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Peace with God
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"Peace with God" is sometimes rather carelessly used in religious circles, as though it had only one connotation, as though all the problems of a complex human personality were solved if only a man would accept the redemptive sacrifice of Christ upon the Cross. Actually this is an over-simplification, for although to accept the reconciliation which God has provided is an absolute essential, there are many other factors which prevent the soul from being at peace. The divine peace, the steady centering of life upon God, is basically a gift from God, and must be accepted, like our forgiveness, as His gift and not something that we can achieve. Nevertheless, there are elements within our own personalities which must be frankly faced before we can expect to experience that gift. If we want to enjoy inward tranquility amid this whirling bewildering modern life, we must be prepared to do some honest self-examination. In the last resort, we shall find that our only true peace is "peace with God", but it may not prove quite so simple to find it as we imagined. In all of us to a greater or less degree, depending on heredity, upbringing, and temperament, there is a thrusting, self-pleasing element which normally regards the world as centering around oneself. It is not a thing to be horrified at, for it is in us all; but the whole way of thinking and feeling which belongs to the self-centred man must be abrogated or denied before there can be peace with God. What we call "sins" are simply expressions of this self-pleasing, self-regarding, and self-indulgent inward attitude. The word which is translated in the New Testament as repentance really means a thorough change of heart and mind. It means realising that the real centre of everything is not my little self, but God, and that in order to serve the King Himself I must quit the throne of my own precious little kingdom. To some people this comes easily, almost naturally, as soon as they see the truth of it. To others it means a hard and even agonising struggle. Such people do not readily surrender, they do not easily co-operate with somebody else's plan, even if that Somebody Else is God. Yet it is obvious that there can be no inward peace until the self-conscious inward kingdom willingly and whole-heartedly concedes its rights to the Creator, the real King. This is the essential of all Christian living, but in actual experience it does not happen all at once. A man may not realise how strong and deeply entrenched is his own self-interest until he has followed Christ even for years. It is the willing co-operation that God is seeking, the cheerful enlisting in His service. Certain types of people can be scared into being "saved" or "converted", but it does not necessarily follow that they willingly hand over the centre of their being to the service of Christ. As far as we can judge from the New Testament, people are not frightened into becoming Christians. Jesus required His followers to be "fishers of men", and the ability to instil fear is not a prime qualification for a fisherman! In the classic instance of sudden conversion - that is, of Paul - it is interesting to note that there is no threat of hell-fire, not even of reproach in the words Jesus spoke to him in the vision on the Damascus road. We might well have thought that the man who had been responsible for the death, disgrace, misery, and imprisonment of so many of Christ's men and women would naturally have incurred the wrath of the Lord Himself. But what do we find? A penetrating question, asking in effect: "Why are you behaving like this towards Me?" And a highly significant comment: "It is not easy for you to go against your own conscience." Paul saw in a blinding moment of revelation how the whole structure of his righteous living, including his violent persecutions of the truth, had been utterly self-centred. What is more, he saw the Lord personally, and the consequence of seeing himself as he was and Christ as He was resulted in a thorough-going conversion. Such complete visions of the truth are rare. But it is as this same truth strikes home to men by the power of the Spirit that they realise the true position - how off course they are, what harm their self-centred living has caused, and how they can be at peace only if they are reconciled with the Nature and Purpose of God. If we are quiet before God and allow His Spirit to shine
upon our inward state, we shall probably discover more than one conflict
which is robbing us of inner peace. The man who lives apart from God may
be largely unconscious of his inward conflicts and only aware of their
tension. Of course he may be driven by the sheer force of the tension to a
psychiatrist who, if he is a wise one, will help the man to realise the
souces of his disharmony. But he still will not be at peace with the
nature of things, with his own conscience, and the Divine Purpose that is
being worked out in this world unless the psychiatrist is able to lead him
to faith in God. But except in unusual cases, the Christian need not turn
to the psychiatrist. Either alone with God or with the help of a trusted
friend, priest, or minister, he can, if he wishes, see for himself the
fierce, hidden resentment, the carefully concealed self-importance, the
obstinate and unforgiving spirit, and all the other things which prevent
inward relaxation. So long as his personality is a battleground, it is
foolish to suggest to him that he accepts the peace of God. His hidden
desires, ambitions, and prides must first be brought to the surface, not
only to the surface of his own consciousness, but, as it were, to the
light of God's love and understanding. God is not concerned to condemn;
however ashamed and guilty the man himself may feel, God is concerned to
heal and harmonise.
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