Bible Verses About Peace
Introduction
Peace in the biblical sense is one of the most consistently misunderstood words in the Christian vocabulary. The English word peace most naturally suggests the absence of the conflict: the cessation of the hostilities, the quiet after the argument, the stillness after the storm. The Hebrew word shalom that stands behind the biblical peace is a far more comprehensive reality: the word describes the wholeness and the flourishing and the completeness of the life that is fully aligned with the God who is the source of the peace. The shalom is not the absence of the difficulty but the specific presence of the God whose wholeness pervades and orders and sustains the life even in the middle of the difficulty.
The theological grounding for the peace of the New Testament is the specific act of the Christ who is himself our peace (Ephesians 2:14): the peace between God and the person and the peace between the person and others are both grounded in the specific reconciling work of the one who made the two groups one and destroyed the dividing wall of hostility. The Romans 5:1's therefore since we have been justified through faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ establishes the foundational peace: the peace with God is the specific peace that the justification produces, the ending of the hostility between the holy God and the person whose sin had made them the enemy of God.
The Philippians 4:7's the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus is the most concentrated statement of the experiential peace that the gospel produces: the peace that transcends the understanding is the peace that does not depend on the circumstances being favorable for the peace to be present. The peace that passes understanding is the peace that is present in the Philippians 4:4-6's context of the rejoicing always and the not being anxious: the peace is the specific guard of the heart and the mind that the prayer and the thanksgiving and the presenting of the requests to God produces.
These verses speak to anyone who is in the specific situation where the circumstances are arguing most strongly against the peace, anyone who needs the specific theological grounding for the peace as the active presence of God rather than the absence of the difficulty, and anyone who needs to receive the specific gift of the peace that Jesus gives: not as the world gives (John 14:27) but as the one who has overcome the world gives.
What the Bible Means When It Talks About Peace
The Hebrew word shalom describes the comprehensive wholeness and the flourishing and the completeness of the life that is fully aligned with the God of the peace: the shalom is the most comprehensive word of the biblical blessing. The Hebrew word shalev describes the quietness and the ease of the person at peace. The Greek word eirene describes the peace of the New Testament: the specific wholeness and the harmony of the person whose relationship with God and with others has been restored by the reconciling work of Christ. The Greek word katallasso describes the reconciliation: the specific act of the making peace between the parties who were in the hostility.
Bible Verses About Peace with God
Romans 5:1 — ("Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.")
The we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ is the foundational statement of the peace: the peace with God is the specific gift of the justification that the faith receives. The therefore establishes the logical connection: the peace with God is the specific consequence of the justification that the Romans 1-4 has established. The through our Lord Jesus Christ establishes the specific means: the peace with God is not the peace that the person achieves by the sufficient religious effort but the peace that the Lord Jesus Christ has made through the specific act of the reconciliation.
Colossians 1:19-20 — ("For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.")
The making peace through his blood shed on the cross is the specific statement of the means of the peace: the peace is made through the blood, the specific act of the cross rather than the sufficient moral improvement of the person who needed the reconciliation. The reconcile to himself all things establishes the comprehensive scope: the peace that the cross makes is the comprehensive reconciliation of the all things rather than only the spiritual dimension of the person's relationship with God. The cosmic scope of the peace establishes the breadth of the shalom: the wholeness that the peace produces is the wholeness of the all things.
Bible Verses About the Peace That Passes Understanding
Philippians 4:6-7 — ("Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.")
The peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds is the specific promise for the person whose circumstances are arguing against the peace: the peace that transcends the understanding is the peace that is not produced by the favorable circumstances but by the presenting of the requests to the God who gives the peace. The guard is the military image: the peace is the specific protection of the heart and the mind against the anxiety that would otherwise occupy the territory. The in Christ Jesus establishes the location: the peace is the peace of the person who is in Christ rather than the peace of the person who has finally managed the circumstances.
John 14:27 — ("Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.")
The my peace I give you and I do not give as the world gives establishes the specific distinction: the peace of Jesus is not the peace of the favorable circumstances or the cessation of the conflict but the specific peace of the one who has overcome the world. The do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid establishes the specific instruction: the not being troubled and the not being afraid are the specific acts of the will of the person who is receiving the peace that Jesus gives rather than waiting for the circumstances to produce the peace that the world gives.
Isaiah 26:3 — ("You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.")
The perfect peace is the shalom shalom: the doubled shalom that is the most emphatic expression of the comprehensive wholeness in the Hebrew. The whose minds are steadfast establishes the specific condition: the perfect peace is the peace of the person whose mind is stayed on the God who is the source of the peace. The because they trust in you establishes the ground: the steadfastness of the mind is the steadfastness of the trust in the God who keeps the perfect peace.
Bible Verses About Peace in the Community
Romans 12:18 — ("If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.")
The if it is possible and as far as it depends on you establish the honest acknowledgment: the living at peace with everyone is the specific goal that is qualified by the reality that not all the conditions of the peace are within the person's control. The as far as it depends on you establishes the specific responsibility: the person is responsible for their own contribution to the peace rather than the peace of the other person who may not want the peace. The live at peace with everyone establishes the comprehensive scope: the peace is not the peace with the people who are easy to be at peace with but the comprehensive goal of the peace with everyone.
Matthew 5:9 — ("Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.")
The blessed are the peacemakers establishes the specific Beatitude of the active pursuit of the peace: the peacemaker is not the person who avoids the conflict but the person who actively pursues the making of the peace where the conflict has disrupted it. The they will be called children of God establishes the specific identity: the peacemaker is the person whose activity reflects the character of the God who made peace through the blood of the cross. The making of the peace is the specific imaging of the peacemaking character of the God who is himself the peace.
Ephesians 2:14-16 — ("For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility... His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross.")
The he himself is our peace who has made the two groups one and destroyed the dividing wall of hostility is the specific statement of the social peace that the gospel produces: the peace between the Jew and the Gentile is the specific evidence of the comprehensive peace that the cross has made. The creating in himself one new humanity establishes the specific content: the peace is not the tolerance of the differences but the creation of the new humanity in which the dividing walls have been destroyed. The through the cross establishes the means: the social peace is grounded in the same act of the reconciliation that produces the peace with God.
Bible Verses About Pursuing Peace
Psalm 34:14 — ("Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.")
The seek peace and pursue it is the specific instruction for the active practice of the peace: the seeking and the pursuing are the active verbs of the person who is not waiting for the peace to arrive but is going after it. The turn from evil and do good establishes the specific prerequisite: the pursuing of the peace is the practice of the person who has turned from the evil that disrupts the peace and is doing the good that contributes to it. The pursue establishes the active character: the peace requires the pursuit rather than the passive waiting.
Hebrews 12:14 — ("Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.")
The make every effort to live in peace with everyone establishes the comprehensive character: the every effort is the specific investment of the person who takes the peace seriously as the calling rather than the optional addition. The and to be holy establishes the connection: the peace and the holiness are the specific pair of the Hebrews 12:14, the two practices that the every effort is to pursue. The without holiness no one will see the Lord establishes the stakes: the peace and the holiness are the specific practices of the person who is moving toward the seeing of the Lord.
A Simple Way to Pray These Verses
Peace is most honestly prayed from the honest acknowledgment of the specific place where the peace is most absent and the specific receiving of the peace that Jesus gives rather than the peace that the world gives.
John 14:27 — ("Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.") Response: "I am receiving the peace that you give rather than the peace the world gives. The world's peace requires the favorable circumstances and the resolved conflicts and the absence of the difficulty. Your peace is present in the difficulty. Let me receive your peace in the specific situation where the world's peace is unavailable."
Philippians 4:7 — ("The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds.") Response: "Guard my heart and my mind. The anxiety is present. The circumstances that are producing it are still present. But I am presenting my requests to you with thanksgiving rather than managing the anxiety alone. Let the peace that transcends my understanding be the specific guard that the understanding cannot provide."
Isaiah 26:3 — ("You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.") Response: "I am setting my mind on you. The specific thing that is taking my mind away from you and producing the anxiety and the lack of peace, I am naming it and choosing to set my mind on you instead. Keep me in the perfect peace that the steadfast mind receives. Let the trust be the specific act that keeps the mind steadfast."
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Bible say about peace? The Bible presents peace as the shalom: the comprehensive wholeness and the flourishing of the life that is fully aligned with the God who is the source of the peace. Romans 5:1's we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ establishes the foundational peace with God. John 14:27's my peace I give you not as the world gives establishes the specific character of the peace Jesus gives. Philippians 4:6-7's the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts establishes the experiential peace. Isaiah 26:3's you will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast establishes the practice. And Matthew 5:9's blessed are the peacemakers establishes the calling.
What is the peace that passes understanding? The Philippians 4:7's the peace of God which transcends all understanding is the specific peace that is not produced by the favorable circumstances or the resolved conflicts but by the presenting of the requests to God with prayer and petition and thanksgiving. The transcends all understanding establishes the specific character: the peace is beyond the capacity of the understanding to produce or to explain because it is the specific gift of the God who gives the peace in the middle of the circumstances that the understanding is arguing should produce the anxiety rather than the peace. The guard establishes the function: the peace that passes understanding is the specific protection of the heart and the mind against the anxiety that the circumstances are producing.
How do you find peace in the Bible? The Isaiah 26:3's you will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast because they trust in you establishes the specific practice: the perfect peace is the peace of the person whose mind is stayed on the God who keeps rather than the circumstances that are producing the anxiety. The Philippians 4:6-7's do not be anxious about anything but present your requests to God with prayer and petition and thanksgiving establishes the specific practice of the prayer: the peace is found in the presenting of the requests to the God who gives the peace rather than the managing of the anxiety by the person who is carrying it alone. And the John 14:27's do not let your hearts be troubled establishes the specific act: the not letting is the specific choosing of the peace that Jesus gives over the anxiety that the circumstances produce.
What does the Bible say about being a peacemaker? The Matthew 5:9's blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God establishes the specific Beatitude: the peacemaker is the person whose active pursuit of the peace reflects the character of the God who made peace through the blood of the cross. The Romans 12:18's as far as it depends on you live at peace with everyone establishes the specific responsibility: the peacemaker is responsible for their own contribution to the peace rather than the outcome of the peace that depends on the response of the other. And the Ephesians 2:14-16's he himself is our peace who destroyed the dividing wall of hostility establishes the theological model: the peacemaker is the person who is imaging the Christ who made peace by destroying the dividing walls.
What is the relationship between peace and holiness? The Hebrews 12:14's make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy establishes the specific pair: the peace and the holiness are the specific practices of the person who is moving toward the seeing of the Lord. The peace without the holiness is the peace that has accommodated the sin that disrupts the relationship with God. The holiness without the peace is the holiness that has withdrawn from the specific calling to be the peacemaker in the community. The Ephesians 2:14-16's he himself is our peace who made the two groups one establishes the connection: the peace is the specific fruit of the holiness of the one who destroyed the dividing wall of hostility, and the peacemaker is the person who is being made holy by the God of the peace.
