Peace and Righteousness

The hardest thing for me to wrap my mind around during this time of upheaval, is the panic of my fellow believers. I see them flailing and floundering and grasping hold of anything that seems to make sense. In doing so, they end up aligning themselves with ideologies and organizations that don't hold with Biblical truth.

Why are we so shocked that our society is suffering? Why are we so blown away that the sin of racism still exists? I believe it's because we've learned to comfortably ignore the sins of our times.

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,The Holy One of Israel:“I am the Lord your God,Who teaches you to profit,Who leads you by the way you should go. Oh, that you had heeded My commandments!Then your peace would have been like a river,And your righteousness like the waves of the sea. Your descendants also would have been like the sand,And the offspring of your body like the grains of sand;His name would not have been cut offNor destroyed from before Me.” Flee from the Chaldeans!With a voice of singing,Declare, proclaim this,Utter it to the end of the earth;Say, “The Lord has redeemedHis servant Jacob!” And they did not thirstWhen He led them through the deserts;He caused the waters to flow from the rock for them;He also split the rock, and the waters gushed out. Go forth from Babylon!“There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”

Isaiah 48:17-22

The work of righteousness will be peace,And the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. 

Isaiah 32:17

Mercy and truth have met together;

Righteousness and peace have kissed.

Psalm 85:10

My  Bible study notes pointed out that righteousness and peace go together. The problem within our secular humanist society is that we believe that we can figure out peace on our own. We can solve our problems through human means such as education, information, conversation, legislation, cooperation...whatever other "ations" we can think of. 

The truth is, that these are tools - that we can and should use as long as they align with the Word of God - but they are tools only and not solutions.

We have the solution. Jesus Christ.

  If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14

We've focused so much on tolerance that we've forgotten that we serve a God who cannot tolerate sin. He loves people, true. But he also hates sin. He loves people so much that he made a way for them out of judgement. He hates sin so much that he sacrificed his son to overcome it.

The way to peace is through righteousness. Righteousness begins with repentance. Like the psalmist, we can look to God to examine our hearts and lead us back to him and his ways. As we walk in obedience, we'll see our lives, our families, and our nation change.