Biblical Doctrine about Peace

The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. Numbers 6:24-26
Psa 34:14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.

Isa 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
 The Bible says we're supposed to seek peace, to pursue it. Don't embrace it only when it is offered, but follow hard after it, when it seems to run away from you.

The Bible also shows you where you can find peace: in God alone. In fact, God says you're cursed if you put your trust in another human being to provide peace: Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. Jeremiah 17:5. Or in money: He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall flourish as a branch. Pro 11:28.
The Bible states that the wicked have no peace. There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked. Isa 48:22, There's no peace:
  1. In the act of wickedness. Sin doesn't give one substantial happiness.
  2. In one's conscience. There's no deep sense that one is doing right.
  3. In the world. Earthly pleasures can "dull the senses," money can take wings (Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven. Pro 23:5.)
  4. On the deathbed. There may be insensibility, callousness, and freedom from pain or alarm but that is not peace.
  5. In life in general. There is disappointment, anxiety, distress, alarming circumstances, and the terrible apprehension of eternal wrath.
  6. Beyond the grave. For the unsaved, there's no peace at God's judgement or in hell.
Jesus called people who "make peace" blessed. If we are going to make it to heaven, we need to cultivate peace.

Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Isaiah 55:6-12.
Mat 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

Rom 12:18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

  17 August 2005
The God of Peace

In working on my sermon this morning, I have been searching out the biblical idea of "peace," in preparation to deal with Hebrews 12:14, "Pursue peace with all people." I went to my trusty BibleWorks software and put the word in the search engine and was astounded at how pervasive this idea is in Scripture. In the Bible "peace" is meantioned so often and in so many ways, that I feel safe in labeling it a neglected non-negotiable.

God is called the God of peace with regularity (Judges 6:24, Romans 16:20, II Thessalonians 3:16), His city is called "Foundations of peace" or Jerusalem, Jesus Christ Himself is called the "Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6), the Sabbath Rest is seen as peaceful, peace comes from God (Psalm 29:10-11, and just about every epistle begins with "grace and peace to you from God"), and peace is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23, II Timothy 2:22) that is to be pursued (Hebrews 12:14, Romans 12:18).

This is the short list - the very short list. There are literaly hundreds of references to peace in the Scriptures. As I studied this morning, it began to dawn on me that the pursuit of peace, with God and with others, is under empahsized in our teaching. Our pulpits, Sunday School classes, and education centers should be ringing with the truth that God is a peaceful God and thus so should His people be.

When it comes to the discipline of apologetics there is a certain pride in being polemical and indeed there is a necessary validity to this, for part of the discipline is in building arguments. But I feel a certain weight of conviction this morning as I encounter the Word of God and the characterisitics of peace, gentleness, meekness, and kindness that I am commanded to conduct all of life with, even my encounters on an apologetic level. Even the keynote apologetic text, I Peter 3:15, brings to the spotlight the idea of engaging in the task with "love and gentleness," or "gentleness and respect."

Because of human pride, leading to high expectations of others, peace between people is truly hard to achieve, but it must be our priority, both in the church and with unbelievers. Of course, the Bible does not paint a naive picture of peace, as if there was no such thing as sin, hate, violence, war, greed, and lust. These things are a reality that destroy many pursuits of peace, as the current situation in the city of peace demonstrates clearly. The Bible does, however, instruct the people of God to do everything within our power to reflect the peace of God, which He has granted to us through the cross of Christ Jesus (Romans 5:1), to all of those who live around us.

This means there must be continual death to self and our unrealistic expactation of others, there must be firm attempts to build bridges of connection and communication, and we need a sincere desire to work out problems that arise between us. When Jesus was born, the angels sang, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men" (Luke 2:14). May we His people propel His glory forward by demonstrating that peace among ourselves and with the world.

Source: Apologetics Resource Center