FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
PEACE
DR. JIM DIXON
GALATIANS 5:22-26
NOVEMBER 29, 1992
On June 27, 1969, El Salvador and Honduras competed in a World Cup soccer match. The game was remarkably close. It came down towards the very end and El Salvador and Honduras were tied 2-2. Just before the end of the soccer game, the referee called a controversial penalty on Honduras, and El Salvador was given a free kick. They were successful and El Salvador won the soccer game 3-2. There were riots in the capital cities of Honduras and in El Salvador. The rioting in Salvador was a riot rooted in celebration. The riot in Honduras was a riot rooted in rage. The political leaders of these two nations began to be caught up in all of the feelings. They began to exchange comments with one another. The political leaders of Honduras calling the leaders of El Salvador “cheaters.” The political leaders in El Salvador were calling the leaders in Honduras “losers.” Unbelievably on July 3, 1969, these two nations declared war on each other. In that war (this is a historical fact) thousands of people died. Because of that war, the Central American Common Market shut down, causing food shortages and starvation in both nations all because of a soccer game.
It is an unbelievable world we live in. Peace is elusive. War is easy. That is the human predicament. It should not surprise us that historians tell us that in the recorded history of this world, there has been an absence of international war only 8% of the time. 92% of the time in recorded history, there have been at least two nations at war with each other. Unbelievable. But, you see, our Lord Jesus Christ tells us that until we come to the consummation of the age, all the way through this age of the world, there will be wars and rumors of wars.
There is a plaque on the moon placed by man. The plaque says, “We Come in Peace for All Mankind.” That plaque was placed there on the moon by Armstrong and Aldrin. In the Apollo 11 flight, they placed the plaque there on the Sea of Tranquility. It is, of course, impossible, unfortunately, for astronauts to offer peace to mankind. There is only one person, the Bible tells us, who truly can offer peace to men and women. There is only one person who can offer peace to our world and that one person, the Bible tells us, is Jesus Christ.
In Isaiah, chapter 9, it says, “Unto you a child is born. Unto us a son is given. The government shall be upon His shoulders, and He shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Father of Everlasting, the Prince of Peace. His government and of its peace, there shall be no end.” We are told in Micah, chapter 5, “You, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are least among the clans of Judah, out of you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient days He shall stand and feed His flock in the strength of the Lord and the majesty of the Lord His God. His people shall dwell secure. He shall be great, and He shall be the one of peace.” Jesus said ,”Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you.”
In the Bible, our Lord Jesus Christ is called the Lord of Peace. The peace that Christ offers is not simply the absence of war. Now, it is true that one day our Lord Jesus Christ will bring international peace to this earth. The Bible says, “He shall descend from heaven with a cry of command and with the archangels call and the sound of the trumpet of God.” The Bible says, “Every eye shall see Him, everyone who pierced Him, and all the nations of the earth will cry out on account of Him.” The Bible says, “He will beat our swords into-plowshares, our spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation. Neither shall they learn war anymore.” He is the Prince of Peace.
But, you see, even now Jesus Christ offers peace. Jesus Christ offers peace to each and every one of you. Jesus Christ offers peace to every man and woman in the world. The peace that He offers is a deep peace. It is a greater peace than the mere absence of war.
This morning I would like us to understand and examine the biblical meaning of peace. I have two teachings and the first is this. Biblically, the word peace means “secure.” It means “safe.” Jesus Christ offers to give you peace. He is offering to make you feel safe. He is offering to make you feel secure. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you. Not as the world gives give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled. Neither let it be afraid.”
You see, the Greek word “eirene,” the Greek word for peace, as well as the Hebrew word “shalom,” both referred not simply to the absence of war but to inward security, to a sense inwardly that you are safe. Only Jesus Christ can offer that to you to help you feel safe inside. You see we live in a world where people are filled and flooded with fear. People have many fears. I think the greatest fear in the world is the fear of death. It is not known to many people but in the days of the Roman Empire, the Roman legions, the men who served in those Roman legions were motivated by fear. They were riddled with fear.
Periodically the Roman legions would be decimated. Now, I think when you think of the word decimate, you have an idea of wiping out or obliterating, but that was not the original meaning of the word decimate. The word decimate comes from the Latin “decimatio,” and it means a tenth. You see, when the Roman authorities decimated the Roman legions, it meant they killed a tenth of the soldiers in each legion. A Roman legion consisted of 4,000 to 6,000 men, depending upon the period of Roman history. When that legion was not performing well, when it was not up to snuff and it was not doing its job really well, or even if its attitude were not great, the Roman authorities would decimate that Roman legion. They would kill a tenth of the soldiers. Those names would be drawn by lots so nobody in the legion knew whether they were going to live or die. Now that is fear. They were motivated by fear.
Pax Romana, the great Roman peace, was not a peace in the heart. It was not a peace that was rooted in safety or security. It was a peace that was simply the order that came from rule of law. It was a peace that was established in fear.
Jesus Christ offers true peace. The truth of the matter is every single person on this planet fears death just like the members of those Roman legions. Every single man and woman in this world knows that death is coming. Most people fear death. The Bible says most people live in bondage to fear of death. That is what we are told in the book of Hebrew. Men and women in this world live in bondage to the fear of death. They cannot have peace because they do not feel safe. They do not feel secure. If you really want to have peace, you must know that even death cannot conquer you. If you really want to have peace, you need to know that you have conquered death and you are going to live forever. That is peace and only Jesus Christ can offer that. That is why Jesus Christ said, “Fear not. I am the Living One. I died, but I’m alive forevermore.”
Jesus Christ says to all who believe in His name, “Because I live, you will live also.” Jesus Christ said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he dies, yet shall he live, and he who lives and believes in Me will never truly die.” God wants you to have the peace that passes understanding, the peace that comes in the knowledge that you are safe in the hands of Christ eternally, the peace that comes from knowing you are never going to die. Only Christ offers that peace. The Bible says, “God loved the world so much He gave His only begotten Son. Whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.”
You have heard that verse a thousand times and yet you have never really responded to it. You see, according to a recent study of churches in America, 48% of the men and women who attend churches in the United States of America do not believe that Jesus Christ is God, Lord and Savior. I do not know how many of you believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, but I know this: If you would commit your life to Christ as Savior and Lord—if you would choose to believe—Jesus Christ will give you peace, the peace that passes understanding. He offers to give you eternal life.
You might say, “Well, how is this the fruit of the Holy Spirit?” That is the fruit of the Holy Spirit because, you see, it is the Holy Spirit who convicts us of sin. It is the Holy Spirit who leads us to repentance. It is the Holy Spirit who draws us to the Savior. It is the Holy Spirit who attends the gospel whenever the gospel is preached and proclaimed. When we respond to the gospel and we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, it is the Holy Spirit who comes to dwell within us. It is the Holy Spirit who seals us, the Bible says, for eternal salvation and it is the Holy Spirit who bears witness in our spirit once we have become children of God that we are children of God.
The Bible says in Romans 8,”When we cry Abba, when we as Christian cry Abba, Father, it is the Spirit Himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are indeed children of God. “If you want this magnificent work of the Spirit in your life, you need to make sure you have asked Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior that you might be safe and secure eternally. Jesus said, “I know My sheep. They hear My voice. They follow Me. I give them eternal life. No, one is able to snatch that out of My hand. My Father is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.” You see, that’s safety. That is security. That is peace.
Now in the year 1775, Lord North, who was Prime Minister of Great Britain during the reign of King George III, issued a proclamation approved by the British Parliament—a proclamation that was designed to appease the American colonies. It was an overture of peace. It was an overture which granted the American colonies power to tax themselves, power to set up their own administration, power to set up their own military defense. It was a gesture of peace. The problem was that it came too late. This proclamation, this offers from Great Britain, came too late. It came five days after the battle of Lexington. The Revolutionary War had already begun.
Historians will tell us that there are many times throughout history when overtures of peace simply came too late. God wants you to know today for a fact that if you wait until you die, you have waited too long. If you wait until after you die to try to make peace with God, that is too late. If you want to be reconciled to God, today is the day. If you want to have peace with God, today is the day. We are going to give you a chance to ask Christ into your heart as we conclude the service today.
Now there is a second kind of peace the spirit of Christ offers—a second meaning of the word peace. The word peace, biblically, not only means secure and safe but also means “whole” or “complete.” In fact, according to Kittel and Colin Brown, two of the leading Greek and Hebrew authorities, the primary meaning of the Hebrew word “shalom” and the primary meaning of the biblical Greek word “eirene” is “whole” or “complete.” You see, you cannot really have peace until you have become whole, until you have become complete.
I know most of you have heard of Nehemiah. Nehemiah was the Jewish Governor of Judea. He was the cup bearer of Artaxerxes who was King of the Persian Empire in the 5th century. It was Nehemiah who undertook the great task of leading the reconstruction, the rebuilding, of the walls of the holy city of Jerusalem. Obviously, the rebuilding of the walls of the city of Jerusalem was a precious undertaking, a precious task for the Jews. When the walls of the city were finally completed, in the Bible, in the book of Nehemiah, it is said, “The walls were at peace.” Once those walls were completed, the walls are spoken of as being “at peace.” Many times, in the Bible the word “shalom” is not translated by the word “peace.” Many times, in the Bible the word “shalom “is translated by the English words “complete,” “finished,” even “made perfect.” These are the meanings of the word “peace.” This is also carried over into the Greek meaning of “Eirene,” so that to be at peace is to be complete, to be made whole—in some sense, to be finished.
Now I must say if you have become a Christian, there is a sense in which you have become complete. Now what I am going to say is very important here. I would like you to concentrate because this is a little theological But, you see, the Bible tells us that as human beings we are very complex. The Bible tells us that we are trichotomous by nature, that we are body, soul, and spirit, that we are in a sense 3-part beings. We are body, which is the Greek word “soma.” We are soul, which is the Greek word “psyche,” and we are spirit, which is the Greek word “pneuma.”
Our body, our soma, includes everything that is physical in us, from our brain to our heart to our limbs. The brain is simply a physical computer. Our soul, our psyche, is our mind, our will. You see, biblically this is where volition is seated. It’s where moral autonomy resides. It is where we govern. It is where we make choices. Your soul, your psyche, your mind, simply uses your brain as a computer and indeed it governs your body in some fashion.
Now there is a third part to man, speaking of men generically, and that third part is the spirit, the pneuma. This is variously defined and it is kind of an elusive concept but biblically it seems that the spirit of man, the pneuma, is that part of man that was meant to be able to commune with God and to fellowship with God and experience God and hear God’s voice. The Bible says the Spirit of God communes with our spirit. But, you see, the problem with men and women throughout the world is they are spiritually dead. The Bible says they are spiritually dead. They have functioning bodies and they have functioning souls. They have minds that govern. They express themselves in volition but, you see, they are spiritually dead so at the level of their spirit. They are cut off from God, separated from God, unable to fully commune with God. In that sense, they are simply not complete and cannot have peace.
I tell you, biblically, that when you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, in that moment, as the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God comes deep within you and dwells within you and takes up residence within you. The Holy Spirit quickens, regenerates your spirit from within and re-establishes in some sense communion with the Father.
Now this is a concept difficult to comprehend, I think, in this age of the world. In our finiteness, it is not fully understood by anyone, but somehow, we are at least in a theological sense made complete at the moment of regeneration and rebirth. Communication is re-established with the Father through the Son by the Spirit. But you see, we are not functionally complete. The Bible tells us that even Christians can be unspiritual We can be what the Bible says, “in the flesh.” The teaching of scripture is that we need to become spiritual To become spiritual means that we need to begin to use our minds, our souls, to subject our minds and our souls to the will of God as communicated by the Spirit of God to our spirit—that we would subject our wills to Him and that the will of God, communicated by the Spirit of God to our spirit, would then be embraced by our minds and the minds would direct that will to our bodies. That is what it means to be spiritual, as opposed to in the flesh. The Bible uses the word “sanctification” to describe that process by which we become more and more spiritual We become more and more like Jesus Christ.
I know this is not just a fun teaching this morning, but I tell you this is so important to understand. This is so important that if we would truly find peace, we need to become more and more like Jesus Christ. We need to become more and more in the Spirit. More and more spiritual, less and less in the flesh. More and more governed by the Spirit. This is a process that God is committed to in your life if you are a Christian. I mean if you accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the will of God is that you might become like His Son. That is the will of God that you might be molded into the image of His Son.
For this purpose, God works in your life. I mean you might be sitting there thinking, “We all really want God to do things for me. I want God to give me a husband. I want God to give me this great wife. I want God to give me this job that I am seeking. It is just the job I want. I really want it. Please God give it to me. I want God to give me a new car. I do not like my car. My friends have a better car. I want God to give me a new car. I want God to heal my friend who is really suffering and hurting. I want God to heal me. I am scared and I have something, dangerous disease. I want God to heal me.”
So, we ask for that and I’m not saying God is unconcerned with these things. God is concerned, but understand what God is most concerned about your sanctification. That is what He is most concerned with. All those other things are important but none of them are so important as your sanctification. God’s primary purpose is to mold you as a Christian into the image of His Son. The neat thing is, and the peace that you can have as Christian is this: God’s not going to give up. We know that He who began a good work in us will bring it to completion.
I know you have all heard of Michelangelo. Of course, he was one of the most famous artists in the history of the world, an incredibly gifted painter and poet and architect. Of course, he is most famous for his sculpting. He could take massive crude block of marble and by the skill that was his, he could create great works of art. I mean he would see some beautiful figure just waiting to be released out of that crude block of stone.
I think most of you know that Michelangelo did not finish all of his sculptures. Some of them were left unfinished. The Captive Giants are four sculptures of Michelangelo never completed. You can see them in the city of Florence. The most famous unfinished sculpture of Michelangelo was his sculpture of St. Matthew. He never finished it. He wanted to sculpt the image of this disciple of Christ. He took this block of marble, and he began to sculpt St. Matthews with all the skill that was his. But it just was not going to his satisfaction, and he quit. He put his tools down in defeat. Today artists can look at the block of marble and see that he had sufficient marble to complete it, but he chose not to simply because it was not up to his standards of perfection. He just did not feel like he was able to carve Matthew, so he quit.
Is not it neat to know that God does not feel that way about you? “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.” He is not going to quit. Even the promise that God works everything together for good is to be taken in the light of your sanctification primarily. The Bible says, “God works everything together for good for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He then predestined to be conformed to the image of the Son of God.” You see, in this sense, God works everything together for good in your life and in my life in the sense that it would be used to conform us to the image of the Son of God.
Are you understanding this? This is so important because no matter what you’re going through in life—no matter what the trial, no matter what the test, no matter what the tribulation, no matter what the joy—God wants to use it for your sanctification that you might be made complete, that you might be made whole, that you might be molded more and more in the image of the Son of God. We have this peace as Christians, this peace that passes understanding, knowing that the Master Sculptor is not going to lay down His tools, but He is going to bring it to completion. If not in this life, in the life to come, He will bring it to completion. In this life, progress and sanctification.
You see, when I become a Christian there was a certain peace that came—the peace of safety, the peace of security, the peace of eternal salvation. That is a great peace the world does not know. Then there is that additional peace that comes because I have been regenerated from within and I have been, in some sense theologically made whole. I have been reconciled to the Father. Then, of course, there is the peace of communion with the Father because God is complete. God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is whole. He has the peace of sanctification. He is utterly holy. He is life and in Him is no darkness at all He is whole. He is complete and He has utter peace, total peace. When you commune with Him, you can bask in His peace. As Christians in meditation, we experience the peace of God that is vested or imputed in us or upon us. But there is also this peace that comes from sanctification—just knowing that everything has this purpose of our completion, becoming whole, becoming like the Son of God. I think as our sanctification increases, our peace grows too. We learn to live in accordance with God’s will, in accordance with God’s Word and we choose in our minds to submit to the will of God as revealed by the Spirit of God in our spirit. Let us close with a word of prayer.