MAKING PEACE
Matthew 5:9 (ESV) “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.”
Making peace in a hostile world where anger and selfishness rule the day among non-Christ-followers requires a changed heart, one led by the Spirit rather than by anything else. The flesh and the Spirit are diametrically opposed.
Paul exhorts us in Galatians 5 to walk by the Spirit so that we are not gratifying the desires of the flesh. He continues to say that the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. The following Scripture says that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the counter to this, and what all Christ-followers choose, is the fruit of the Spirit, which is: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Possessing and exercising these attributes allows Christ-followers to employ the Holy Spirit’s peace-making that those following the desires of the flesh cannot because they are filled with the works of the flesh.
We should make every effort to make peace but there will always be times when doing so isn’t possible without compromising the righteousness that Christ has imputed to us, which we simply cannot allow, so be prepared to stand firm in who you are in Christ.
It is not an accident that Jesus, in the very next beatitude says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake”. Righteousness must not be compromised in order to make peace with persecutors.
James 3:17-18 (ESV) follows the beatitudes process by listing purity before peace, “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. “
As we have studied in this Sermon on the Mount session, “Blessed are the pure in heart” comes before “Blessed are the peacemakers.” The Holy Spirit enables us to be peacemakers when possible, hopefully leading to the changing of hearts of those filled with the works of the flesh.