Episode 4: Peace: Safe in Christ
Our passage today is from: Ephesians 2:13-22.
Peace. With God, within ourselves, and with others. There's so much to talk about here in in our next Bible study on the fruit of the Spirit, as we acknowledge that almost every New Testament letter begins with 'peace' in some way. But today, we're rooting our conversation in Ephesians 2, as we press into what it really looks like to grow in both our understanding and application of peace.
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In Ephesians 2, how can we be sure of our peace with God, and what is the impact as a result of that?
How does knowing we have peace with God impact our internal peace, and help to counter anxious thoughts?
What will it look like for you to be a peace-maker with those around you?
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This episode is sponsored by Moody Publishers.
A Christian publisher, they aim to resource the church’s work of discipling all people, with titles spanning from Bible commentary and reference to spiritual and relational growth.
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The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy.
Felicity: You're listening to the Two Sisters in a Cup of Tea podcast, the Bible study podcast for everyday life. We're here for a 20 minute burst of Bible chat over a cup of tea and an English style biscuit as we open up the Bible and drive it to our hearts. Usually we're making our way through a specific book of the Bible, but this season we're diving deep into the fruit of the spirit together. Whether you've been listening for a while or have just found us, we are so pleased you're here.
Sarah: We are thankful for our partnership with Moody Publishers this season. Literarily by Kristie Anyabwile is a helpful companion guide as we think about the different literary styles we have in the Bible. It's something we talk about a lot on this podcast as we think about how to read something like prophecy or narrative or a letter with their distinctive styles. Literarily is an accessible tool to help you dig deeper into the nature of each biblical genre and how to get the most out of reading them. Click the link in the show notes to grab a copy of this book for yourself.
Felicity: Welcome to Two Sisters and a Cup of Tea. My name is Felicity. I'm here as ever with my sister Sarah. I'm in the States, she's in England, and we are excited to be continuing to dig deep into the fruit of the spirit. This episode, we're gonna be jumping off into peace. I'm excited, Sarah, I've got my cup of tea, no biscuits actually at this point, but it's good, it's good to be doing this, isn't it?
Sarah: Have you got a fruity? Fruit tea? I feel... should we just have this conversation straight out? There's a lot of potential with the fruity fruit, fruit nature of this series and fruit tea.
Felicity: yes, pun-tastic. i feel like sarah's texting me different puns quite frequently at the moment.
Sarah: Mmm. But the question is, are you embracing fruit tea?
Felicity: Yeah, I just don't think I am going to embrace Fruity. Even though the name of the season suggests that I should, I don't know, I just, you know, not at this stage, maybe when I'm a little older.
Sarah: Further through the season when you're a little older and wiser.
Felicity: Further, yes, maybe that's it. When I've said the word that number of times, it's in my head. I need to go and get a fruit tea
Sarah: Okay. All right, well, we're in a season where we're talking about growing to be more fruitful and that means being more like Jesus and praying that the Holy Spirit would be at work to that end. But Felicity, what about when I just don't desire it? When I don't have a desire to grow? Or perhaps I've got a friend I'm concerned about that isn't showing any appetite for growing to be more like Jesus. How would you speak into that?
Felicity: I think that's a real thing, isn't it? I can think of times when I've just not been that bothered, you know? Life is busy maybe, or maybe life isn't busy and you're just kind of just keeping going and it's just like, yeah. So I think that in that instance, I think what's really helped me actually about the way we've gone about this season is that we're having Christ in front and centre-lap, full view on Jesus as we're talking about the fruit of the Spirit and I know as a Christian that one of the things that God is doing, well, a fundamental thing that God is doing in me is transforming me into the likeness of Christ. That's what I want as a Christian. I want to be more like Jesus. And so when I feel like I just maybe just can't be bothered to change or I don't really want to change or I don't want to bear the fruit in this way, I think seeing Jesus and knowing that I do want to be more like him really helps me to then think, okay, well actually,that is something I do want. And even if at that point I'm still not wanting it, I'm praying that I would be transformed into the likeness of Christ and that I would desire that and I would be pursuing Him above all else. And as a result, that the fruit of the Spirit might be born in me. And in terms of a friend, if I had a friend who was not that bothered and just didn't seem to be changing, didn't seem to be growing into the likeness of Christ, I think again, like huge prayer, that that heart stir, well it would stir with a desire for that. But also I do think I would then be seeking to give them Jesus actually. So take them back to the beginning, like who is Christ and who is this person who we're pursuing and into the likeness of whom God is seeking to transform us. And I think kind of bringing it back to Jesus just really helps just to realign the whys and the what’s and the what is this all about to be a Christian. I don't know, it's a hard one though because I do think we undulate, don't we? So we can be all in and then the next day all out and that's kind of how it is to be us.
Sarah: Yeah, I think it is hard, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah, I think that's really helpful. I think also it's worth kind of asking ourselves the question, it? What is it that I'm loving more about a particular sin, maybe, than about Jesus? What is it that's not, making me not want to put this into death, not want to battle against it? So often it's a wrestle for our heart as desires isn't it and bringing again bringing that to the Lord and being accountable with someone else in that asking someone to ask you the hard questions but all of that again is a prayerful thing isn't it taking it to the Lord yeah helpful okay well today we are as Felicity said we are getting into the fruit of peace and to do that we're going to be rooting our discussion in Ephesians chapter 2 verses 13 to 22. So Ephesians chapter 2 verses 13 to 22. So I'm going to read that for us.
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Felicity: Thank you Sarah. I feel like that verse 13 at the start there just sums it all up really doesn't it? So, now in Christ Jesus, you who once far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ and because of that, because of the work of Christ, then we have peace with God and the reality is that we were enemies to God, but now we are friends with God and so we have peace with God. And fundamentally to this whole discussion about what it is to have the fruit of the spirit of peace is the nature of our relationship with God, isn't it?
Sarah: Yeah. And this, and what he's saying here reflects the whole story arc of Scripture, doesn't it? From the very first page of the Scripture, we've begun with peace, we're going to end with peace in Revelation, and there's a pursuit of peace with God all the way through, isn't there? I love actually, like we were doing Micah last season, wasn't we? And we had this phrase, he himself is our peace, and here it is again in verse 14, Christ is himself our peace and he's the means to peace with God, isn't he? He's the root. And not just him in his person and character, but actually what we're seeing here, it's his atoning work on the cross that is the very heartbeat and the core and the means to our peace, our reconciliatory peace with God.
Felicity: Yes, exactly. And because of that, then our peace, when we talk about bearing the fruit of peace, that is dependent upon that and on nothing else, which means that it cannot be thwarted, like it cannot be rumpled or disturbed. Fundamentally, our peace is secure. And so when we don't feel peace, it's not because somehow our relationship with God has been knocked off course. It's because, well, for whatever other reason, but it's not because the route has been shifted.
Sarah: Yes, yeah I think that's right but I think like the less we dwell on on this the probably less peaceful we will feel in ourselves because I think what we see here and in other parts of scripture is that whilst this is the kind of and I think we're reading in a book, well this is the root, the atoning work of Christ is the root of the peace, the branches, I think it's Jerry Bridges who says this, the branches are peace within and peace with others so the kind of fruit of this kind of defining peace branches out. And there is that, like, and to go kind of with the peace within first, that fruit within us of feeling complete safety and rest in God. That is, that is astounding, isn't it? That we can even, even have that, even talk about that. But that is, that is the truth. That is the reality for the person who's rooted in Christ, that we have peace. We are safe in the everlasting arms of God and that therefore gives us an internal peace.
Felicity: Yeah, think that's, and that's like even just saying it and thinking about it, I think that's right. The more we dwell on that truth, the more we begin to relax into it. Because I think probably when I'm feeling anxious and actually lacking peace on the inside, then I maybe, I don't know whether it's that I'm sort of doubting that, but maybe I'm letting other circumstances have too much weight or do think that's how it works? think this, we've got a quote here from John Flavell and I think this is helpful. So ‘if God is not my Father, of course I will worry, my standing before God defines my peace. To doubt that I am fully accepted and loved if to be an enemy of your own peace’. So there must be something that when we're feeling that kind of just angsty feeling, there must be something in there that I'm doubting that everything is okay with God, which I think comes from allowing other things to have too much weight, maybe. My circumstances are overbearing on that kind of inner peace. Is that right?
Sarah: Which is what we saw in our season on Philippians, isn't it? When Paul, in chapter four, he marries the kind of having that peace that transcends all understanding with kind of countering the anxious thoughts we may have. And actually that peace that transcends all understanding is that peace within, but that is rooted in peace at the cross. And it's rooted with what we see here, the kind of object of our peace, he himself. So the more that we look at Christ, and Paul would say this through Philippians wouldn't he, the more that we look at Christ and gaze at him, the more we're able to rejoice in him and therefore more we'll have that peace that transcends all understanding and all circumstances as well. But the other kind of outworking of it, the other fruit of it which is very evident in this passage in Ephesians is is the peace with others as well, isn't it?
Felicity: Mmm, very much so. And I think even just one of the surprises I think when you read this, Ephesians. verse, these verses is actually what we have in verse 14, he himself is our peace who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the bar of the dividing wall of hostility. That is the dividing wall of hostility actually with one another. That's true of us and God but actually we have been made into one man, he says, who are then reconciled to God. So the fundamentals of just we are together, we have peace with one another because of the blood of Christ. And so then when he goes on to say consequently, verse 19, you're no longer foreigners and strangers but fellow citizens with God's people. So the impact of this peace that we have through Jesus is horizontal as well as vertical and so we will be those who are peacemakers with others, particularly obviously with our brothers and sisters in Christ but I think it does go beyond that doesn't it?
Sarah: Yeah, I think it does. I think, so it's interesting that isn't it just thinking about, like we've been talking through the season so far, the fact that this is growing in us, like this, nature of being united with Christ means that this is the fruit that's already happening, it's already growing in us. But we're also to cooperate in our sanctification, we're to pursue it, aren't we? We're to strive towards it. And so as those bearing the fruit of peace, we should be, yeah, pursuing wherever we can, both in the kind of, you know, the small little tiny moments at home and maybe bigger ruptures further afield. We should be striving, living to, as was the quote in Romans, as far as it depends on you, live in peace with others, make peace, mend what's broken. And I think this is just really, really helpful to kind of keep rooting this into the the heart of Christ for peace.
Felicity: I think that's right. think actually James chapter 3 verses 17 to 18 give us just such a wonderful picture of this. Really this is an embodiment of Christ here. James has just given us a bit of a this is what it's not and then he says but the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure then peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere, peacemakers who sow in peace, reap a harvest of righteousness. And that really is a picture of Jesus we have just there. So what does it look like to be wise, essentially to be pursuing Christ? It looks like to be like Jesus and to be a peacemaker in this way. And even just that, the way that it's described there, this peace loving, considerate, full of mercy. I think one of the things that struck me as I've been dwelling on this is just to what extent my, I impact others. I know that sounds so, that's so simple, isn't it? Of course I impact others. But sometimes we can just be pretty self-involved, can't we? And we're just kind of, I'm just all about my own thing. And actually this really pulls me to look to the left and to the right and consider what it is to be a peacemaker, not just to be passive, not to just let life happen around me and just not cause any trouble, but actually to, as you were saying, to proactively pursue peace. And I love this verse 18 here, peacemakers you sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. And so this is a godly, distinctive, this is, I would love to be one who reaps a harvest of righteousness in this way. it's something, I've really been spurred on to pray for this actually, like what does it look like to really do this and pursue this and to be like Christ in this way.
Sarah: Yeah, and it is, as you say, it is an active thing, isn't it? Actually, this is the of the language of sowing, harvesting, of ploughing into our everyday lives, like seeking to plough peace and sow the seeds of peace into wherever we are and whoever we're interacting with. Because I think the other thing that's kind of coming through from these kind of studies on these fruits is the fact that. And again one of our, the books we've been reading has this saying that he keeps coming back to is that the fruit, the spirit is not only formational as in it's forming us, it is relational. All of these things have an outworking towards others don't they? And peace in particular. It's not just about feeling peaceful in myself whilst that is a wonderful kind of overflowing fruit of the kind of core peace we have with God. Actually no, the overflow, like inevitably if we are growing in in the fruit of peace that will just overflow into how we treat others. In Galatians before he says the fruit the spirit he says this phrase we serve what we humbly serve one another in love and and isn't that what it is to pursue peace that we humbly serve one another in love it's not just looking for that peace and quiet that my kids will sometimes just run peace and quiet away from anyone else and I get that we also need to make peace with our family members when we've broken it and it's, do know, it's, yeah, it's all the things, isn't it?
Felicity: Yeah, and I think even if we just think about Jesus and the fact that he did step down into humanity to pursue peace, he would have been much more peaceful for him if he'd stayed up in heaven, I think.
Sarah: Absolutely. But that initiating, yeah him being the ultimate peace initiator, yeah. And God all the way through scripture. So everything we see through scripture is then just a shadow of he himself being our peace as we see in this Ephesians passage and it's wonderful isn't it?
Felicity: And what a grace that it's he who works in us to do that. Because this is hard, isn't it? I mean, even you and I have had tears about just, you know, just feeling that just, when there isn't peace, it's hard. And so it's not easy to pursue peace. And it's not a guarantee that the other person or the other people, whoever it is, will be receptive to your peacemaking. But that's. That's not the the harvest of righteousness is not dependent upon whether other people receive it. It's dependent upon us being the peacemakers ploughing it exactly through God's strength, through the spirit at work in us. Again, coming back to that, just have to come back to it again and again, don't we? That this is already something that is at work in us. That we are already on this trajectory. The spirit is bearing fruit in us. And so we are stepping into that rather than conjuring up our own. I don't know - thorough
Sarah: Yeah, you can't muster this in your own strength, there's no way. And if we do, we're then modelling peace on the world's definition, we, rather than on the sin bearing pardon of this toning work of Christ that we're seeing here. And that's where we want to keep rooting ourselves. Felicity, would you pray for us as we close?
Felicity: Yeah, absolutely. Father God, we praise you so much for peace through Jesus. Thank you for the blood on the cross. That means that we are secure in our peace. And from that position of peace, we praise you that we can then counter worry, counter anxiety, that we can have peace that surpasses understanding. And we praise you, Father, that that doesn't just have a vertical impact, but that really does go horizontal as well. And so Father, we pray that by your grace, that you would make us peacemakers. Please help us to be those who pursue peace. Would we be eager to be like Jesus in this? And we pray that as a result that we would reap a harvest of righteousness. Make us distinctive Lord as those who bear the fruit of the spirit of peace for your glory. Amen.
Sarah: Amen. good. Yeah.
Felicity: Well, yes, profound.
Sarah: I think also it's worth just repeating, it, that we haven't like nailed peace now we've had a 20 minute conversation on it. Like this is the start of the discussions. And for those who are new around here, for each episode, we have some discussion questions so that you can sit down with a friend over a cup of tea and continue this conversation together and continue praying this three together. So do check those out on our website. The link will be in the show notes and we really hope they will be of benefit to you and we look forward to seeing you next time when we continue our journey into the fruit of the spirit and we can't wait. We'll see you next Friday.
Felicity: See you then, bye bye.
Sarah: This episode has been sponsored by Moody Publishers.
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