Do I Have Christ's Peace?

2005-02-21 12:05

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:27).

Everyone who sins is a slave to sin. There is no one in the world who does not sin, because everyone has been born a natural body--the body of sin. It is written, "If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." (1 John 1:10).

The wages of sin is death. The Bible says, "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned." (Romans 5:12).

Therefore, only if the body of sin is done away with, we can be set free from sin. And unless we are set free from sin, we cannot have Christ's peace and be set free from death. If there is his death but there is no our own death, the body of sin still exists in us; in that case, if we indolently say we have crossed over from death to life, it is a lie. There is no Christ's peace in a lie.

It is written about it, "For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin." (Romans 6:6).

And again, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20).

God rescues us with Christ from the body of sin and sets us free from sin so that we can live as spritual bodies with Christ forever in God. It is written, "If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection." (Romans 6:5). There is Christ's peace only in here.

Therefore, the Bible says, "it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body." (1 Corinthians 15:44).

If one has a natural body committing sin, he is not yet set free from sin and is a slave to sin. It is written, "Jesus replied, 'I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed'." (John 8:34-36). Without freedom, there is no Christ's peace.

Therefore, in order to have Christ's peace not committing sin, our body of sin must be done away with, and we must be set free from sin and become slaves to God as spiritual bodies. It is written about those who have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness, "But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life." (Romans 6:22).

Those who have Christ's peace bear on their natural body the marks of afflictions--what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ--because Jesus' natural body and their natural body have been crucified together. However, those who don't bear the marks of Jesus--what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ--have not been set free from sin. Though they know Jesus' natural body died, their own natural body have not died. Though they say they are in peace, it is a false peace.

The false peace leads to a false salvation. Those who falsely say that they have been saved cannot be set free from the law of sin and death because they don't know what the law of the Spirit of life is. The law of the Spirit of life--the new commandment--is the law of faith that only those who have Christ's peace can keep.

It is written about it, "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." (John 14:21). Only those in whom this fact has been substantiated have Christ's peace.

The law of sin and death works in a natural body, but the law of the Spirit of life works in a spiritual body raised. It is written, "it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body." (1 Corinthians 15:44). Those in whom the natural body still lives cannot have Christ's peace.

The true salvation is that a natural body is sown with Christ and a spiritual body is raised. If a natural body is not sown with Christ, it is a false salvation, though many falsely say they are raised a spiritual body and are in peace. The false salvation cannot coexist with the true salvation forever.

Therefore, if I don't have Christ's peace, I am not yet the body of the Lord. Only the spiritual body is the body of the Lord, which is the church. Thank you, Lord.

The Last Brother, Kim Yun-gu.