Romans 12:18: Blessed are the Peacemakers: Part Three

Outline

• The peace we are to pursue is a peace from the heart
• The peace we are to pursue is a peace with all
• The peace we are to pursue is a peace that has principles

Introduction

One of the jobs of an ambassador is to keep the peace or initiate peace proceedings. We are ambassadors for Christ. Despite the public image Christianity has often had as public enemy number one, it is the job of every Christian to seek peace with all. Paul puts it this way in Romans 12:18, ‘If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.’ However, there are particular hurdles that we face in this endeavour. We have to pursue a heart of peace not only actions; we have to pursue peace with our friends and our enemies, and we have to pursue peace without violating the truth we also stand for; we are peacemakers but not a peacekeeping force, our weapons are the word and Spirit not guns and armies.
We have already stated that Paul is summarising the teaching of Christ from places like the Sermon on the Mount, so we will being our look at these truths by listening to what Christ has to say before we move to Paul specific instructions. What we want to show today is that the peace we are to pursue is to be a keep from the heart, a peace with all, and a peace with principles.