but means righteousness and peace and joy with holy spirit.” So the disciple James, in describing divine wisdom, wrote: “The wisdom from above is first of all chaste, then peaceable, reasonable, ready to obey, full of mercy and good fruits.” In keeping therewith we find Jesus listing the peaceable seventh in his beatitudes or felicities with which he began his Sermon on the Mount.—Rom. 14:17; Jas. 3:17; Matt. 5:3-9.

17. In what further respect is the Christians’ peace unique?

¹⁷ The peace that is the Christians’ possession is further unique in that it is not dependent upon environment. Well has the apostle Paul described it as “the peace of God that excels all thought.” It is a calm condition of mind and heart, an inner state of quiet regardless of what may be taking place on the outside. It has been well illustrated by the mother bird that sits on her nest of eggs in a tree during a thunderstorm, tranquil, undisturbed through it all. Clearly it is a peace of which the world knows nothing. That is why Jesus could say regarding it: “I leave you peace, I give you my peace. I do not give it to you the way that the world gives it. Do not let your hearts be troubled nor let them shrink for fear.” “I have said these things to you that by means of me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but take courage! I have conquered the world.” Yes, in spite of conditions that would ordinarily cause men to become troubled and shrink back in fear, in spite of tribulation, the true followers of Jesus Christ can have peace.—Phil. 4:7; John 14:27; 16:33.

ACQUIRING THE PEACE OF GOD

18, 19. (a) On what basis can one realize peace with God? (b) What ministry, therefore, have Christians been given?

¹⁸ How can a person come into this possession of peace, this peace that is described as one of the fruits of God’s holy spirit at Galatians 5:22, this peace that excels all thought? First of all, by making peace with God, by coming into friendly relations with Him. Friendly relations with God? Is not God everybody’s friend? By no means! As the apostle Paul well notes: “Indeed, you who were once alienated and enemies because your minds were on the works that were wicked, he now has again reconciled.” Reconciled by what means? By the sacrifice of Jesus Christ: “For if, when we were enemies, we became reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, now that we have become reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” As was prophetically foretold: “He was being pierced for our transgression; he was being crushed for our errors. The chastisement meant for our peace was upon him, and because of his wounds there has been a healing for us.”—Col. 1:21; Rom. 5:10; Isa. 53:5.

¹⁹ That is why true Christianity or the preaching of the Christian gospel is termed by the apostle Paul “the ministry of the reconciliation.” Jesus came to earth to declare “the good news of peace to you, the ones far off, and peace to those near,” and this ministry he committed to his followers: “All things are from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of the reconciliation, namely, that God was by means of Christ reconciling a world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and he committed the word of the reconciliation to us. We are therefore ambassadors substituting for Christ, as though God were making entreaty through us. As substitutes for Christ we beg: ‘Become reconciled to God.’ The one [Jesus Christ] who did not know sin he made to be sin for us, that we might become God’s righteousness by means of him.”—Eph. 2:17; 2 Cor. 5:18-21.

20, 21. (a) What does it mean to exercise faith? (b) What first steps must be taken?

²⁰ Yes, peace with God can be had only through Jesus Christ: “No one comes to the Father except through me.” That requires, not merely one’s giving a mental assent to what Jesus did for one, but one’s exercising faith: “God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, in order that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life.” To exercise faith means to do something about it, to act on one’s beliefs, for “as the body without breath is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”—John 14:6; 3:16; Jas. 2:26.

²¹ What kind of works are required? First of all, repentance from one’s selfish unrighteous course and converting or turning around to follow the pattern set by Jesus Christ, even as the apostle Peter admonished the Jews in Jerusalem in his day: “Repent, therefore, and turn around so as to get your sins blotted out, that seasons of refreshing may come from the person of Jehovah.”—Acts 3:19.

22, 23. What example did Jesus set at the beginning of his ministry, and how important is this step toward our gaining peace with Jehovah God?

²² Jesus began his career as the Christ by presenting himself to do his Father’s will, even as we read of his saying: “Look! I am come . . . to do your will, O God.” That was at the Jordan where he was also baptized by John the Baptist. Since he himself was baptized and he also commanded it for his followers, it follows that to walk in Jesus’ footsteps one must decide to do God’s will as Jesus did and then be baptized as Jesus was. This baptism stands for or pictures one’s having decided to do God’s will; it serves as a vivid reminder of having made that decision and it is also a public testimony to others that one has decided to do God’s will and to follow Jesus Christ.—Heb. 10:7; Matt. 3:13-17; 28:19, 20.

²³ Today there are not a few persons associated with the Christian witnesses of Jehovah who attend their meetings, read the Watch Tower publications and even share in the field ministry but who are shrinking back from the step of dedication and baptism. They seem to be walking with God, but actually are not, for, as we read at Amos 3:3: “Will two walk together unless they have met by appointment?” Let all such know that one cannot enjoy the peace of God without first making peace with God by faith, dedication and baptism.

24. What course must be pursued to keep this peace?

²⁴ Not that after having taken the steps of dedication and baptism we need to do nothing more to enjoy this peace with God permanently. That is only the beginning. Among other things, we must continue to take in knowledge, to let ourselves be instructed by Jehovah through his Word and his visible organization; we must truly love God’s law and make a pursuit of wisdom. If we do these things, we are assured, we will have peace: “All your sons will be persons taught by Jehovah, and the peace of your sons will be abundant.” “Abundant peace belongs to those loving your law, and for them there is no stumbling block.” “My son, my law do not forget, and my commandments may your heart observe, because length of days and years of life and peace will be added to you.” “Its [wisdom’s] ways are ways of pleasantness, and all its roadways are peace.” As the apostle Paul counseled Christians: “The things that you learned as well as accepted and heard and saw in connection with me, practice these; and the God of peace will be with you.”—Isa. 54:13; Ps. 119:165; Prov. 3:1, 2, 17; Phil. 4:9.

25. (a) How might the principle governing this peace be illustrated? (b) What, therefore, might the peace of God be termed?

²⁵ This peace might be likened to marital bliss. A wedding is indeed a joyful occasion and opens up the way for marital bliss, but it does not permanently guarantee it, a mistaken idea that apparently many couples have. To have marital bliss a couple must continually work at it, give it thought, time and effort, manifesting maturity in all their relations. So also with those who have come into peaceful relations with God through repentance, conversion, faith in Christ’s ransom, dedication and baptism. They must continue to work at this peace in order to maintain it. It might, therefore, be said that the peace of God is a reward, even as Jehovah promised his ancient people peace if they met his conditions: “If you continue walking in my statutes and keeping my commandments and you do carry them out, I shall . . . put peace in the land, and you will lie down, with no one making you tremble; . . . and a sword will not pass through your land.”—Lev. 26:3-6.

Maintaining Our Possession of Peace

“My people must dwell in a peaceful abiding place and in residences of full confidence and in undisturbed resting places.”—Isa. 32:18.

1. Why does “the God of peace” at times become “a manly person of war,” and for how long will such be?

GOD’S Word tells us that “for everything there is an appointed time, even a time for every affair under the heavens: . . . a time for war and a time for peace.” That is why Jehovah God is frequently spoken of not only as “the God of peace,” or “the God who gives peace,” but also as “a manly person of war” and as “Jehovah of armies.” To vindicate his sovereignty and to restore peace he finds it necessary at times to resort to war, for which reason he speaks of himself as “making peace and creating calamity.” But only during this present wicked system of things is there a time for war and a time for peace; in the coming new order, when God’s will is done on earth as in heaven, there will be a time only for peace.—Eccl. 3:1, 8; Phil. 4:9; Rom. 15:33; Ex. 15:3; Jas. 5:4; Isa. 45:7.

2. How, at times, do the Scriptures describe the peaceful activity of Jehovah’s witnesses?

² The same might also be said of the peaceful activity of the dedicated Christian minister. How so? In that his ministry is repeatedly described in terms of war: “As a fine soldier of Christ Jesus take your part in suffering evil.” Of course, he does not use fleshly or material weapons, even as the apostle Paul shows: “The weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but powerful by God for overturning strongly entrenched things.” And again, “We have a fight, not against blood and flesh, but against . . . wicked spirit forces in the heavenly places.” The Christian minister uses the truth, the “sword of the spirit, that is, God’s word,” which “is alive and exerts power and is sharper than any two-edged sword.” With it he slashes false, God-dishonoring teachings, not out of pride or ill will, but in humility