corinthians 13:11 when he says, “Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace…” And relational harmony with God is in view in Romans 5:1, when Paul says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith” – since we’ve been declared right with God by faith in Christ – we have peace with God.

But in addition to environmental stability, and relational harmony, the Bible also uses the word peace to refer to internal steadiness. To put it in culturally recognizable terms – this word peace sometimes speaks about mental health, and emotional regulation. Isaiah 26, verse 3 describes God, saying, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” We see a similar example of this in the New Testament, in Philippians 4, verse 6, which says, “[D]o not be anxious about anything, but in everything with prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

But once we’ve identified the different ways that peace is used in the Bible, we then need to ask the question, how is the word peace being used in Galatians 5? One of the things we can do to answer the question is carefully consider the context. And when we do, it becomes pretty clear that the peace spoken about here is relational peace.

Creating a peaceful, outward environment – that’s not the main idea here. Instead, Galatians 5 is speaking of a calm and cohesiveness that the Spirit produces among us regardless of what are circumstances are like. And though I’m convinced that the Spirit of God at work in us does produce inward feelings of rest – that inward steadiness-type of peace – the focus of Galatians 5 isn’t on our inward experiences and emotions. God’s concern here is to teach people how to practically live. In Galatians 5:13 the Galatians are told to serve one another, and in verse 14 they’re reminded that the command to “love your neighbor as yourself” is at the heart of moral commands in the Old Testament. These commands aren’t just about invisible, inward feelings, but also about our convictions and the tangible words and behaviors that result from them. And then right before listing off the fruits of the Spirit, verse 21 warns us against carrying out the works of the flesh, saying, “those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Instead of doing those things, it’s implied that the Church should do “love, joy, peace, patience,” and the other fruits of the Spirit. The list isn’t just explaining how we should feel, but what we should do – how we should live.

The fruit of peace that the Spirit produces in us, then, is the active, relational pursuit of peace-keeping and peace-making. God is at work to grow us in relational harmony, between us and Him, and between us and our neighbor.

What Hinders Peace?

But what get’s in the way of peace? What hinders it? This is the second main question that I want to answer here. What hinders peace?

To put it bluntly – we do. You and I, our selfish desires and our proud stubbornness – that’s what gets in the way. That’s why peace doesn’t happen.

Remember again, what our text says. We’re told that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, and so on. Peace is something that’s natural to God. The divine Son, Father, and Holy Spirit, three persons in one God, have eternally enjoyed unbroken stability, unity, and rest in relation to each other. Our God exemplifies peace in its purest form.

In contrast – again, in Galatians 5:20, as Paul explains what the works of our flesh are, he lists off enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, and divisions. Some of these descriptions may sound intense – maybe to the point where it’s difficult to relate to these things. But Paul’s point, here, is that within yourself – in your flesh – the human heart is inclined toward various forms of conflict like this.

Our pride, our self-centeredness, our greed, our jealousy – these things bring us into conflict with God and other people. If someone questions us, or criticizes us, or competes with us for certain things we want – we tend to see that person as an enemy, as a rival. We want to retaliate. We want to assert dominance over them. Or we want to cut them off, and never talk to them again. The works of the flesh are incompatible with relational peace. It’s possible that you have a relationship like that, right now. It might even be with someone in your family, or with one of your brothers or sisters in Christ.

But Galatians 5, here, is making the case that we can’t keep walking with enmity, rivalry, jealousy, anger, and divisiveness in our relationships. We need to understand that the biggest enemy to peace – it isn’t outward circumstances like diet, exercise, weather conditions, or stress, although these things can certainly affect us. The biggest enemy to our peace isn’t what that other person in our life did or said. Instead, the biggest enemy to our peace is us. It’s our sin – our corrupt impulses and actions.

How Do We Live in Peace?

But God has made a way for us to be set free from the proud thoughts and selfish desires that bring us into conflict with others. Though we once were living in rebellion against God Jesus Christ went to the cross, to put our enmity to death. Our old self – our old way of relating to God – was carried to the cross and crucified. And now, for everyone who trusts in Christ, God raises us up with Christ, into new life, with a new Spirit. And the Spirit of God transforms us. He leads us into peace. This isn’t something we just produce in ourselves, by human effort, or by repeated attempts at self-improvement. But walking in the peace of God is a gift. As we abide in Christ, by faith, the Spirit enables us to grow in enjoying and embodying the virtue of peace.

And for the remainder of the sermon tonight, I want deal with my final question – how do we live in peace? What does it mean for us to practically cultivate this peace and continue in it, as Christians?

I’d like to quickly point out two things that this doesn’t mean. First, Biblical peace does not bind us to absolute pacificism. There are certain Christian groups who make the claim that, “All war is sin.” By this they don’t mean that “All war involves sin,” which is inevitably true, whenever sinners are fighting against sinners. But what they mean is that there is no morally acceptable reason to go to war, ever. But as we consider the full council of Scripture, that claim doesn’t hold water. Men of faith received God’s blessing as they retaliated and defended themselves against the aggression of other nations. Abraham did this in Genesis 14. The book of Judges and the life of David includes numerous other examples. And the New Testament doesn’t demonize military activity, either. The Roman Centurion, Cornelius – a military man – is commended as God-fearing. Jesus himself is said to engage in warfare at the final Judgment. Revelation 19, verse 11 says, “Then I saw heaven opened and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.”

War isn’t an end in itself, to be loved or longed for. But war can have a place, in a fallen world, for securing or restoring peace. The timeless wisdom of Ecclesiastes 3 notes, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” And that includes, “a time for war, and a time for peace.” Biblical peace doesn’t demand absolute pacifism.

Biblical peace also doesn’t encourage us to make peace with falsehood. Truth comes from God, and is intended to unite people in peace. But whenever human beings introduce serious falsehood – that disturbs the peace. When Roman Catholicism began selling indulgences, and venerating the Saints and Mary, and demanding Papal Supremacy – when they began insisting that Jesus’s body is still being broken, and his blood spilled, at every Catholic mass, they disturbed the peace of the Church. When liberals began claiming that the Bible isn’t the inerrant, authoritative Word of God – when they started claiming that human sexuality and identity are things we can modify for ourselves, instead of unchangeable things established by God – they disturbed the stability of the church, and of society. It isn’t truth that divides people, ultimately – but it’s human sin – as we’ve already mentioned.

Humbling ourselves under the Word of God – under his divine truth, rather than manmade opinions – that’s what cultivates the right sort of peace – a peace that’s, at the same time, peace with God and peace with others.

So we should commit ourselves to pursuing this sort of harmonious union and communion. And I mean this in earnest. Because I think that many people – even many Christians – they see peacelessness in their interactions with others and are resigned to the idea that that’s how it’s always going to be! The peace spoken about in the Bible is treated as though it’s an unattainable ideal. These people agree in theory, that peace is a good thing – but then live as though they have no real confidence that the Spirit of God will actually produce it.

But the peacefulness that the Bible speaks about – it isn’t just hypothetical. It’s something actual established by God, that we’re called into, as people united to Christ by faith. So let me point out a few practical ways that you and I can make progress in relating to God and others in peace.

First, remain close to Christ and His Word. The same Spirit that breathed out God’s Word to us, through the prophets and apostles – He’s the same Spirit who continues to work through God’s Word to renew our minds and our manner of living. That’s how the Spirit makes us peace-keepers and peace-makers – not by bypassing our mind and heart, but by engaging our mind and heart more deeply. So aim to consistently be in the Bible, in prayer, in church. I’m not saying that the act of doing these things mechanically, automatically make us more peaceful. But these ordinary means are what God has given to us, to take in his grace. This is how we soak in the sunlight of God’s truth, and how we absorb the riches of His kindness toward us, in Christ.

Second, we make progress in relating to God and others in peace when we seek to live in the reality of what God has done for us, in our salvation. When we were strangers, when we were enemies, God is the one who definitively acted to establish the basis for our peace with Him, and with our brothers and sisters. Ephesians 2 speaks to non-Jews like us, and reminds us that we were once “separated from Christ.” We had “…no hope and [were] without God in the world.” Yet then in verse 13, we’re told, “But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace.” Because of Christ’s sacrificial death for sinners, God’s just displeasure against our wrongdoings has been satisfied. We now have peace with God, as Romans 5:1 says. And Christ is also given to us as the basis of our unity with brothers and sisters in the church. Because in him, earthly differences and dividing walls like ethnic background, nationality, and language – those things are torn down. And in Christ, we’re brought to God together, in one body. From the Scriptures, it’s evident, that we have a peace-making God.

Third, we make progress in bearing this third fruit of the Spirit when we seek to renew our mind, to be more like the mind of Christ. Jesus Christ was active in bringing peace, in a way that involved self-sacrifice, forgiveness – and even a voluntary expression of humility. And his life is an example of what peace-making should look like in us, as well. Philippians 2 warns against selfish ambition, conceit, and looking exclusively to our own interests – the sorts of things that cause conflict. We need to ask God to help us put aside whatever stubborn opinions or proud feelings of entitlement might bring us into petty conflict with others. And instead, we should seek to put on the mind of Christ, looking to the interests of others and humbly counting others as deserving more honor than ourselves. If we’re more committed to expressing ourselves or indulging ourselves than we are about honoring God, His Word, the order of his church, and the dignity of our brothers and sisters – we will find ourselves to be disturbers rather than defenders of the peace.

But putting on Christ’s mindset, to be committed to peace, also means that we should confidently speak truth to people who are living as enemies of God. No one can have true and lasting harmony or unity with Him unless they turn from their sin, to trust in the power of Christ to save them. Jesus’s message of peace included the call to “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” And this is an important part of our message, as well, if we’re going to promote the true and lasting peace that’s been poured out from heaven. People in our community might hate us for it, just as they hated Jesus – even when we speak the truth humbly, in love. But this message isn’t what causes conflict. It simply exposes the conflict that has already existed between unbelievers and God. Promoting peace, then, is more than just trying to avoid tension with other people. But we’re called to pursue and promote peace with God, and the related peace that results for those who are resting in Christ.

By the work of the Spirit in our midst, our church in Mt Pleasant should be a place of great peace. We should have no interest in forming factions, and no appetite for stirring up unnecessary arguments. Instead, we are called into fellowship, together, with the God of peace. This is why, when new members join our church, we pledge to seek the purity and peace of the church. The harmony of heaven is intended to be reflected in our relationships. The gospel of Christ makes it possible for us to resolve our arguments and disagreements. He himself is our peace.

And so Christ calls us to live, more and more, in the realness of the peace that He has established. He gives us his peace by His Spirit, to be displayed in our hearts, and in the Church. So let’s ask God to help us live out this peacefulness, and to display it rightly, to the glory of Christ. Please pray with me: