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What the Bible says about Blessed are the Peacemakers
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Exodus 20:13

Despite so many religious leaders' endorsement, the "just war" doctrine is antithetical to Christianity. The sixth commandment absolutely forbids it. Jesus' teaching in the four gospels and the apostles' teaching in the rest of the New Testament clearly stand against it. What can be simpler than "Blessed are the peacemakers" (Matthew 5:9), "You shall not murder" (verse 21), ". . . turn the other [cheek]" (verse 39), and ". . . love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you" (verse 44)? And these plain instructions are from only one chapter!

The apostles are similarly of one voice in this matter. Paul writes:

Repay no one evil for evil. . . . If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath: for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord [Deuteronomy 32:35]. Therefore "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head [Proverbs 25:21-22]." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:17-21)

He later says that "we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal" (II Corinthians 10:3-4), meaning Christians do not fight with physical arms but spiritual powers. James calls Christians who "fight and war" "adulterers and adulteresses" who make themselves enemies of God by applying the unrighteous methods of this world (James 4:1-4). Finally, John writes, "Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him" (I John 3:15).

Some may contend that these teachings do not apply because they are instructions to individuals—but are not nations merely large, organized groups of individuals? The principles apply just as well in a macrocosm as in a microcosm. Killing on a national scale is just as ungodly as killing on a personal one.

There is a major problem in today's Christianity, even among so-called fundamentalists: hypocrisy. The vast majority of supposedly Christian ministers and churches have traded the truth of the Bible—the Word of God—for unrighteous mammon, political gain, or popularity. Their unregenerate hearts are revealed by what comes from their mouths, "for out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders . . ." (Matthew 15:18-19). Rather than walk the difficult path to eternal life, they have taken the broad way that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14), the way that is "right in [their] own eyes" (Judges 21:25), the "way that seems right to a man, . . . the way of death" (Proverbs 14:12). Jesus Christ will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" (Matthew 7:23).

There is a great deal of wisdom in the old saw that religion and politics do not mix.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Open Mouth, Reveal Heart

Jeremiah 6:10-15

We could call Jeremiah 6:10-15 and I Thessalonians 5:1-3 “signs of the times” scriptures. They tell us that times of great crisis, particularly the coming day of the Lord, are often preceded by a concerted effort to minimize just how bad things are. We see this in the two phrases, “'Peace, peace' when there is no peace,” and “they say 'peace and safety,' and then sudden destruction comes.”

The Day of the Lord, which may be just a few years ahead, will seem from the outside like the world shifting from relative peace to total war in the blink of an eye. That is the way it will seem to unaware and non-Christians. In both cases—in Judah's day of the Lord and this coming Day of the Lord—the result is inescapable destruction.

What God brought upon Judah in Babylon, by the Chaldeans, affected everybody in Judah. The book of Lamentations shows how deeply it affected them. The same will happen with the coming Day of the Lord. It will affect not only all of Judah or even all of the church but every last person on earth. No one is going to escape.

These two prophecies go hand-in-hand. They are typically framed in the sense that “relative” peace reigns—that is, major martial conflict is absent. There is always war happening somewhere. But people have a way of saying, “Well, that there is war here and war there is not too bad. At least it's not affecting me. I am at peace.”

But there will be a definite time when that peace ends very suddenly, and the world will be plunged into war. That is how Jeremiah and Paul present it in these prophetic passages, and this is most scholars' primary interpretation of them.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Peacemakers

Jeremiah 29:7

The first two points in how to survive exile have to do with feeding the flock and getting ourselves back into spiritual shape. The third point deals with going to the world and increasing our numbers. The fourth concerns our witness to the world and our response to it.

Paul advises us to do it in peace. Live peaceably with all men as far as lies within you (see Romans 12:16-21). This is an important point because peace trickles down. Peace in the nation will trickle down to peace among citizens. If we live in an environment of peace, we can accomplish the overcoming, the growing, and the producing of fruit. As James writes, "Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace" (James 3:18).

We have to be among the peacemakers, even while living in a world full of strife. We should seek God's hand in this, asking Him to give peace so that we can have the time—and not the distractions of strife—to use in producing fruit, getting our families in order, and increasing our numbers. If there is no peace, those things become much harder to do. We need to be peacemakers, which is one of Christ's beatitudes: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God" (Matthew 5:9). It is vital that we have peace.

"Pursue peace with all men, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14). He we see how important peace is to producing holiness. If we fail in this, we will not see God! Peace is vital. In James 4, the apostle curses the recipients of his epistle, calling them adulterers and adulteresses because they were full of strife with one another. They were at war with each other. They were not producing peace. They were certainly not producing righteousness.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
How to Survive Exile

Colossians 1:18-20

Paul explains how Jesus made peace. He did this by reconciling all things to Himself or to the Father through His own shedding of blood (verse 20).

We must understand the context. Paul is talking about Jesus Christ in His most elevated, most excellent sense. He is God doing these things for us.

The Father has given Christ divine glory and responsibility because of the redemptive work He did in reconciling us to Him. That is one of the big factors that make Christ special because He volunteered (Philippians 2:5-8) to come down here as a Man, as a Servant, and He gave Himself throughout His life, living a godly life with no sin. Then He gave Himself on the cross or tree for our sins. And so the Father has highly exalted Him for all of the sacrifices He made to reconcile humanity to Him.

Paul tells us in so many words that the Son, Jesus Christ, is the Great Peacemaker, the Great Reconciler. He is great because He did the impossible, what no other man could do: to reconcile everyone, not just some, but all to the Father. That is what the Father is heading toward in His Plan. He wants all to come to repentance (II Peter 3:9), and it is available to all through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Certainly, they must accept it, each in his own time or order, as Paul says in I Corinthians 15:23. But God is looking for total reconciliation, or as close as possible, with all humanity. However, He has given free moral agency to people, so there will probably be some who reject Him. We know for sure that Judas Iscariot the son of perdition, is doomed. The Beast and the False Prophet will be sent into the Lake of Fire, so human reconciliation with God will not be total.

But it is God's goal that all will be reconciled to Him. Christ made it possible; He provided the means for total reconciliation. It does not mean that everybody will accept it or claim it, but what He did is valid for all should they choose to accept it.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Peacemakers

1 Peter 3:10-12

Notice the situation in which Peter applies this idea. In verse 8, he writes, "All of you be of one mind," and then, "Love as brothers." He brings the fight against evil to our community, the church! It is within the church, like it or not, that we may have the most trouble with the evil inside. Why?

In the world, Christians shine like beacons because the contrast between themselves and the uncalled is so stark. We keep God's commandments, the holy days, and the food laws. We try to do good. However, when we are among other Christians, and the contrast is less discernable, how do we react? Do we react as Christians or as carnal?

We often seem to be able to get along well with the world because we know where everybody stands, but among church members, we frequently have problems. Sometimes problems crop up because we lower our guard, and at other times, because we expect so much of our fellow Christians.

We do not want the evil in us to come out and defile our relationships within the church. Yet, if we see problems arising, then we know that evil is present. We have just allowed ho poneros, the wicked one, among us. It becomes imperative, then, to stamp it out as soon as possible.

Thus, Peter advises: "Turn from evil. Do good. Seek peace and pursue it. If you do not, God will turn His face against us"—and we certainly do not want that.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Evil Is Real (Part Five)


 




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