3 Facts Every Christian Should Know About Peace

Here are three biblical facts about peace that every Christian should know.

Jesus Gives Peace That Remains

Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27). The peace that Jesus gives us settles troubled hearts. The peace that Jesus gives us calms fears. This is not the peace that the world gives, which is not permanent and doesn’t remain. When Jesus gives us something, He doesn’t take it back. Trust Him because you can take Him at His word. When a fierce storm terrified the disciples in the middle of the night near the center of the sea, “he got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm” (Mark 4:39). Still don’t think when Jesus says “peace” He can’t bring it about? Think again!

From Fear to Peace

When the disciples were in hiding shortly after Jesus’ crucifixion, they believed that they were next. Don’t be too hard on them because we might have felt the very same way. They felt that what the Jews did to Jesus would be done to them! In fact, in John 20:19-20 it says, “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.” Maybe by this time the disciples finally understood that death couldn’t hold Jesus because He was sinless (Acts 2:24). To prove it He showed them his nail-pierced hands and feet. When they saw them, they were overjoyed. That’s why after Jesus entered He said, “Peace be with you!” since they were terrified at the time. The disciples’ fear mentioned in John 20:19 was from the Hebrew word “phobos,” from which we get the English word “phobia”; but it’s really much worse than that. The word means “dread, terror” or “that which strikes terror.” So you could really read this verse like this: “The disciples were together, with the doors locked being terrified of the Jewish leaders.” Why else would the doors be locked? So when Jesus says “Peace be with you,” the Hebrew for peace is “eirēnē,” which means “a state of tranquility.” Having your sins forgiven has a way of doing that but also knowing that since Jesus survived, they could too.

Peace With God

Romans 5:1 is one of my favorite memory verses because it says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” We have peace only because of Jesus’ death for us. I only have to look in the mirror to prove the fact that “Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6b). This means that “we have now been justified by his blood [so] much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God” (Romans 5:9). When a person is saved, what exactly are they saved from? Hell? In a sense, yes. Our sins? Partially. But the main thing we are saved from is the wrath of God (John 3:36b, Romans 5:9).

Conclusion

If we have repented and trusted in Christ, then we are justified by Jesus’ own blood and we have peace with God. We no longer have to worry about God’s wrath. This means that we can lay our heads on our pillows tonight and calm our fears. Our fear moves to peace because Jesus gives us peace, and that peace remains since we now have peace with the Father. These are three very important things we should know about peace.