05 Fruit of the Spirit: Peace

Krisan Marotta: Welcome back to the Wednesday in the Word podcast. I'm Krisan Marotta, and this is my podcast about what the Bible means and how we know. This is the fifth talk in my series on the fruit of the spirit. You can find lecture notes for today's talk on the link below this podcast, or you can go directly to Wednesdayintheword.com slash fruit-spirit-peace. Thanks so much for listening. We are continuing our look at the fruit of the spirit from Galatians. In this series, we are seeking for what Paul had in mind when he wrote the list that he calls the fruit of the spirit. It's just a list of nouns, and the nouns can be rather abstract concepts. It's easy for us to pump into these words all kinds of ideas that we may bring to the table from modern psychology or current philosophy. What I'm trying to do in this series is explore scripture to figure out what the biblical authors had in mind when they talked about these concepts. So my goal is to figure out what Paul was thinking and what scripture says about them. Let me remind you briefly of the context in which we find this list. Paul wrote the letter to the Galatians to correct the teaching of the Judaizers. The Judaizers claimed that Christ's death on the cross is not enough to be saved. They said to be really pleasing to God, Gentile believers must be circumcised and follow the Mosaic law. And Paul wrote this letter to the Galatians to refute that claim, and he spends most of his time arguing that faith in Jesus is sufficient for salvation. In the immediate context where we find this list, Paul is explaining why removing the consequences of the law does not give us a license to pursue sin. Part of the gift of saving faith is learning to hate sin and to love holiness. We begin to see the world the way God sees it and we long to be free from sin. So freedom in Christ gives us a different motivation to avoid sin. We have the teaching and guidance of the Spirit, who is giving us a heart that loves God and loves holiness. Paul argues that legalism or lawkeeping leads to a kind of hypocritical or fake moral transformation. Seeking to follow the law means we now follow laws we used to break, but inside we're still the same selfish, sinful people. Outward obedience to the law is not a true moral transformation because nothing about our character has changed. And he argues that one of the ways we know this, one of the ways we know that law-keeping produces only a superficial external kind of change is by the things that result from law-keeping. And right before our list of the fruit of the spirit, Paul gives a list of what he calls the works of the flesh, which are things like self-righteousness, judgmentalism, jealousy, envy, anger, factions, and divisions. On the other hand, he argues true moral transformation comes through the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit works in those who have been forgiven by virtue of what Christ has done on the cross. As we come to understand the truth that the Spirit teaches us, the decisions we make start changing and we start pursuing the things of God, not selfishness and sin. So far in this list, we have looked at love and joy. Today we're going to talk about peace, which is, of course, the next one on the list. Peace as a concept is rather simple and easy to understand. We use this word all the time, so it may seem like, well, you know, there's not much to study here. But our goal is not to understand the concept of peace in general, but to understand how scripture speaks of it and why it would be a fruit of the Spirit. Although peace seems to be a kind of simple word and a simple concept, the way it's used in Scripture, as we'll see, is nuanced and varied. We're going to approach this today by first surveying the field. We'll look generally at what sort of things the Bible talks about with this word peace. And then we'll look at what Paul means and why he put it on this list. I'll start with a fundamental use of the word peace. It's a very important way the word is used in the Bible. The Bible tells us that we have peace with God. And the classic statement of that is in Romans 5.1. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. So we want to think about what does it mean to have peace with God? This sort of peace is not a calm, collected feeling that I have when I think about God. It's not a lack of anxiety when I remember that God is my friend or something like that. In Romans 5.1, he says, Since we have been justified, we have peace with God. We have been at war with God, and now that war is over and we are justified. Peace has been declared. As Paul says a few verses later in 5.10, we were once enemies of God, but now we are reconciled to him. In this context, having peace with God means we are no longer under God's wrath. We are no longer God's enemies. We are no longer rebels against him. Because we have been forgiven and justified by the cross of Christ, the war between us is over and we now have peace. That's part of the great news of the gospel. It doesn't seem like great news until you get it through your head that we really are sinners and we really are under the wrath of God. There is this horrible break between us and God because of our sin, and that's a problem we can't solve on our own. But once you really understand that break is there, then the proclamation that there is peace with God through Christ is a great, wonderful proclamation. In spite of the fact that we are sinners, in spite of the fact that we have acted in a way that made us God's enemies, we are no longer God's enemies because of what Christ did. God now thinks of us as his children, as his friends, and we are at peace. And that is a great and important proclamation in the Bible. Now, if we stop and think about it, we would quickly realize that peace as opposed to war is probably not what Paul is getting at when he describes peace as a fruit of the Spirit. If anything, this kind of peace is the foundation upon which all the fruits of the Spirit are built. The war between us and God did not end because the Spirit is working in us. The end of the war came first, and because the war has ended, the Spirit is now working in us. Because we are at peace with God, God graciously gave us his spirit, and his spirit is now changing us to produce these fruits. So this kind of peace with God is not a result of the Spirit's work. The reason the Spirit is at work in us at all is because we have peace with God. That's an important aspect of the way this word is used in Scripture, but it's not what Paul is getting at in this list of the fruit of the Spirit. Peace with God as opposed to war describes something that is on God's side of the relationship. God made the decision to accept us. We are at peace with God because he decided to accept Christ's death on the cross as payment for our sins, and his perspective toward us has changed because of Christ. So we're looking for something else. We need to look at what else Scripture says about peace. Does the Bible talk about a kind of peace that is in our lives as a result of the work of the Spirit? And in fact, it does. It has a lot to say about that. And that's the area we're going to concentrate on. But as you'll see, that area can be a little tricky. In the passages we're going to look at, we'll see that peace can refer to a couple of different ideas or a couple of different aspects of this idea of peace. And often it is difficult to pinpoint exactly which aspect the author means because in many cases all the different aspects fit in the context. Let me give you a couple of examples to show you what I mean. First, let's look at the upper room discourse in the Gospel of John. This discourse starts in chapter 13 and continues on for several chapters. In this talk, Jesus tells his disciples that he's going away, that he's going to die, but that he's going to be resurrected. He tells them they are going to have great sorrow over this, that he will be arrested that very evening and they're going to scatter, and they will face this period of great sorrow, confusion, and fear. Obviously, the cross was very tough for Jesus, but it was tough for his apostles as well. And Jesus warns them that this hard stuff is coming, yet he also encourages them. And in that discussion, he says this in John 16, 32 and 33. Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world. So Jesus tells his apostles, I told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but have courage because I have overcome the world. As Bible students, we want to ask ourselves, well, what does Jesus mean when he says, In me you may have peace? What does he mean by peace? And it's not such a simple question. If you start thinking about it, there are a few good options that fit the context. One thing he might mean is peace as opposed to trouble. He might mean peace in the sense of the ending of all your trials and troubles and tribulations so that I have a life where goodness, blessing, and harmony reign instead. And the Bible sometimes uses the word peace in that sense. To have a life of peace is one where my enemies no longer attack me, because I have no more enemies. Instead of turmoil and distress, I have harmony and blessing and goodness. But in this context, Jesus says, in this world you have tribulation. Right now, in this world, you're going to have trials, tribulations, and trouble, but take courage, I have overcome the world. So that doesn't sound like peace in the sense of our troubles are going to end anytime soon. I think he means that ultimately, whatever troubles the world sends our way, they are not going to prevail. They cannot last. Jesus has overcome the world. So ultimately, the trials, the tribulations are not going to win. Victory will be his. In the end, the world's troubles are not going to engulf or overwhelm his disciples. As hard as they are, those trials and tribulations cannot separate us from the plans or the purposes of God. Jesus has overcome them. Through his death on the cross, Jesus secures a place for his people in the kingdom of God. And ultimately, in the kingdom of God is where we will find peace in the sense of the end of all our troubles, tears, death, and tribulation. So I don't think Jesus is talking about having peace in the sense of a smooth, travel-free life right now, but he could be talking about having a trouble-free life in the kingdom of heaven. When he says, in me you have peace, he might be referring to the fact that ultimately his death is going to bring that kind of peace about in the kingdom of heaven. So I would look at the second option, the second option that peace is the end of all troubles, and think that is not likely to be a fruit of the Spirit either, because it's not something the Spirit is producing in us now. Rather, it is our great hope. It is a promise one day God will fully realize in heaven. There's a third possibility. He might mean what we think of as peace of mind. Right now, in the midst of the troubles of today, we have peace of mind. We have confidence that those troubles are not going to overwhelm us or overcome us. And notice in this context, he says, Right now you have troubles. You have not yet arrived at peace, but take courage. Remember, I have overcome the world and I am ultimately going to bring an end to the troubles. So in the face of all that, take courage now. In other words, he might be saying, Be at peace in your minds. You don't need to worry about how all of this is going to turn out, because in the end, it's going to turn out well for you. You can have peace of mind now because one day I will grant you eternal life in the kingdom of heaven and that will end all your troubles. Now that's a very common way for us to think about peace and to talk about peace as Christians. If I read modern Christian culture, right, at least in America, I think that peace of mind is probably the way we are most inclined to interpret this word. In the Bible, when we see peace, we often think of it as this personal feeling of confidence or sense of calmness that I feel because I trust in the outcome, because I know that God has me in his hand, despite my circumstances, I feel this sense of calmness or lack of anxiety. Now I'm convinced that the Bible teaches this concept of peace of mind. Scripture teaches that my understanding that God is in control can and does bring me comfort in the midst of life's troubles. Knowing God is working all things to make me more like Christ eases my anxieties now. The promises of the gospel bring me peace of mind. That is very much part of the biblical picture. The Bible does talk about having peace as in peace of mind when I stand firmly on the promises of the gospel. No matter what trials or troubles of I face, I know that God is in control. That eases my anxiety and gives me peace. And we can see this in John 16. That kind of peace is a good candidate for being a fruit of the Spirit. Because as the Spirit teaches me more truth, gives me a more mature understanding of the promises of the gospel, and makes God's promises more real to me, that promotes this confidence, this peace of mind in the face of suffering. But before we think we're done and we've solved our interpretive problems, there is a fourth sense in which we find this word peace used. So we've seen peace as opposed to war, we've seen peace as the end of trials and suffering, we've seen peace as of peace of mind, and let me give you another passage which points to a fourth option. This is Philippians 4, verses 6 and 7. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Now, if that's all we read, we just read those two verses. I expect most of us would think that Paul is talking about the peace of mind as we just discussed. The peace of God which surpasses all understanding must be that calmness, that lack of anxiety we've been talking about. After all, he says, be anxious about nothing, but rather pray and the peace of God will guard your hearts. And I would say, yes, peace of mind is a legitimate interpretation. Be anxious for nothing, remember who God is, remember his plans for you. When anxieties and troubles start to weigh you down, turn to God in prayer. The alternative to being anxious is remembering that you have a God who loves you and cares about you and who is in control. And the peace of God in that context might easily mean this kind of peace of mind, that inner confidence we have in the midst of circumstances that would otherwise make us anxious and fearful. But if we back up a few verses, we would notice there's another issue going on in Philippians 4. Let's back up to verse 2. I entreat Euodia and Syntiche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women who have labored side by side with me in the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. So if we back up into the context of chapter four, we see there's another issue at stake. Paul starts this discussion by urging two women in the community to live in harmony in the Lord. These two believing women in the church at Philippi are not getting along. They are engaged in some kind of little feud, or maybe it's not so little, and their dispute is troubling the church community. They're fighting, they're bickering with each other in some way, and Paul urges them to stop fighting and live in harmony. Then he exhorts them to rejoice in the Lord and let their forbearing spirit be known to everyone. And then we get the two verses that we just read about not being anxious about anything and the peace of God guarding your hearts. So he could be saying something like this, Youodia, I know you're having these problems with syndicate. I know that she said some things about you that you don't like, or maybe she did something to hurt you and you don't like it. But what foundation do you stand on? Where do you find security and contentment? Can you only be secure and content when everybody around you treats you the way you want to be treated? Or does your confidence and your security come from resting in the Lord? The Lord is near, he's going to bring his kingdom. One day he will make life what it ought to be. Right now, he's at work in your life, even in the midst of the strife. So what's the problem ultimately? Yes, Syndicate is a problem, but in the grand scheme of things, how big a problem is she? Is she a threat to the hope of the gospel? Well, you know she's not. Rejoice in the Lord. Remember the Lord is near. Overlook her sins and the way she has hurt you. Be humble, be gentle, forgiving those around you because you know where you have put your trust. Don't be anxious about this trouble with your friend, but pray and turn to God. Talk this whole situation over with him, and the peace which surpasses understanding will guard your heart. That's another very legitimate interpretive possibility. The big issue in this context of chapter four is peace as the opposite of strife. The force of the passage is these two women need to be at peace with each other as opposed to fighting with each other. Now, I've only given you Philippians, but there are many other passages where peace is used to talk about believers getting along with each other and describing how the church is supposed to work and live together. A major theme in Paul's letters is that believers are called to be at peace with each other as opposed to strife and fighting. Okay, so we have seen that there are basically three options for how peace could be a fruit of the Spirit because we've ruled out the first option, which is the end of war. So the remaining three are Paul could mean a peaceful environment. A life of peace is a life without turmoil, trouble, or enemies. And we talked about how it's absolutely true that one day that kind of peace will be ours in the kingdom of heaven. God is at work to bring about that kind of peace because he has vanquished sin and death, evil and corruption, and that is part of our hope in the gospel. As a candidate for what Paul means by the fruit of the Spirit, I think that is the least likely option. The second choice for what Paul might mean is peace of mind. Even though I'm living in a troubled world. Now I can have peace instead because I know that God is in control. I can have contentment or comfort or a place of security instead of anxiety because I stand on this rock of the gospel. That too is a biblical teaching. Scripture teaches that we can have confidence in God no matter how crazy the world gets because we are standing on his unshakable promises. What God has said will be, will be. God has promised to save us, to grant us a place in his kingdom, and nothing is going to stop those promises from being fulfilled. Yes, we have troubles aplenty right now, but we know that God is in control and he is working to bring about our salvation. And Paul could mean this type of peace of mind as a fruit of the Spirit. This is the same logic we saw in the last podcast where we talked about joy. We talked about how joy delights in the outcome of our trials. Joy delights in knowing that God is in the process of saving me. Similarly, peace remains calm in the face of troubles. Peace trumps anxiety, it trumps worry because we know God is in control and nothing can happen to us that can snatch us from his plans and purposes. So we can have peace of mind because we know that God is on our side and nothing ultimately is going to overcome him. Now I should probably stop right there because if this is what Paul means, we could certainly understand the importance of it. We could understand what a significant thing that kind of peace of mind is and how the Spirit brings it about in us as he increases our understanding. Here's the reason I'm going to go on. If you look at the way the word peace is used in the New Testament, the vast majority of places talking about peace are in that third sense of peace as opposed to strife. The majority of passages that talk about peace talk about believers getting along with each other. And if we go back into Galatians 5, we discover getting along with each other is a big theme in chapter 5. In the context of Galatians, Paul urges them not to bite and devour one another. He urges them to love each other instead of the kind of backbiting and factions that he currently sees. As they strive to keep the law, they are falling into a legalistic self-righteousness. They're judging each other and fighting about who's keeping the law properly and who isn't. And there are all these envies, jealousies, factions, and divisions. The Galatian church is filled with this kind of strife. Well, if you don't follow the rules like I follow the rules, then I can't have fellowship with you. And if you don't follow the rules like I follow the rules, then you must not be a true believer. And so I'm going to reject you. And all that sort of infighting is going on. Right before the list of the fruit of the spirit, Paul gives us the list of what comes from the flesh. And the majority of items on that list concern how we get along with each other: enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions. Given that larger context, I can't rule out that the fruit of the spirit that Paul is talking about is peace with one another as opposed to strife. Now, remember, I am not denying that there is a peace of mind that results from a strong faith. I think that is absolutely true. A profound comfort and encouragement results from understanding the gospel. That understanding is indeed a fruit of the Spirit in our lives. That's all true. But in this context, where he's been talking about the kinds of dissensions and divisions that result from the flesh, I think it's also likely that Paul wants to emphasize the peace that we believers can have with each other. Assume for a moment that's what Paul means. Peace within a community of believers. If that's what Paul means, then let's think about how such a peace comes about. How is peace within a community of believers a fruit of the Spirit? I have been arguing that the fruit of the Spirit is not a set of feelings that automatically come upon me when I become a believer. I have argued that when we become believers, we do not immediately or continuously feel love, joy, peace, and so forth. We don't float around in this bubble of good feelings all the time. Instead, over time, in the midst of hardship and trials, the Spirit brings home to us the reality of the gospel and the implications of the gospel for our lives. The Spirit overcomes our selfishness. Each of us is inclined to make ourselves the center of the universe. Each of us believes that it's okay to trample others to meet our own needs and so forth, but the Spirit breaks through that selfishness and teaches us that the gospel is true, that God exists and his promises can be counted on, that everything we have comes from his hand, that we are sinners who need mercy. God offers mercy through the cross. One day God will prevail over sin and death. And all of that, the hope of the gospel, is becoming my personal hope through the work of the Spirit because of the truth he teaches me. The Spirit changes our perspective on life. We don't walk around with a vague feeling of joy. We come to understand God is on our side and he's working for our good. And the more we understand that, the more we respond to life with gratitude, humility, prayer, and joy. But the understanding precedes the response. The personal commitment to the truth leads to the fruit in the end. The same thing is true with peace between believers. Everyone who's been a believer for any length of time knows believers do not automatically feel supernatural feelings of peace all the time, nor do they get along with each other all the time. Walk into any church and you'll find conflicts all over the place. There always has been and there always will be. Someone's feelings are always being hurt, someone always thinks they have a better plan than the one being implemented. Some groups are always critical of other groups. We fight over which ministries get attention from the pulpit and which don't. We fight over what kind of music we'll sing, how often we serve communion, and even the color of the carpet in the sanctuary. How could peace be a fruit of the spirit given that church communities are filled with bickering? The fruit of the spirit is something that emerges through trials and struggles in our lives. In the end, the spirit is leading us away from our natural attraction to hostility and selfishness. To the extent that the spirit has not yet changed us, we are going to continue to fight and bicker. But as we actually embrace the truth of the gospel, our thinking will start to change. Our reactions and our responses will change. But it's not easy and it's not automatic. We could describe the fruit of the Spirit as a lifelong struggle to be a person of faith. In my experience, which is not scientific or tested in any way, the more a church teaches the actual real gospel, the less fighting there is. Because when fighting erupts, we can appeal to the common ground of the gospel to work it out. The less the real gospel is actually taught, the less common ground exists and the more the fighting continues. Now that's just my experience. What are some other reasons that being a person of faith would produce peace among us? One of them I already talked about when I was speculating what Paul was saying to Euodia and Syntichy about being anxious for nothing. If I have an issue with another believer, I can choose to be at peace with her. I can forbear with her by remembering God is in control. He is the one who will ultimately bring blessings into my life. If I think that I have been wronged or harmed in some way, he is the one I can go to. I don't have to beat my friend into an apology or submission. I can trust God to look out for me. Instead, I can go to him in prayer and lay it all at his feet. The more I understand God is in control, the more I am free to forgive other people for any wrongs I perceive they've done. I can stop expecting them to be perfect. I can stop demanding that they perform to my expectations. Instead, I can put my weight on God and His promises. I can expect Him to teach and correct my friends or me or both of us. The more that I understand that my life is in the mighty hands of God, the more I am free to stop judging other people and demanding that they change. I don't have to nag or threaten or annoy or argue with my church friends because God is going to take care of it. We are both going to survive. God is going to teach us both. I can talk to my friends reasonably from a position of humility, not arrogance. I can gently plead my case rather than lashing out in anger. I can walk away and trust God and ask him to keep my mouth shut until I can speak in love. Peace among believers comes about because the same spirit is working in all of us. The more we actually understand our faith and grow in our confidence in God, the more we are free to treat each other as we would want to be treated. So the more the Spirit teaches us, the more we can say, I do trust God. I do believe He's working for my good. Even if you, my friend, are not working for my good right now, I can relax and let God handle it. That's one way peace among believers comes about. Another thing I think the Bible teaches is that as people of faith, we are coming to understand God and his values better. And the more we understand what God is up to in the world, the more we can be at peace with each other right now. In this world, God is very patient. God blesses his enemies and those who reject him. He sends rain and goodness to those who love him and to those who mock him. He postpones his judgment to give us a chance to repent and come back to him. And Jesus urges us to be like our heavenly Father and love our enemies in that way. But there's another important thing we know about God. God says, Vengeance is mine. A day is coming when God will judge. He will show mercy to some and he will bring justice to others. They will be judged and found guilty. When I know these two things about God, first that he is patient and forbearing, then I strive to follow his example. I know that I'm guilty. I know that God has been patient and forbearing with me. So how do I have any right to demand that he throw the book at you? And second, I know that God will bring justice. Ultimately, the wicked will be judged and appropriately punished, but it's not my job to make sure that happens. God is going to do it. He will judge with righteousness and justice when it's time. I can be at peace with those in the world with whom it's hard to be at peace because I know that God is patient and he will bring justice. I can count on God to make things right. I don't have to fight back, I don't have to assert my rights, I don't have to demand fair treatment, I can wait and trust God and be at peace. Now that would be another good place to stop, but there's one more passage I want to look at. This is Ephesians 4, verses 1 through 6. I, therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Paul describes the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. And let's think about that. God is saving you, God is saving me, God is saving all the people sitting around you in church, God is saving people in other countries, tribes, and groups. We have the same spirit at work in us. We are being taught the same gospel and we're being brought into the same kingdom. This is the unity of the spirit. If I accept the idea that God is gathering a people for himself from throughout the world, then I can't really believe that I'm unique and the only one who knows anything. I can't act as if he's only working in me. If we accept as true that the Spirit of God is working in the world at large, then he is at work in all of his people. I'm not the only one whose eyes are being opened to the truth. I'm not the only one being forgiven. I'm not the only one who has a place in the kingdom of God. So Paul says with humility and gentleness, patience, showing forbearance, we should be diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. I think what he's saying here is we are called to forbear with one another. We are called to be diligent in showing patience with each other's faults and flaws. We ought to be keeping short accounts with each other and actively seeking to be at peace as opposed to war or strife. We are called to be quick to forgive and quick to admit our own mistakes. And this is a big issue. If the most important truth to me is my perceived offense and the way you've treated me, then I'm making a mockery of my claim to believe in the work of the Spirit of God. How could it possibly be the case that other people's offenses or shortcomings are the primary problem in my life? Step one of coming to repentance is realizing I'm a sinner and God would find me guilty apart from the blood of Jesus Christ. How other people treat me is really nothing in comparison to that. Once I realize I'm a sinner, the next step is realizing you and I are in the same boat. There is no basis on which I can judge you and condemn you that does not also condemn me. God is saving both of us by his grace. We are being brought together into the family of God. There won't be any segregation in the kingdom of heaven. I can't say, well, Lord, you know, keep that person in that particular corner of the kingdom so that I don't have to deal with them. Now I understand you're the kind of God that lets even people like that in. Okay, but could you just keep that person away from me? Put them over in that other corner or climate or territory. That'd be great. It doesn't work that way. The gospel teaches us we are equal before God. I have no basis on which to judge myself superior to anyone. You can be part of the kingdom of God or you can be outside it. Those are your choices. You can choose to accept Jesus, but you don't get to choose who else accepts Jesus. You are now family with everyone else who accepts Jesus as Lord. I hope you see what I'm getting at here. The minute we start wrestling with the question of whether we are going to be at peace with someone, or we are going to be offended by them, or we are going to pick a fight with them, or we're trying to decide how are we going to treat each other, the content of our faith becomes an important issue. What we believe to be true changes how we think of ourselves and others, both inside and outside the family of God. It's so easy for us to think that the most important issue on the table is my needs, my perceived offense, and what I want. But the Spirit of God teaches us to take off those self-centered blinders and focus on the big picture. This issue was particularly important in the early church, which was a mixed community of Jews and Gentiles. By nature, if you go back through the Old Testament, you'll see that those two groups of people are not very inclined to think well of each other and they don't usually get along. Jews had a difficult time accepting that Gentiles had an equal share with them in the kingdom of God, and Gentiles responded likewise, looking upon Jews with contempt for all their rules and regulations. So, apart from the work of the Spirit of God, there was this animosity between Jews and Gentiles in the early church. And part of what Paul is teaching in Ephesians is that God made peace between himself and us, and he made peace with both groups. He made peace between himself and the Gentiles, and that means that we have been made to be at peace with each other. We have been brought together into one church, one group, one community. We can't say, oh, there's going to be a Jewish quarter of the kingdom and an African quarter and a European quarter or whatever. We are accepted together as the people of God. The fact that God has reached out to us across all lines of race, religion, tribe, Jew, Gentile, ethnic lines, social status, that ought to mean something. Because God has also reached out across the line of I'm ticked off at you and you're ticked off at me. Ultimately, the hope of the gospel must mean something to us. If my hope is in the gospel and your hope is in the gospel, then you and I will spend eternity together. We are in this together and we might as well start getting along now. Church is often the place where we wrestle with this truth the most. I was part of a church for over 20 years, and then a new pastor came and he drove a theological wedge right down the middle of the church. It was a really difficult time because I had lifelong friends on both sides of the wedge. People I looked up to and considered role models were suddenly on opposite sides of this theological line. To me, the theology of it was clear and I felt compelled to take a strong stand on my side of the line, but at the same time, I had to recognize that people who were quite obviously believers, people I considered lifelong friends, were on the other side of the line. And it was a very painful time. I had to wrestle almost daily with how to apply this truth to be at peace with each other. And I'm not sure I did it very well. I think this issue of being at peace with each other is one of the hardest truths that we believers have to learn. Whenever someone disappoints us, we are quick to go to war. It's just so natural for us to get offended, to get angry, to get our feathers ruffled apart from the work of the Spirit of God. One of the great implications of our faith is God is working for our good and we can trust Him. Even if we can't trust each other all the time, we can trust that God is in control, God is patient, and God is forbearing. We can learn it's not our job to pass judgment. It's not our job to try to give everybody what they deserve, especially among my fellow believers. Whether we like it or not, we believers are in this together in a way that we are not in it with anybody else in the world. God has formed a bond between us, and it is a very serious thing for us to take that bond lightly or to try to break it. But thankfully, we have the Spirit of God at work in us to teach us how to be at peace with each other. So to wrap this up, I think there's two really good contenders for what Paul means by peace. One is the peace of mind or the confidence we have as we stand firm in our faith. We can stand strong in the midst of trials and face them with peace as opposed to anxiety because we firmly believe the promises of God. I think that's probably the most common or the most popular way to understand the peace as a fruit of the spirit. But I think there's a second really good option, and that is as we grow in our understanding of the gospel, we have peace in the community of believers. And given the context, I think this one is just a bit more likely. As the Spirit removes our self-centered glasses and teaches us that we believers are equal before God, we learn to be forgiving, forbearing, and to wait on God to set everything right. As we let go of our self centered ways and we stand united on the promises of the gospel, we become more slow to anger and less prone to strife. Neither of these options is a feeling that the Pours out on us. Rather, they are both a change in perspective that grows out of our understanding of truth. You've been listening to the Wednesday in the Word podcast. My mission is to explain not only what a passage means but how we figure it out. I don't accept advertising on my website, nor do I ask for donations. Your subscriptions, ratings, and reviews are the advertising for this program. But it does encourage me to hear from you. Please leave a positive rating on your favorite podcast platform or drop me an email. But most importantly, tell a friend what you learned and where you learned it. Our theme music is graciously provided by Reggie Coates. You can find more of his music at heartfeltmusic.org. If you'd like to find out more about my teaching or hear previous episodes in this series, please go to Wednesdayintheword.com. Thank you for joining me today. I'm Krisan Marotta. I hope I'll see you next week at Wednesday in the Word.