The Editor's Page
Perfect Peace

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee..he trusteth in thee” (Isa 26:3).

Perfect peace is from God: “Grace be with you, mercy, [and] peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love” (II John 3), “...God is not [the author] of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches...” (I Cor. 14:33). Strife is a work of the flesh (Gal. 5:19ff).

Perfect peace is from God through Jesus Christ our Lord: “For he (Christ, gm) is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition....” (Ephesians 2:14-17).

Perfect peace is from God through the word of God: “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God...” (II Pet. 1:2). “The word which [God] sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)...” (Acts 10:36). “Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3). It involves doctrinal matters: II John 9-11; Eph. 5:11; Gal. 1:8,9. Perfect peace is not in the doctrines and commandments of men (Mt. 15:9).

Perfect peace is from God through man’s faith in the word of God: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee” (Isa. 26:3). “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17). “Therefore whether [it were] I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed” (1 Cor. 15:11). While baptism ushers one into this peace (Gal. 3:26,27) , one must walk in the light to abide therein (I John 1:7ff).

Perfect peace is destroyed by departure from the divine pattern: “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God” (II John 9). “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Eph. 5:11). “Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some” (II Tim. 2:18). This point is illustrated in I Kings 18:17,18 where Ahab accused Elijah: “...Art thou he that troubleth Israel?” Elijah countered: “...I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou has followed Baalim.” In I Cor. 5:1ff; who destroyed the peace? The man in sin, the fornicator. In Acts 15:1ff, who destroyed the peace? The men in sin, the false teachers.

Some departures from the divine pattern which disturb the peace of God’s people today relate to

  1. The Deity of Christ while on earth. Some want us to believe that all of Jesus’ miracles were performed by the Holy Spirit

  2. Marriage, divorce, and remarriage

  3. Romans 14 (unity in diversity)

  4. Fellowship (unity in diversity)

  5. The AD 70 doctrine

  6. Genesis One and the length of the creative period

  7. Modesty

  8. The Bible is not the only rule of faith and practice

  9. Soft, ineffective preaching

Churches are being disturbed and divided over these questions.

Things which make for perfect peace. “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost....Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another” (Rom 14:17,19). Things that make peace:

  1. Sincerity. “...let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened [bread] of sincerity and truth” (I Cor. 5:8), “For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ” (II Cor. 2:17)

  2. Truth. “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32); “...contend for the faith...” (Jude 3), and be set for the defence of the gospel (Phil. 1:17)

  3. Rebuke sin and error (II Tim. 4:2). Paul and Barnabas rebuked the Judaizers (Acts 15:1ff). Paul rebuked Peter and Peter rebuked Simon

  4. Spiritual growth (II Pet. 3:18), which involves adding the graces in II Pet. 1:5-11

  5. Forgiveness (Mt. 6:14,15)

  6. Love (I Cor. 13)

  7. Humility (Phil. 2:5ff).

“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7). Study carefully. (All emphasis mine. gm) - Glenn Melton

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