Greetings! Hopefully you had the chance to read How To Gain Perfect Peace (Part 1). I decided to do a mini series on this because I had a good bit to say, however I have a personal blogging goal of not making any one post too long. So I will be breaking up How To Gain Perfect Peace in parts. Prayerfully having the separate parts will also be beneficial as you read, examine, and apply what might be helpful to you.
In this mini series the main verses we will be looking at comes from Philippians 4:6-7.
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7
In How To Gain Perfect Peace (Part 1), we identified that these verses remind us to avoid being anxious about anything. They instead instruct us to pray about everything! And to pray in such a way, with supplication and thanksgiving, so that God will protect your heart and mind with His perfect peace.
After reading these verses over and over and considering many believers who get anxious and worry a lot, I realized that maybe there is more to learn from these verses than what meets the eye. If we are to gain perfect peace, let’s be clear that gaining perfect peace can only be found through Christ.
For this part of the series I want to begin by answering two questions: what is perfect peace and how do you obtain it? The reason I want to start by answering these two questions is that it is pivotal to gaining perfect peace now and eternally.
What Is Perfect Peace?
According to vocabulary.com, “something that is perfect is complete and without defect or blemish.” and “peace is a stress-free state of security and calmness that comes when there’s no fighting or war, everything coexisting in perfect harmony and freedom.” This sounds like the kind of peace that most of us want and some of us try to pursue. The result of pursuing this type of peace usually ends in stress, insecurity, anxiousness, fighting, war, and division, even among Christians. As a result of the fall of man (Genesis 3), there has been ongoing conflict and disharmony between God and man, man and man, and creation and man that has made the type of peace mentioned above impossible. So then, what is perfect peace? Let’s look to Scripture to begin to answer this.
- Isaiah 9:6-7 states, “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”
- Isaiah 26:3 states, “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in You.”
- Matthew 5:48 states, “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
- Luke 2:14 states, “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”
- John 14:27 states, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”
- Romans 5:1 states, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…”
- Acts 10:36 states, “The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all)”
- Galatians 5:22-23 states, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
- Ephesians 4:3 states, “Being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
- Colossians 1:21-22 states, “And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach…”
- 1 Thessalonians 5:13 states, “and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another.”
- Hebrew 12:2 states, “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
- 1 Peter 5:10 states, “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”
In looking at these scriptural verses, we see that even though man’s relationship with God was broken due to sin, we see God’s love in His redemptive plan for man to be made perfect in order to be in perfect peace with Him. In this perfect plan, those of us that are Christians believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross to take on the punishment for our sins and that He was resurrected from the dead and is seated at the right hand of the Father, preparing a place in heaven for us to have eternal life glorifying and enjoying Him forever. This is a peace that surpasses all understanding, its spiritual, eternal, and blameless because it comes from a God who is spirit, peace, and perfect. God is also just and He expects our obedience to His laws and commands found in His Word, the Bible. He is also holy and requires that His children also be conformed into the image of Christ bearing in sufferings for Him, all while displaying all of the fruits of the spirit because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit inside each believer. Futhermore, we as believers are to pursue and maintain peace with man, however, not at the cost of proclaiming the gospel.
How Do You Obtain Perfect Peace?
When we read through Scripture we see that perfect peace is supernatural it is not like the temporary calmness and tranquility that you feel when relaxing on the beach or at the spa. There is nothing that we can humanly do to obtain perfect peace on our own. Those who have perfect peace receive it from God as a gift along with the gift of salvation. We also see in Philippians 4:7 that this peace is beyond comprehension meaning we can’t understand it outside of God, but that when we have it we think, speak, and act in such a way particularly during conflict, that those that are unbelievers will glorify our Father who is in heaven. So you might be thinking, kinda like I was, that if a person is saved and they have the perfect peace of God at salvation then why do we not always experience or display this peace? Don’t worry! I’ll address this and other questions pertaining to this subject in this mini series.
In light of all this ask yourself, do you know what perfect peace is, what it feels like or looks like? How do you obtain and live it among believers and non believers? Can you say to yourself that, I have perfect peace now and eternally? My desire is that by the end of this series you will be able to answer all these questions with a confident, YES!
1 Peter 5:7, Matthew 11:28-30, and Romans 8:28-30 have been encouraging verses for me in times of worry and anxiety. Knowing that God cares, that I can go to Him with all my worries, that He works all things that I go through out, good and bad, for my good comforts me because I know the perfect peace of God is with me.
To be continued in Part 3.