Not all peace is desirable. It should be noted that while Jesus came to bring peace (Luke 1:76-79), there is a type of peace that Jesus did not come to bring, and that is a false peace. He announced that his teaching would bring not peace but a sword (Matt. 10:34). He would never advocate peace at the expense of truth. "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable" (James 3:17). There are those who cry, "Peace, peace; when there is no peace" (Jer. 6:14). Jesus would have nothing to do with such a false peace. He never compromised with error. Jesus wanted peace, yet both he and his faithful disciples were, and are, often in the position of the Psalmist when dealing with the wicked. "I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war" (Ps. 120:7). His mission into the world was to bring true peace which is based only upon truth. "But now in Christ Jesus ye that once were far off are made nigh in the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who made both one, and brake down the middle wall of partition" (Eph. 2:13-14).
How can we achieve peace with our fellow man? Is it possible for us to live peaceably with men today? God's answer is an emphatic "Yes!" Not only is it a possibility, but it is also a command: "Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord" (Heb. 12:14). The church is explicitly commanded to be a peaceable institution. "For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 14:17). "Be at peace among yourselves" (1 Thess. 5:13b), Unfortunately, there are a few people with whom it is impossible to live in peace. "If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all men" (Rom. 12:18).
To achieve peace we must have a genuine, deep-seated desire for peace and a fervent motivation for it. If we sincerely long for peace, we will think peace, love peace, and work for it in our lives and the lives of others. In fact, we are commanded, "Giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Eph. 4:3).
Once at peace with himself through his obedience to the gospel, the Christian must accept his role as a peacemaker. Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called sons of God" (Matt. 5:9). Peter said, "For, He that would love life, And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips that they speak no guile: And let him turn away from evil, and do good; Let him seek peace, and pursue it" (1 Pet. 3:10-11). "So then let us follow after things which make for peace, and things whereby we may edify one another" (Rom. 14:19).
The Fruit of Longsuffering
When we have joy in the Lord and peace with God, then we have great patience with man.
"Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say, Rejoice. Let your forbearance be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:4-7).
Longsuffering enables us to endure hardships and much injury without provocation. Thayer defines longsuffering as:
"To be of a long spirit, not to lose heart, to persevere patiently and bravely and enduring misfortunes and troubles; to be patient in bearing the offenses and injuries of others; to be mild and slow in avenging; to be longsuffering, slow to anger, slow to punish."
God has always been longsuffering to man.
"And Jehovah passed by before him, and proclaimed, Jehovah, Jehovah, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth, Keeping lovingkindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation" (Exo. 34:6-7).
The great prophet Jeremiah paid tribute to God's longsuffering. "O Jehovah, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and avenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered reproach" (Jer. 15:15). Both Paul and Peter wrote of God's longsuffering. Paul wrote, "Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?" (Rom. 2:4). Peter wrote, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Pet. 3:9). "And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote unto you" (2 Pet. 3:15). Peter also reminds us that God was longsuffering during Noah's day. "That aforetime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved through water" (1 Pet. 3:20).
As children of God, we must be longsuffering. Paul wrote, "With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love" (Eph. 4:2); "Strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, unto all patience and longsuffering with joy" (Col. 1:11). Let us follow Paul's advice when he said, "Put on therefore, as God's elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering" (Col. 3:12).
The Fruit of Kindness
Longsuffering is passive; kindness is active. Kindness returns kindness for kindness, but it does not stop there. It returns blessing for cursing, good for evil. Paul wrote, "But if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him to drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good" (Rom. 12:20-21).
Kindness occupies a very important place in the life of a Christian. To be like God we must be kind to all, for "he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matt. 5:45; Luke 6:35). The supreme kindness of God toward man is exhibited in Christ through the gospel.
"But when the kindness of God our Saviour, and his love toward man, appeared, not by works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, which he poured out upon us richly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that, being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:4-7).
The Bible sets forth both the goodness and the severity of God. "Behold then the goodness and severity of God: toward them that fell, severity; but toward thee, God's goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off" (Rom. 11:22).
Paul instructs us, "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you" (Eph. 4:32). Jesus words it in this fashion in his famous "Golden Rule": "All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye also unto them: for this is the law and the prophets" (Matt. 7:12).
Kindness demands that we oppose error. Jesus did so, and we are to follow his steps. "For hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that ye should follow his steps" (1 Pet. 2:21). Paul teaches us to be "set for the defence of the gospel" (Phil. 1:17). Jude says that we are to "contend earnestly for the faith" (Jude 1:3). When we oppose error, we must have no ill will toward any man; however, we must "hate every false way" (Ps. 119:104). Our Lord was the kindest person ever to live (being perfect), but he hated error and exposed it (Heb. 1:9; Rev. 2:6). The Lord often publicly rebuked error, and sometimes he also publicly called the errorist by name (Matt. 23:13-15,23,25-27,29, et al.). The conclusion is that we must ever be kind yet militant for truth.
The Fruit of Goodness
Paul not only informs us that goodness is "a fruit of the Spirit," but in writing to the Ephesians he refers to goodness as the fruit of the light. "Be not ye therefore partakers with them; for ye were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord: walk as children of light (for the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth)" (Eph. 5:7-9). To the Thessalonians he wrote, "To which end we also pray always for you, that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire of goodness and every work of faith with power" (2 Thess. 1:11).
With this introduction to the word "goodness," two facts are clearly evident. First, without a Divine standard there can be no good or goodness. It is sad but true that many walk in error while attempting to live a good life but at the same time ignoring God's Book of divine instructions. This, of course, presents an impossible situation for them as long as they ignore the Book of books. Second, goodness cannot be properly defined or understood without considering "good" which is the root of "goodness."
The standard for goodness is the Bible, the Divine standard (2 Tim. 3:16-17; John 14:15). The "good and faithful servant" was one who had accomplished his Master's will (Matt. 25:21).
Goodness is a life molded by God's standard of morality (Rom. 12:1-2). God has always demanded that his people be separate (2 Cor. 6:17-18). When a man's heart is in tune with God's wishes and will, it can be said of him, "The good man out of his good treasure bringeth forth good things" (Matt. 12:35).
Goodness is being benevolent. "Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did" (Acts 9:36). Barnabas is an example of a good man. "Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad; and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord" (Acts 11:23). Every Christian should so live that what Paul said of the Romans could be truthfully said of each one of us. "And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another" (Rom. 15:14). Never for one moment should we entertain the thought of ceasing to strive to be good and to do good unto all men. "So then, as we have opportunity, let us work that which is good toward all men, and especially toward them that are of the household of faith" (Gal. 6:10).
CONCLUSION
In order to produce the beautiful spiritual fruit Paul described in Gal. 5:22-23 certain requirements are involved. These are set forth in Gal. 5:24-26 and they merit our careful attention.
Gal. 5:24
"And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof." Those who belong to Christ have crucified or put to death the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof.
This means that they have put out of their lives the works of the flesh and, further, have put to death the lusts that caused these works of the flesh to be present in their lives. The task is only half completed when we cease sin. We must not only quit practicing sin, but we must also rid our hearts of the love of sin. The person who still entertains in his heart the love for sin will be in constant danger of going back to sin. Our only assurance of quitting sin is to crucify the lusts or desires that we have in our heart.
Gal. 5:25
"If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk." If we propose to be influenced by the Spirit (i.e., by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, which teaching originally dwelt in inspired men but has now been brought together in the inspired Book, the New Testament), we should walk in such a fashion as to prove that we are influenced by the Spirit. To walk by the Spirit is to walk in harmony with the teaching of the Spirit. Again, I would mention the only way we can know how the Spirit wants us to walk is to read that which he has revealed to us (Eph. 3:3-4; 5:17).
Gal. 5:26
"Let us not become vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another." If we walk by the Spirit we will not be vainglorious nor will we provoke one another nor envy one another. In short, our life must be consistent with our profession. Paul sums it up well in another passage:
"And this, knowing the season, that already it is time for you to awake out of sleep: for now is salvation nearer to us than when we first believed. The night is far spent, and the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk becomingly, as in the day; not in revelling and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and jealousy. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof" (Rom. 13:11-14).