But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23
3 Types of Peace for Believers
1. We can have peace WITH God. Apart from Christ, none of us have this peace. The Bible clearly teaches that “none of us are righteous” (Romans 3:10) and we “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23). But, Romans 5:1 assures us that we can “…have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.”
2. We can have the peace OF God. We will never have the peace of God unless we first have peace with God. Sadly, many believers who have experienced peace with God do not regularly experience the peace of God as a fruit of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle tells us that the peace of God comes as we walk with Christ on a daily basis. In his letter to the church at Philippi, he wrote “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4-7).
3. We can have peace WITH OTHERS. The Apostle Paul encourages us to “Live in harmony with one another…If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (Romans 12:16, 18). There are two qualifiers in vs. 18. He says “if possible.” Sometimes, regardless of what we do, people refuse to live in harmony. Similarly, “as far as it depends on you” reminds us of our personal responsibility, but it also reminds us that we are only half the equation. We cannot make people come to table and/or live at peace with us.
We serve a God of reconciliation and the Gospel is the ultimate example of reconciliation! God is good!
“For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.” Romans 5:10–11 (NKJV)
Stephen C. Rice 