What is peace? I know you’re going to say that peace is the absence of war but I think if you look up the word in
the dictionary there is a definition there that describes what Paul was really referring to in the passage in Galatians. The best definition for the word peace and the one that fits the Galatians passage
is described as being in a state of tranquility; or being serene.
This also fits the Biblical
principle of peace which rests on the Hebrew root word slm which translates “to be complete” or “to be sound’
and is also the root of words like salom, which was used both in greeting a person or saying farewell. This definition fits
because Paul is referring to a Spiritual peace which is a sense of being complete or sound.
You see the word peace is perfectly placed after love and joy and before patience because when you have love and joy
in the Spirit you have peace because you feel complete and sound in your soul.
Peace means being without
fear and anxiety. Knowing no matter what the circumstances life throws at you
there will come a brighter day. As Paul was writing these verses I am sure he
had in mind all the trials and tribulations he had been through and knew in His heart that out of the love and the joy set
before him he was at peace. You see Paul finally had a purpose in life he was
doing the true will of his Heavenly Father, not the so called cause he had once lived for.
On a Damascus
road Paul met Love, Paul received that love joyfully and now Paul was at peace. At
the time Paul did not know that his life externally was going to be anything but peaceful, but as the Holy Spirit worked in
and through him, Paul knew that all was well with his soul, that brought him peace.
It is interesting to note
that if you read Isaiah 9:6, which is about Jesus and His birth, the last words of the verse are, The Prince of Peace and
in the New Testament Jesus is the prince of peace!
I think as Paul knew and
you and I should realize that the peace that is referred to in Isaiah 9:6 and that would come with Jesus arrival the first
time is a peace in our hearts. Sure someday He will restore true peace to this
earth but for now He gives us His peace through the Holy Spirit if our hearts truly seek Him, because when you have the ultimate
in love living inside of you how can you not be peace full
But don’t take my word
for it. Jesus said Himself in John 14:27, “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”. My friends Jesus is talking about the same kind of peace Paul is referring to in Galatians,
a peace in our hearts.
- God is the source of our peace
- God is the truth of our peace
- God is the love that brings
- God is the joy through which we have peace
In short God is peace
No matter what this world
throws at us when we have a right relationship “salom” with Yahweh (God) we will have peace.
