Searching for Peace

Betty was a woman struggling just to make it another day. She had tried everything to find some peace in her life, but every day she continued to be frustrated and felt like a failure. A friend suggested that she make an appointment with her therapist, so she did. At the first session the therapist told her that the way to achieve peace is to look around you and finish the things you have started.

Betty’s friend called and asked how things were going. “Not, well,” Betty admitted. I saw the therapist and I was told that the secret to peace was to finish everything that I had started. “Did you try that?” her friend asked. “Yes, I did. I went home saw a half-eaten supersize bag of M&Ms, a half empty bottle of wine, half a cake, and half a gallon of ice-cream. I finished all of those, but I still don’t feel any peace.”

Searching for peace. It seems that everywhere we look people are worried, troubled, concerned, angry, confused, afraid, and upset. People will try almost anything to find peace in their life. Some turn to alcohol or drugs. Some to exercise and dieting. Some to yoga and meditation. Some think they will find peace in friendships or partners. Some people believe peace comes through money. You cannot find peace in any of these places or ways. 

Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have also obtained access through Him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Romans 5:1-5 (HCSB)

Faith Leads to Peace

We have discussed before that the word “therefore” basically means that everything I have discussed prior to this should be taken into account as I continue with my thought. Paul wants us to remember everything he has had to said about faith and righteousness because now he is letting us know that we should therefore have peace with God.

“[Peace is] a conception distinctly peculiar to Christianity, the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot.” Joseph Henry Thayer (1828-1901)

Peace comes through the assurance of our salvation. I have sat at the bedside with many people as they were facing their own death. One thing that every non-believer had in common was a fear about what is coming next, but the one thing that every Christian had in common was a peace about where they would spend eternity.

I especially remember visiting one elderly lady named Pat. I had known Pat for many years. She was always a worrier. She worried about worrying so much. She worried that she wasn’t worrying enough. She visibly shook anytime you saw her because of her nerves. She took medicine to help, but even that did little to stop her constant worrying. She was what many people would call a nervous nelly. But when I sat with Pat in that hospital room just minutes after she had been told that she was going to die, she reached out to grab my hand and for the first time in all those years that I had known her, Pat was still. She was not shaking, she was not quivering, her voice was steady and calm as she said, “I’m ready. I know where I am going and I am ready,”

Then Pat told me about a priest that had stopped by just before I came in. She said he asked if he could pray with her. She told him she wasn’t Catholic but that they both worshipped the same God so she was fine with him praying with her. She closed her eyes and felt him touch her forehead. She noticed that something was running down her forehead and as he was leaving the room she realized that he had given her last rites. Pat started laughing and said, “What else is there to do now, I have already been pronounced dead by a priest.”

At that moment Pat had peace. Peace is a result of our faith in God’s grace, but it goes even deeper than that. The peace of God is there also during the difficult times of your life. Paul says that even in affliction they rejoice. Why? Because affliction produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope through Jesus Christ. It is that hope we have, that blessed promise by God of eternal life that gives us peace.

That hope won’t disappoint because it is eternal life through Jesus Christ as the result of His blood which was poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit that was given to us. Affliction to endurance, endurance to character, character to hope, and then hope produces peace. It all is a result of our faith. Faith leads to peace.

For while we were still helpless, at the appointed moment, Christ died for the ungodly. For rarely will someone die for a just person—though for a good person perhaps someone might even dare to die. But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us! Much more then, since we have now been declared righteous by His blood, we will be saved through Him from wrath. For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by His life! And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have now received this reconciliation through Him. Romans 5: 6-11 (HCSB)

Righteousness Leads to Reconciliation

Last week I explained that righteousness means that you are right with God. I also shared that Faith leads to righteousness and that Faith leads to Obedience and that Faith is required for salvation. It is because of salvation that we are made right with God and it is through our salvation that we are reconciled with God.

When Adam and Eve sinned and were thrown out of the Garden of Eden, the close personal relationship that they had experienced with God was broken. They no longer could walk with God in the garden. The no longer could listen to God’s voice as they strolled along. They no longer had a relationship with God. In order to restore that relationship, they had to be reconciled to God. To be reconciled with God they had to be right with God. But because of their sin they were not righteous. They had placed their faith in the wrong person: themselves.

If we base our faith on our abilities or our own worth, we will have many reasons to fear. We cannot be at peace knowing that we are flawed and selfish and sinful. Our sin leads us to do things that will hurt us and bring us more problems and troubles. That is not be the key to living in peace.

Thankfully our faith is based in Christ. Jesus took our place and paid the penalty for our sin. He died for us while we were still in our sins. Our salvation makes us righteous – right with God – and being right with God reconciles us to Him. We can have a close personal relationship with God. We receive reconciliation not because of anything we have done, but because of what Jesus did for us. His death and resurrection provided the path for reconciliation with those who were still in their sins.

Death Leads to Life

In the remaining verses of Romans 5, Paul compares death and life. Death came by Adam, but life comes by Jesus. Because of Adam’s sin many have died, but because of Jesus’ grace many now live. Adam’s sin brought judgment and condemnation by God, but the grace of Jesus brought the gift of life and justification with God. Because of Adam’s one sin there is condemnation for everyone, but because of the one righteous act of Jesus there is life-giving justification for everyone.

The sin of Adam has been multiplied, but the grace of God is multiplied even more. Sin reigned in death, but grace reigns in everlasting life. The death of Jesus leads to our eternal life. Our faith leads us to accept the free gift of grace from Jesus Christ. Through His grace we receive our salvation. Peace comes through the assurance of our salvation.

Are you searching for peace? If so, you need to put your faith in Jesus Christ, receive His gift of grace and salvation and experience the true peace of Jesus. A peace that is beyond all understanding. A peace rooted in the assurance of our salvation that enables us to fear nothing from God and be content with whatever happens to us while on earth.