As long as there is human nature there is going to be war and some degrees of peace but never true peace of our own accord. True and perfect peace can only be found in Jesus Christ.
First, we'll mostly consider peace but I'll interject here that 'war' is not always the war between kingdoms or countries but 'war' or feuds within families or between clans, co-workers, marriage partners or even 'war' within our selves. There is also spiritual warfare.
"We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12 ESV).
David the shepherd boy used to play his harp for King Saul. When an evil spirit would come upon King Saul, the peaceful music would soothe him (1 Samuel 16:20-23). It did for a while, at least.
There's a lady who comes and plays her harp for my Mom for about an hour, once a week. It is indeed truly soothing, and peace of mind and body-provoking; peace-provoking. Mom often falls asleep.
These are temporary peace makers.
Let's discuss lasting peace. Peace that does not produce war. Peace that circumvents and avoids war.
People want peace. The Holy Bible tells us people crave, "Peace, peace". That goes on to say, "but there is no peace" (Jeremiah 6:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:3). So is "lasting peace" possible?
Lasting peace comes at a price. Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace was born into this world to bring us human beings this peace (Isaiah 53:5; Ephesians 2:14; Isaiah 9:6) Jesus is God's Peacemaker for sinful humanity. A lasting peace that can keep our hearts and minds (Philippians 4:7). This can keep us despite troubles in life that come along to give us stress and distress.
Peace with God is a valuable asset, which comes through Jesus Christ. With Him we are also given the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit then empowers us to make peace with all men (Romans 12:18; Hebrews 12:14).
Jesus taught on the sermon on the mountain that,
"Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophet's (Matthew 7:12 ESV).
In another verse Peter tells us (1 Peter 3:9 ESV),
"Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called that you may be a blessing."
Jesus also said,
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God" (Matthew 5:9 ESV).
When we have peace with God and the Prince of Peace as our Friend we will/should,
"If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all" (Romans 12:18 ESV).
We have more of Jesus's revolutionary wisdom in Matthew 5:38-48...
"...do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also...But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you that you may be children of your Father in Heaven..."
"Turn the other cheek; love them; pray for them."
Peace not war. By God's divine grace working through us, His children, may we indeed reach out as peacemakers.
Involve our redeemed hearts and minds as,
"...new creatures in Christ...The old has passed away; behold, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV)
Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda who wrote What Buddhists Believe puts it this way,
"Humans have forgotten they have a heart...that if they treat others kindly, others will treat them kindly in return" (Page 362).
On page 363 he continues...
"Since it is in the minds of men that wars begin, it is in the minds of men the ramparts of peace should be erected."
So true. Nevertheless without that new heart and mind full of God's grace and mercy those "ramparts" are all the more difficult to build. With God on our side as we've seen already, there will be some success. The shortfall, however, is not with God.
Hurdles to overcoming the challenges will take 'war'. Battering rams needed against pride.
Sri Dhammananda expostulates the need of,
"...sacrificing our dangerous pride" (Page 364).
Pride gets in the way of doing good. God's Word warns,
"Pride goes before destruction, the haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18 NIV).
Pride of who we are, our accomplishments, beliefs, possessions, etc. Do we want pride to start a war? Do we want pride to get in the way of bringing peace? It happens, sadly, even in a marriage; between siblings, neighbors, friends, church members, and on larger scales, between countries. Destruction falls in the wake of festering and erupting pride.
Dr. Sri Dhammananda recommends several ways to preempt 'war' and to stimulate peace. He says,
"Tolerance, for one; learning to practice ways leading to the extinction of hatred, greed and delusion, the roots of all evil forces" (Page 364).
We've talked about tolerance before; to a certain degree it is necessary and helpful, yes. However when something goes against God's principles and standards as laid out in His Word, His Word must be our yardstick; anything else will fall short. Then we must,
"...speak the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:13 NIV).
Eradicating the roots of evil is never going to work as long as one strives under ones own steam. In Christ alone, we can have that victory as mentioned several times in other entries of Burning Quest. Once "in Christ" the Holy Spirit can work in us, sanctifying us in a daily process as we humbly submit our will to God's, saying as often as it takes, "Not my will but His".
Until this happens there won't be a great amount of sustained success in the peacemaking department.
Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda believes that...
"If mankind can eradicate these evil forces, tolerance and peace will come to this restless world" (Page 364).
Augustine of Hippo is known to have taught about the four states of man. You can click on the link to Reformation Theology to see in more detail, but in brief here are the four:
1. Innocence: able to sin; able not to sin eg. Adam and Eve's original state in the Garden of Eden
2. After The Fall: not able to not sin eg. Adam and Eve after they disobeyed God's one rule, causing the whole lot of the rest of us to be in this state too.
3. Regenerate: able to not sin eg. Someone who has accepted Jesus Christ as Savior & is a "new creation in Christ". The Holy Spirit helps the individual to do what's right in God's eyes.
4. Glorified: unable to sin eg. Once the child of God reaches Heaven and is "with Christ" he or she will no longer be able to sin.
Mankind may make some inroads into bringing about some tolerance and peace but they certainly will never ever be able to eradicate the evil forces no matter how 'good' they may be until he realizes this, and "admits to their own weakness" (Page 365 of What Buddhists Believe).
The apostle Paul wrote,
"But I see my members waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin" (Romans 7:23-25).
It is only through the power and blood of Jesus Christ redeeming and atoning a sinner's life that God can work mightily and with an individual man, woman or child; whether one is a Buddhist, Mormon or of any other religious persuasion.
God's free gift of grace and love brings us the strength and restraint to bring peace to ourselves and all mankind.
But...
What about war? Can it be justified? Dr. K. Sri Dhammanada wants to know.
So do I...
...To be continued in Part 48...
~ERC November 2018~
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