Bible Study Romans Part 20-Peace

Peace is one of the most misunderstood words in real life. We take a slow, careful walk through Romans 1:7 and Paul’s blessing, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,” and we ask a sharper question than “Do I feel calm?” What if peace is the end of againstness with God?

We start by treating Paul’s greeting as intentional and targeted, then we revisit why Grace is essential to Salvation and conversion. From there, we pivot to the “peace” we often skip. We define peace in plain terms, compare it to the world’s idea of peace built on fragile truces and distrust, and explain why Paul is pointing to something completely different. The peace Paul prays for doesn’t come from improved circumstances, politics, or personal grit. It comes from God, and it’s grounded in the relationship between the Father and the Son.

Then we get practical and honest about the cost. Choosing Christ can disrupt family expectations, friendships, and cultural belonging, so peace with God doesn’t automatically mean peace with the world. We connect Romans to key passages like John 6:29 and John 14:27 to show God’s terms for peace, why “my peace” is not the same as worldly comfort, and how union with Christ makes this peace steady even when life is loud.

If you want a clear Bible study on Grace and peace, peace with God, the peace of Christ, and why real peace can coexist with real conflict, press play. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review.

Transcript

Why God’s Word Matters

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Welcome to the program Study in the Chapel. God's Word is supreme at Chapel Ministries. We consider it absolutely essential to a proper relationship with God. We study it, we love it, we rely on it every minute of every day. The following program is an edited recording of the regular Bible studies we hold, and we decided to share these with you in the hope that you too will be able to find inspiration, encouragement, and ultimately salvation through discovering Christ in Scripture. Our intention is to travel all the way through the Bible. It will be a challenging journey, but one that will undoubtedly bring you to a decision. Through this study, you will be faced with either believing or rejecting what God has said to us. It is our intention to provide you with enough knowledge to make an informed decision about God and his word. We strongly encourage you to listen intently and diligently, because though at the moment you may not realize it, these things are truly a matter of life and death. In fact, these are matters of eternal life and eternal death. Never treat what God has said lightly. There's truly nothing more important to you. Now join us as we seek God's will through his inspired word.

Romans 1:7 And Paul’s Greeting

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Full of doctrine, full of good Christian education. That's why we spend so much time on every single word where we can, because it is giving us an idea of what salvation really is. And we're just now getting into the meat of it. We're almost finished with that first sentence, that seven-verse sentence. But before moving on to verse eight, I do want to go back one second to that seventh verse because there are a couple more things I want to talk about. Let's read it real quick. Romans 1:7 out of the King James. To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the address line for Paul's letter. This is where he identifies and then begins his greetings to the ones who will be receiving this correspondence. To all that be in Rome, beloved of God called saints. We talked about all of that already. What Paul is about to say, all of what Paul is going to say throughout this letter has but one audience in mind, though they go by two different titles. And then once he identifies them, he hails them, he greets them. Then he bestows on them, and again, only them, his standard benediction, standard, but by no means habitual. This is not some mindless, thoughtless, automatic, hey, how you doing? This is intentional, calculated, and focused. Grace to you and peace from God our Father, not from me, from God the Father, because my grace and peace is not going to help you much. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Why Grace Comes First

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Now, last time we talked a lot about that word grace. Whenever the word grace comes up, whenever I'm teaching on the word grace, I like to spend some time on it. It's one of the most important words in the whole Bible. Grace perfectly describes God's relationship to his beloved called saints. From the moment of our conversion, he is bestowing on us blessings we don't deserve. If you don't understand grace, then conversion is not possible for you. And I don't think it's so hard. It takes a complete change of heart for us to believe that we get something as wonderful as reconciliation with God simply and only because God wants it that way. We can't earn that blessing, and that's not easy to grasp, but that's because it's purely of God, and our sinful, mortal, frail minds don't process the things of God very easily. That's why we need a renewal. Anyhow, we talked all about that last time and many other times in the past and many more times in the future in this letter, quite a bit, actually. But you know, while in the midst of teaching all of that to you last time, it sort of struck me that we didn't talk much about peace. We spent time on the grace part of grace and peace, but not much on the peace part of grace and peace. And I mentioned my thoughts to Catherine about sort of neglecting the subject of peace, and she said she noticed the same thing. So I decided to spend a little time this week talking about peace. Now I'm sure you're thinking, well, John, as easy as grace is to understand, peace is even easier. But is it? Let's see.

What Peace Actually Means

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First of all, let's define the word. It's not as straightforward as you'd think, but I like Dr. Gene Scott's take on it. He used to say that peace is the cessation of againstness. Now, my spell check doesn't like that word at all, but I think it's perfect. When you are at peace with someone, you and they are no longer against each other. The things you once that the things that once kept you apart, kept you enemies, have now ceased. Either they're no longer important or they no longer exist. Now, in this world, you may not necessarily be for each other when you're at peace, but you're definitely not against each other. I'm currently reading a biography of the fascinating life of Napoleon. And if there's one thing that seems to come up again and again in the middle part of his reign are his efforts to strike peace treaties with those whose land he was formally trying to grab for himself, or as he would rather state, for France. Anyhow, most of the time the kings and emperors who sat across the negotiating table from him accepted his terms because frankly he was really good at making war and he didn't lose very often. So it was in their best interest, the best interest of his former enemies to agree to what he wanted in order to avoid

Worldly Peace Never Lasts

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losing in conflict what they were agreeing to give in peace. But this is my point. These human-based treaties may have resulted in a cessation of againstness, but they certainly didn't lead to cooperation, except, of course, where required under the stipulation of these treaties. By the way, this was the beginning of the nightmare that arrived only about a hundred years later in the form of World War I. Yes, peace treaties resulted in global conflict, the likes of which had never been seen before. And this is the sort of thing that has shaped most of our understanding of what peace is. By the sheer weight of history, the typical view of peace is one of distrust, frailty, and an utter lack of permanence. When Paul wished peace on those Roman Christians, his view was nothing like that. And I'm going to try to convince you to see it Paul's way, which of course is really God's way.

The Cost Of Conversion

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Listen, the lives of those early Christians was anything but peaceful. As mentioned sometime recently, the official Roman persecution hadn't quite arrived yet, but it was coming and everyone knew it. But just because no one was being fed to the lions yet didn't mean these people were living the good life. It has never been easy to be a Christian, and it was especially difficult in the beginning. In those days, every Christian was a convert from one religion or another. Listen, human beings are religious creatures. We revere our worship practices, we revel in our spiritual choices, and such things become personal. And eventually, your entire persona is a reflection of your religious beliefs. Religion works its way into the family, into society, into everything. Before long, religion becomes who we are and not just what we believe. And that's why conversion is so difficult. When those early Christians gave up their old religion, they also gave up the civic peace that was all around them. And that hasn't changed this to this day. Those of you who had to go and tell your parents that you accepted Jesus as your savior, you were either laughed at or slapped. Why are you talking like some kind of religious fanatic? Have you joined a cult? Straighten up and light a few candles. You'll feel better. Now you go to Bible study on Wednesday nights instead of bingo. Then there were the guys that you grew up with who wanted to go drinking on Saturday night and see where that leads us. You know, like we used to, man. Well, you have to now summon the courage to turn them down because you promised to help the A V group set up for church and you have to be there early in the morning. What's your point, John? As the world defines it, there is nothing peaceful about choosing to live under the cross of Christ. So are you saying Paul, it's Paul's prayer is never going to get answered? Of course not. Because the peace Paul is calling for is the peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, and anything and everything that comes from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ is perfect and permanent. It's still cessation of againstness, but that's where the similarities end. To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Peace Between Father And Son

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The key, I think, to understanding the peace that Paul is praying for is to realize from whom the peace is coming. And the key to that key is seeing that the peace is coming from two persons, the Father and the Son. The peace that Paul wants for us, the peace Paul is praying for, is the peace that exists between God the Father and Jesus his son. Now, that may not have been what Paul had in mind when he wrote that prayer down, but that is the peace that will result from that prayer. The peace the Father and Son enjoy with each other is the only peace we need. All other peace flows from that peace. And can I say that is all God has ever wanted? And I'm not talking about just since the expulsion from the garden, it's the peace that he built that garden for. The garden was to be, among many other things, the focal point for the companionship between us and God. The garden was the cradle of peace. And when sin entered that sacred place, the peace was shattered. But listen, God hasn't changed. We have. So if you'll forgive me, I'll give up my raucous ways and take up the monastic life where I'll spend my time chanting and working in the garden and thinking about you, and I'll go to Mass every day. No, no, no, I'll go twice a day. God, if you agree to these terms, please sign right here. And you know, God gets about as much out of that as Archduke Charles got from Napoleon. Nerd alert. But it's still relevant. Human treaties for peace with God are worthless because we are never faithful, and worse, we have nothing to offer. And besides, the only offended party is

God’s Terms: Believe In Christ

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God. And she and he should be the one who offers terms, and he does. Here it is: John 6, 29. Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and the peace we so desperately need will begin. In that moment, peace will be guaranteed. It is what God wants, it's what his son wants. The restoration of mankind is the theme of the Bible. And it's that restoration that brings us peace. Jesus once said, now I know you've heard this before, John 14, 27, peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. This is really one of the most remarkable verses in all of Scripture, and it makes my point perfectly. The occasion of this statement was our Lord's musing on his departure from this life. His death and resurrection are going to turn the world upside down. It is going to signal the beginning of the end for Satan, and it's going to be rough. Listen to me, no thug goes down without a fight. The devil knows he's defeated, and his plan is for a scorched earth exit. Though Jesus had to take that step, he wants those he loves to know that he's not leaving them empty-handed. A few verses before in John 14, he said he will not leave us comfortless. Listen, we have to be here. And although he can't be here with us, he promises that he will feel close. Despite the fury and raging of the devil, of the devil, his presence will seem well present. His presence will feel present.

Peace Because We Are In Him

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Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. First of all, how's that even going to happen? Jesus, you're going to be gone and we're going to be stuck here. Ah, yes, but don't forget, the underlying power of the gospel in our lives is the fact that we are, you ready? In him, right? Over and over throughout the gospels and the New Testament, we are told that we are in Christ and He is in us. Everything that happens to Jesus happens to us, just like everything that's happened to us happened to him when he was here among us. You may have heard that last week there was an earthquake in Chapel's neighborhood. Well, when that happened, I was in the house and Catherine was in the house. The earthquake shook the house, and because we were both in it, we shook. So this peace of Christ is possible because we are one with him. And my friends, this cannot fail. Jesus has the one condition that frees us from the againstness that we had with God. Jesus is without sin. If he is without sin and we are in him, listen, we can't we cannot bring sin into our abiding with Christ. He will not allow it. Have you ever seen those videos of dogs bringing those big sticks in their mouths, trying to bring them through the doors that aren't big enough to accommodate them? They try, bang, back up, try, bang, try again, bang. That's us trying to get into Christ with our own righteousness. Our filthy rags, righteousness, will not allow us to enter into. Into Christ. Maybe this is going on too long. I'm simply desperate for you to see how incredible the peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ is. And I want you to see that it isn't as impossible as it may feel. As with everything else, all things are possible through Christ, which strengtheneth me.

Peace With God Versus The World

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Receiving the peace of God does not mean you'll experience a life free from fret or conflict or trouble, quite the opposite. Listen to me. The decades following Paul's benediction of grace and peace to those Romans were full of torture, oppression, and death for believers. God's peace does not offer you peace with the world. And actually, peace with God stirs up the enemies in this world. Your relationship with the world will worsen when ye receive the pride, the peace of God. Precisely as our Lord said it would, John 15, 19. If ye were of the world, would the world would love his own. But because you're not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Is anybody at peace with someone they hate? Of course not. One of the many ironies that life with God offers is the fact that though all around us is chaos, strife, and violence, we are kept in the peace of God in the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen, if we hang on, if we live in Christ and in that peace, if we, as Paul exhorted the Colossians, if we let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, then we will be ready for that day when this whole thing flips. The chaos and strife and violence that now surrounds us will disappear. And Christ will ascend the throne and true peace will reign supreme. That thought gets me through most days. Thank you for your prayers, Paul. They truly help.

Next Steps And Ministry Support

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Next time, we'll start looking at verse eight. See you then.

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