Peace With All Men
by Laurence Windham

The Book of Romans was written with passion. With each line tension builds as the apostle Paul explains the work of redemp- tion to the believers at Rome. The fuse finally finds powder when Paul reaches Chapter II verse 33 and explodes in doxology,

"Oh, the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowl- edge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His way.c part finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor? Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to Him? For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen."

This outburst of emotion springs from the truth of Paul's conclusion as to how the Gentiles had been engrafted into the covenant of grace. This mystery, this phenomenon, this glorious and unfathomable and unexpected work of God causes Paul to shift from lecture to song. This, in turn, leads the apostle to charge believers with a succession of rapid-fire exhortations. I beseech you.. present your bodies. ..your reasonable service.. do not be conformed.. be ye transformed.. .think soberly.. let us: prophesy, teach, exhort, give, lead....Paul doesn't begin to wind down until the middle of Chapter 15.

With this understanding of the source of Paul's admonitions, let's examine verse 18. "If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men." The first thing we see here is that: Peace is Work. The assumption of Paul's letter is that there is present in the believer's heart an active willingness to follow Christ by living out the gospel. This is not a natural thing for flesh to do. But, if you have truly laid yourself on the altar, there will be a desire to obedience and that obedience leads to labor. We are told to work out our salvation with fear because it is the Spirit of God that works in us. That implies that we are to deliberately work together with God in our sanc- tification. This is not an easy thing to do. But it is a command- ment that is given to us. A command that we are to give ourselves to.

"...As much as depends on you," puts the ball in your court. There is none of this waiting around for others to move first. Your responsibility is to place yourself where there is no peace, where peace has been lost, and to do all that you can to make things right. This mirrors the redemptive work of our Savior who reconciled us to God-by His life. We, in turn, are to imitate Christ by our lives. Of course this is not easy, but hey, if you are dead to self, it will not hurt much. And consider this, in the Beatitudes, the peacemakers are given greatest title-sons of God. Peace also means War. As you have no doubt found, working for peace may result in more conflict. The Psalmist records in Psalm 120, "My soul has dwelt too long with one who hates peace. 1 am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war." Again, to answer the call to live in peace means that you will move into harm's way. This is a guarantee that there will be a cost involved. Time, money, sleep, pleasure, space, relationships, reputation, health.. .but this is your calling. You must realize that if you are connected to the people of God, as you should be, the absence of peace will cost you these things anyway. Our warfare is always to effect peace. That should always be our goal.

Peace is Possible. It has already been a tough year on a couple of my friends. One has been indicted and arrested by the federal government. Another has publicly stood between two factions of theological debate at the risk of his good name. Both are doing all they can to make peace. The first, caught in a soulless machine that has a history of not listening to reason and logic, is fighting for justice. The other is appealing to brotherly love in hope that fear and anger will subside so that unity will prevail in the bond of peace. My friend in trouble with the Feds is willing to do right even if it means serving time. The other has jumped on the grenade of misunder- standing in hopes of saving the church from more splintering and scandal. They do this because they both know peace is possible. But whether peace is a result of their efforts. they are still called by God to action, "as much as depends on you,"

Salvation is progressive in that the soul is saved now, the body later. And that body is comprised of sinful flesh. That is not just the epidermal, skeletal, and fluidic but also the muscular—the heart and mind. We are to make this flesh obey God. That is why Paul first tells the Roman Christians to present their bodies as living sacrifices, then he tells us how that presenta- tion will be evident. Transformed by the renewing of our minds. That is a call to deny ourselves and to prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. This is done by, thinking about ourselves as a part of the whole, by being kind to one another, by brotherly love, prayer, giving, by being so involved in the lives of our brethren that our grief and joy is never isolated but always shared. We are also called to live peaceably with those outside the church.

The believer in Christ has died, but lives. The Christian has been conquered, invaded, taken captive. The new Ruler demands those He has taken into loving bondage to serve well. Peace represents this all. Where peace reigns covetousness, individualism, selfishness, and all the other children of pride, who are always looking for a soul to play in, are forced to move on.