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Jesus is the Prince of Peace, as we know, and all those who take up the life of peace-making will know His blessings and favor. This is certainly true. To a point. Peace-making is a very specific activity in the economy of King Jesus. For there can be no peace such as He promises and brings without a certain measure of violence. They who would be at peace with God, for example, must first die to themselves. To have peace in our souls we must mortify, put to death, the passions and practices of the flesh. We have been commissioned to live at peace with all men and to bear the peace of Jesus to them, but the problem is that many are unwilling to enter into that peace on God’s terms, and so we can expect them to resist the message of Truth, even violently.
Jesus is the Prince of Peace, but He establishes His peace at the point of the sword – the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word and Truth of God. If we would know the peace of Jesus, we must know it on His terms, for His terms alone are true and righteous altogether.
Peace is not simply the absence of conflict. We are not necessarily serving the cause of peace when we are avoiding conflict and confrontation with the unbelieving people in our lives. We are not furthering the cause of peace when we are content to let them live as they choose, even though their choices may be harmful to them and others and an offense to God. We cannot further the Kingdom of peace by allowing men to dictate the terms and conditions of their submission to the Prince of Peace. And when we insist that Jesus alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and His Word alone is true and gives life and purpose to men, that will create conflict with many who do not like the idea of submitting to anyone other than their own whims and fancies.
Jesus left us His peace, it is true, but it is His peace, the terms of which He alone defines and the maintenance of which He ensures according to the eternal terms and conditions set forth in His Word. We who are called to be peace-makers must seek the peace of Jesus, not merely some notion of everybody getting along on terms agreeable to all. That’s not true peace but a sham. True peace is in Jesus, by Jesus, according to Jesus, with Jesus, and for the sake of making Jesus known throughout the world. That peace can only be achieved through the Sword of God’s Word, which insists that Truth is what it declares, and all who deny the Truth of Scripture are liars, deceivers, and perpetrators of woe.
Seek the peace of Jesus, but make sure it is His peace you seek, in His way, according to His terms and conditions. And as you seek it, don’t be surprised to discover that the Truth which sets men free into the peace that passes understanding, will often disturb, trouble, and even provoke those who are yet slaves to the Lie of the devil.
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Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
VP Truth That Troubles
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