Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Pursuing Peace
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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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
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Romans 14:15-19
In Hebrews 12:14, the author writes, “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.” Maybe you have not considered how important peacemaking is to our salvation, but in both of these places, Paul thinks it is critical. The Kingdom of God, he says, is all about doing right—righteousness. It is all about making peace with one another. It is all about bringing each other joy through the strength that God gives us through His Holy Spirit. So, our petty differences of interpretation divide rather than bring peace, especially on what He calls doubtful things—the things that are arguable because the Bible really does not provide a whole lot of detail about them. Instead of quarreling and looking down on others who do not hold the exact views we hold, we should be pursuing peace with them, creating reconciliation and unity. And once that happens, the product is joy, another fruit of the Spirit. This is what the Kingdom of God is all about: Behaving like God and creating loving relationships! That is what God Himself is trying to do. The author of Hebrews puts it very plainly, even bluntly: If we do not pursue peace with everyone and holiness, we will not see God. Why? Because we will not have built the right godly character to be included in the God Family. God is a holy God and a peacemaking, reconciling God.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Peacemakers
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Hebrews 12:14
We are to pursue peace and holiness. We are to pursue peace because there is no peace. There is no peace because of the communication we have had with Satan. Humanity reflects his nature, and the earth is filled with violence. Peace must be pursued. Likewise, we have to pursue holiness. The work of God on earth is to produce holiness in His children. Without that holiness in us, we will not see the Lord.
John W. Ritenbaugh
What Is Prayer?
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James 3:17-18
These two verses give direct and specific reasons why peace is such a great benefit toward spiritual prosperity. "Wisdom" indicates influence of heavenly origin, that is, from God. Its effect on the mind is to make it pure and chaste, not more imaginative or intelligent. Its purpose is to make the person upright, inoffensive, and good, then peaceable, etc. It disposes a person to live at peace with others. By itself, it corroborates Jesus' statement that He is willing and able to give a peace unlike the world's, a state of being not native to man. If a person is of a pure spirit, then peace tends to follow. First, this occurs because a pure-hearted person is at peace within himself. He is therefore not self-righteously, self-centeredly, and discontentedly seeking to impose his will and way on others to control their lives. Such a person will not induce conflict. Second, the pure-hearted person will follow Paul's advice, which he gave in two places. Romans 14:19 says, "Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another." Hebrews 12:14 adds, "Pursue peace with all men, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord." It is very difficult for people to have conflict with others who will not fight! This does not mean that we should make peace at any cost by denying truth. We can remain faithful to truth without going to war, though it might appear costly at the moment. Jesus—and many others—did it. James goes on to say that this approach to life's relationships produces the fruit of righteousness. This phrase could mean that what is produced as a fruit is righteousness, but it can also mean the fruit that righteousness produces. The latter is preferable. The fruit of the Spirit is the fruit the Spirit produces. The fruit of repentance is the change repentance produces in one's manner of living and attitude. Some of the fruit of righteousness are the qualities James mentions in James 3:17. Righteousness is therefore the seed from which these things grow. But a seed needs the proper conditions to germinate, grow, and produce fruit. Regardless of how good a seed is, if the conditions are not right, this process will be hindered, and it will bear poorly. The Parable of the Sower and Seed in Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 shows this clearly. Peace is the proper condition for the fruit of righteousness, and peacemakers are the green-thumbed gardeners. Growing a good crop demands the right conditions for good seed. So important is peace to the Christian's spiritual prosperity that God will permit a marriage to be broken by divorce where there cannot be peace. I Corinthians 7:15 says: "But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace." Divorce is usually preceded by a fairly long period of contention. It is warfare on a small scale. Living in an environment of warfare right in the home contributes little to growing in the image of the loving God of peace. It forces one to focus on himself, and at worst, it is entirely possible God will lose the person involved in such a contentious circumstance. At the very least, growth will be slow and minimal.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Fruit of the Spirit: Peace
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