Righteousness & Peace, Part 2

 

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ… (Romans 5:1)

Righteousness is by faith (see Romans 4), but it is God who makes us righteous. When that happens, we have peace with Him.

"The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever" (Isaiah 32:17).

Righteousness precedes peace. Humanists (and many Christians, too) make peace primary. They want peace at any price. God keeps them in the right order:

"But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere" (James 3:17).

Do you see the order? First “pure,” then “peace-loving.”

Let’s look at God’s view of righteousness and peace in the Bible:

·       Sodom: "Then he said, 'May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?' He answered, 'For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it'” (Genesis 18:32). Sodom could not come up with ten righteous men.

·       Jerusalem: "Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city" (Jeremiah 5:1). Jeremiah could not find one righteous man.

·       Amorites: "Then the LORD said to him, 'Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years…In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure'” (Genesis 15:13, 16).

The iniquity of the Amorites was not yet complete. Four hundred years later it was filled up:

"It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the LORD your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people" (Deuteronomy 9:5-6).

A little righteousness will spare an entire city, but God will not have peace at the expense of righteousness. In the book of Judges, God disciplined Israel for her unrighteousness. He did it again during the reigns of Nineveh and Babylon. Later He brought final judgment on Nineveh, Babylon, and Tyre.

Unrighteousness brings war, either in discipline or in judgment. Righteousness brings peace.

 The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever. (Isaiah 32:17)

*Excerpted from Being Christian. To purchase, visit ccmbooks.org/bookstore.