PEACE, A TOKEN OF THE NEW LIFE IN CHRIST

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT)

According to Thayer’s definition of Biblical words, the Peace of God is the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is.

We can therefore  infer that the Peace of God is first a product of Salvation, both of the spirit and the continual salvation of the soul.
Since our spirit was regenerated, it is therefore in a perfect state of Peace, having received the peace token of the Kingdom by the dwelling of the Holy Spirit within us (Romans 14:17), exempted from the trouble and chaos that characterizes the natural but because our soul is in a continuance of been renewed, it is still subject to falling into chaos, worries and stirring that is fed it through the body’s interactions with the outside world.

Hence the Peace of God is experienced in our soul as we exercise ourselves unto the Kingdom we have received, abounding in the life of Christ by our subjection to the rule and Lordship of Jesus through the Holy Spirit within us! Since it is already a reality in our spirit, it becomes our experience as we obey the “law of life” and the stirrings which we have now hereunto received of God in spirit.In the opening scripture, Gal 5:22, the fruits of the Spirit, Peace been one of them, was stated to be “produce” of the Holy Spirit. In the amplified version, the Bible says “they are produced as a result of the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit” in us. We can thus conclude that the Peace of God, a reality of the Kingdom we received is experience as we exercise ourselves in the Holy Spirit in sweet fellowship.

In the opening scripture, Gal 5:22, the fruits of the Spirit, Peace been one of them, was stated to be “produce” of the Holy Spirit. In the amplified version, the Bible says “they are produced as a result of the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit” in us. We can thus conclude that the Peace of God, a reality of the Kingdom we received is experience as we exercise ourselves in the Holy Spirit in sweet fellowship.

To further establish this point, in Romans 8:6, the Apostle gave a very beautiful contrast between walking in the flesh and in the spirit. He said; “So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace”.

This argument in fact started from verse 1 of the same chapter where the apostle began drawing the fact that, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. Romans 8:2. So we crossed from death unto life when we gave our lives to Jesus and our spirit found Peace from the dominion of sin. But on getting to verse 6, he made it known to us what while in fact we have experience this peace inwardly, to experience it outwardly, we must let the Spirit, the same that intermingled with our spirit unto regeneration, rule our mind (a part of our soul) and this He said, leads to LIFE AND PEACE! We therefore see that we abound in PEACE as we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.
If we contrast this verse with another verse from the old testament, it would further take root in our hearts.

Romans 8:6
…But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

Isaiah 26:3
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace,whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee

We can therefore conclusively say that it takes keeping our minds on God and His will to have His peace seep from spirit into our soul and then we eventually live it out!

BEYOND COMPREHENSION

Philippians 4:7  And the PEACE OF GOD, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Paul the Apostle in the verse above was stating to the Philippians church, that the Peace of God which passes all understanding will keep their hearts and mind through Christ Jesus. Now, an analysis of the elements of this verse would reveal a couple of things to us;

The Peace of God passes all understanding: the interpretation of this is that the peace of God is beyond human reasoning, what a man’s logical sense can fathom. This is because, the Peace of God is not circumstance based. In the midst of trouble and calamity, the peace of God holds a man steady, giving him calmness and serenity as every turbulence falls around Him. It is a peace that overflows from within, an effect of the reign of Christ within us as stated in the first part above.

This is similar to what the Psalmist said in third verse of the twenty-third psalm that “even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil.” We thus see that the Peace of God is not influenced by the circumstance without, because it is a peace that flows from within.

Now, most times we often mistake Peace in the face of trouble for inactivity. While at times, God can ask us not to fret and ask us to pause and just watch Him move, but often times, the Peace of God instructs our hearts to be quiet not just to be inactive but to be able to hear God and discern his voice above the wave that crashes around us, to give us the strategies on what to do and how to do it.
One thing lack of peace does to us is that it takes our gaze away from God and from Jesus so that we begin to see the trouble more than the power of God, but the peace of God calms our heart and helps us to focus on God and His word, helping us take Spirit informed decision that helps us!

Shall keep your hearts and minds: As stated earlier in the exposition of what the peace of God is, we were able to conclusively state that our soul is the one that is susceptible to lack of peace and hence what needs renewal consistently to experience the Peace of God from within. It is further established by the Apostle that the Peace of God keeps our hearts and minds through Jesus Christ.

Prior to verse 7, the scriptures stated that we should be anxious for nothing… and he ended that what would replace the anxiety is the Peace of God keeping our hearts. By interpretation the word keep is a military term that the writer employed to expressly state what the Peace of God does to our hearts. It is defined as: to guard, protect by a military guard, either to prevent hostile invasion, or to keep the inhabitants of a besieged city from flight. (Thayer’s Definition of Biblical terms)

Now, from that definition, we see that the word keep means to guard against hostile invasion, which can erode a territory. We can therefore infer that the Peace of God is one of our safeguarding systems to guard our hearts against anxiety, which is worrying, whose effect is to deflate our Faith and render us unable to take our stand against situations and circumstances that come challenging our stand in God. It also guards our hearts against fear when we face challenges that seem greater than us and helps us to maintain our focus on God!

Have you been anxious, worried or disheartened concerning any matter? It’s time to turn to the Lord and allow His peace rule over your heart. Remember, His peace transcends human reasoning and will guard your heart.