The third fruit of the Spirit is Peace. Not to be confused with silence, quiet, or inactivity as we often use the word, (ie: “Hold your peace” or “Rest in Peace”) the word means harmony, tranquility, security, or prosperity. Peace in a very literal and physical sense can be vividly seen in the Old Testament as can its connection to the Old Covenant. Close adherence through obedience to the terms of the Old Covenant meant harmony, tranquility, security and prosperity for Israel.
The Hebrew word for Peace means “completeness.” This interpretation brings more significance to terms such as “Prince of Peace” or the “Peace of the Cross.” There is an element of wholeness and restoration that accompanies this word – Peace. As angels announced the presence of peace on earth to shepherds in the field, one may better understand the proclamation of God’s purposes coming to completion and fruition with the arrival of His Son, Jesus Christ.
The lack of spiritual peace throughout the Old Testament as evidenced by a continual need for rituals and practices to combat impurity is the setting on which Christ arrives. So much striving, pain, oppression, and brokenness have plagued the world since the Fall of Man and now, finally there is peace on earth. Wait… what? Clearly one may look around at the various wars, famines, death and destruction still prevalent in the world today and claim that peace has not arrived. And one would be correct. Perhaps I will step on some eschatological toes here but this is my blog so I am allowed to do so. The establishment of a covenant as we see in the Old Testament does not guarantee its immediate fulfillment. In fact from start to finish, the Old Covenant lasted roughly 2000 years (Abraham to Jesus). But Jesus did in fact fulfill the Old Covenant and with that fulfillment and completion he brought peace. There is also the matter of spiritual completion and wholeness we find through the cross.
The cross marked two covenantal milestones. The first feat was the fulfillment of the Old Covenant and the second was the establishment of a New Covenant. Carrying our definition of peace into the New Covenant we can see that the elements of harmony, tranquility, security and prosperity are eternal qualities that hinge on our obedience to this New Covenant and its demand to believe in Jesus Christ. There is much parallel between the Old and New Covenants but that seems to be God’s pattern throughout the history of mankind. I would like to stop for one second and confront the issue of “prosperity” teaching. God does not ever promise us physical prosperity under the New Covenant, only eternal prosperity as our spiritual journey will not be barren, or devoid of fruit. We will be fruitful and multiply spiritually both in numbers and in personal growth and maturity. To promise physical or material prosperity (not to be confused with promises of meeting our needs) is to subject oneself to the terms of the old structure under a fulfilled covenant. We then profess that the Old Covenant is not in fact complete and in doing so negate the work of the cross. All that to say, please be cautious with prosperity teaching as the Kingdom of God is about bearing spiritual fruit not physical or monetary fruit. And please do not think I am knocking those who are financially blessed either. God blesses each of us according to His good will and purpose and in a matter that best suits His Kingdom and its advancement.
Returning to the matter of fulfilled covenant we see that there is freedom from the Law now that the Old Covenant has been fulfilled. The 2000 year journey from start to finish was fraught with times of prosperity and times of barrenness, times of justice, times of injustice, times of slavery and of freedom, times of immense wickedness and times of faithful adherence. What are we to learn from this? Firstly, that God’s timetable is not our timetable. Secondly, as we sit precariously close to the end of yet another 2000 year period of covenant, peace hinges on our faith and belief in promises. There is peace to be found in God’s promises whether we ever see their fulfillment or not. Abraham believed, but never saw and he found peace. Moses believed, but never saw and yet remained faithful and he too found peace. The prophets, in the face of great opposition believed and delivered the promises of God and they too found peace at the end of their suffering. There is great peace (eternal prosperity, tranquility, wholeness) available to those who would believe in God’s promises without seeing.
The fruit of the Spirit is often the object of much scrutiny and little legitimate practice. This is unfortunate, but a balance of both analysis and application should be our ultimate desire. I have looked at the fruit in several ways. One approach is to dissect the fruit into digestible (pun intended) triads. If we analyze this first group of three as a triadic grouping we see the culmination of Trinitarian effort in Love, Joy, and Peace - Love of the Father, Joy of the Spirit, and Peace of the Son. Peace falls into place as a natural progression from God’s love, to joy in His presence to the peace found through fulfillment of His promises. Patterns are essential to me for memorization so there is no secret formula I am trying to prescribe here; simply a means which better incorporates the fruit into my life. Speaking of memory techniques, have you ever noticed that the peace sign is three prongs that converge into one? If all else fails just remember that peace is at the end of the first triad. And so we arrive at the end of the first three fruit of the Spirit. I challenge you to love God more deeply so that you may experience His joy and that in His joy you may find the peace that comes through belief in His promises. I hope the journey thus far has not been overwhelming.
Upcoming fruit: Patience
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