A Christian Guidebook: What Is the Kingdom of God? (5)

… for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace… Romans 14.17

Kingdom condition
Righteousness defines the character of the Kingdom of God. Every Kingdom citizen strives to increase in righteousness by growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. His righteousness is an inexhaustible supply; thus, we ever expect to increase in righteousness, and doing so, to increase the visibility of the Kingdom of God.

The righteousness which expresses the character of the Kingdom gives rise to the condition of peace:
The work of righteousness will be peace,
And the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever (Is. 32.17).

The mountains will bring peace to the people,
And the little hills, by righteousness (Ps. 72.3).

Righteousness is the character of the Kingdom of God; and peace is the condition all know who have entered the Kingdom of God and are increasing in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. It is the overwhelming, undergirding, and guiding sense that, every other condition or situation notwithstanding, all is well, gloriously and truly well: “It is well, it is well with my soul.”

Peace is the bequest Jesus left to His people as He prepared to ascend to the throne of His Kingdom: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace” (Jn. 16.33). “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (Jn. 14.27).

Peace is the condition that arises from righteousness. The more we grow in and are transformed into the likeness of Jesus, the more His righteousness will be evident in us. And the more consistent we are in His righteousness, the more the condition of peace will be the defining motif of our lives.

The peace that we know in the Kingdom of God is a gem with three facets. 

With God
The two texts cited above help us understand this three-fold peace of the Kingdom of God.

First, it is peace with God which comes as a promise from His Word that our righteousness—that is, the righteousness of Jesus in which we are increasing—brings an overall sense of assurance to our lives. This is the assurance that comes as God sees the work of Jesus in us and approves His righteousness. He grants the condition of peace between us and Him in the form of and inward assurance that all is well with our soul. This is a work of the Spirit of God (Rom. 8.12). All is well between us. We are right where He wants us to be. And we are increasing in His good and perfect will.

Such assurance leads inevitably to joy, and we shall have more to say about this in our next installment.

Within yourself
Peace with God leads to peace with and within ourselves. Since God approves the righteousness He sees in us, and grants us assurance of salvation and favor with Him, who are we to do anything other than be at peace with ourselves? No more self-condemnation, second-guessing, or self-deprecations. Instead, we give thanks in every situation, for God has refreshed our soul with assurance of His favor, and we rejoice in Him and in the true and satisfying quietness He brings to our soul. This is that sense of rest and contentment that comes with knowing the Presence of God and the favor of His face. We are at glorious peace with and within ourselves.

Such peace goes beyond anything we can understand or explain and rests ultimately in our relationship with Jesus Christ (Phil. 4.6, 7).

With your neighbor
At peace with God and within ourselves, we become bringers of peace to the people around us. God brings peace to the people through the peace He has granted us. This peace brings healing, encouragement, hope, and blessing, both to the people and all the places (“the little hills”) where we do our work. Peace banishes resentment, grudges, one-upmanship, gossip, a condescending attitude, and all contrary or demeaning affections. It harnesses our words with grace, that they may bring edification to others. Peace becomes the environment, a kind of spiritual aura, that others experience as we work at our relationships, roles, and responsibilities. Peace and quietness and assurance fairly ooze from all our spiritual pores; and such a pervasive presence of peace cannot but affect the people in our lives.

Peace—with God, within ourselves, and with others—is the condition that Kingdom righteousness brings to the world. God grants us peace as the fulfilled promise of seeking first His Kingdom and righteousness in all that we are and do. The Kingdom of God is righteousness and peace! May God grant us all to increase in this glorious character and condition.

And may we thus realize more of the promise of joy that is the consequence of Kingdom living.

Search the Scriptures
1. Jesus promised to grant us peace. In what sense is His peace “not as the world gives”?

2. Righteousness is a precondition for knowing the peace of Jesus. How can we grow in righteousness? To what Scripture would you turn to answer this question for a new believer?

3. Meditate on Philippians 4.6, 7. Now read verse 8. How can doing what verse 8 teaches help us to increase in righteousness and peace?

Next steps—Transformation: To whom will you bring the peace that passes understanding today? How should you prepare?

T. M. Moore

Additional Resources
If you have found this study helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).

Three resources can help you in realizing more of the presence, promise, and power of the Kingdom of God. Our books The Kingship of Jesus (click here) and What in Heaven Is Jesus Doing on Earth? (click here for the book or here for the free PDF) explain the rule of King Jesus in our lives and world. The Kingdom Turn (order the book here or the free PDF here) goes into greater detail about what it means to practice the Kingship of Jesus.

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.