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“Perfect Peace”

Isaiah 26:3

This promise of God’s Word is made to every believer in Christ, for all the promises of God in him are yea and amen. — “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”

God’s Gift

Peace is God’s gracious gift to faith. That is to say, as God gives us faith in Christ, he gives us peace. Peace was made for us by Christ when he reconciled us to God by his blood. And this peace is bestowed upon us as we trust him. Sprinkling our hearts with the blood of Christ, the Lord God proclaims peace in our hearts by his Spirit.

Like Abel, we obtain from God the witness that we are righteous, made the righteousness of God in Christ (Hebrews 11:4). Like Enoch, we obtain testimony from God that we please God because Christ is made of God unto us “wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (Hebrews 11:5-6; 1 Corinthians 1:30).

The Peace Promised

The peace that is promised to us is “perfect peace.” Do not let those words throw you. Isaiah is not telling us that unless we have peace perfectly at all times, we do not have faith and are lost. God gives us perfect peace. But we do not always enjoy that peace perfectly. In fact, we never enjoy that peace perfectly in this world. We are kept by grace in the blessed perfect peace of salvation accomplished by Christ. But that peace is not perfectly manifest, felt, and enjoyed in this life. There is a vast difference between being kept in perfect peace and having peace perfectly.

“Perfect peace” is true peace. The peace which God gives to faith is real and true, not false and imaginary. And the word “perfect” has the idea of “completeness” and “abundance.” We have peace now. But, oh, what an abundant, complete, blessed peace our God will give us in heaven! There it will be perfectly enjoyed forever (Isaiah 9:6; Psalm 72:7).

The Beneficiaries

This peace is promised to those whose minds are stayed upon the Lord. This is the promise of grace. — “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee.” Believers are the beneficiaries of this blessed promise of grace.

To have your mind stayed upon Christ is to have your heart fixed on him with confident faith, being persuaded of your interest in him. To be stayed upon Christ is to trust him alone as your Savior (Psalm 112:7-8). It is to trust his blood for forgiveness, his righteousness for justification, his intercession for preservation, his providence for daily care, and his power for protection. — “Trust ye in the LORD forever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength.” — Fix me, blessed Spirit of God, stay me upon my dear Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Lean me only upon him, always upon him, by the unceasing gift of faith in him, and keep me in “perfect peace!”

Don Fortner

Pastor Fortner’s