The Lord promises peace to those who obey Him regardless of the situation in which they might find themselves. God’s peace is the result of the believer’s being justified (had all past sins forgiven) and converted (a total reversal of life’s “walk”–words, thoughts and acts). This requires a total yielding of oneself to the Almighty. Having been “bought with a price,” the slave’s life is STRICTLY CONTROLLED BY HIS OWNER–HIS LORD. The Apostle Paul refers to this Truth in Romans 6:16 where he tells us that the one to whom we yield ourselves as servants to obey, his servants we are, whether we yield to Satan unto death or to God unto life.” Note that there is no mixing of service relative to the two gods. In the eyes of the Biblical God one serves (obeys) EITHER Him OR Satan. It was Christ who paid for us, the price being His life. Unto whom much is given (the possibility of eternal life in paradise), much is required (to walk as our purchaser and owner walked–1 Jn. 2:6.

God’s true saints agree with Him. However, not all salvation seekers do so. In fact, only a few of those who call themselves God’s people do so (Mat. 7:13,14; 22:14). So-called “sinners saved by grace” disagree with the Lord and spend their lives serving (obeying) both God and Satan. Those in both camps are confident that they are on the right track. If the Biblical God is right, so-called saved sinners are not merely wrong, they are dead wrong. This is a life-or-death issue about which we as individuals must make our life’s most important decision. On an individual basis we must decide which god is the true god and go with him 100%. As Jesus wrote in His letter to those in the modern-day Laodicean Church, we cannot be both hot (serve Him) and cold (serve Satan), for in the spiritual realm, luke-warm means death (Rev. 3:14-20). God places double-minded (two goded) church people in the same category as Satan’s people. Moses told the children of Israel that they had two choices: LIFE OR DEATH, BLESSING OR CURSING (Deut. 30:19). That choice remains the same today.

In Romans 5:1,2 Paul addressed the subject of masters to be obeyed and adds the issue of PEACE. He wrote to the church at Rome: “Therefore, being justified (having all PAST sins forgiven), we have PEACE with God through our LORD Jesus Christ.” Notice that Paul did not call Jesus “our Savior,” but rather “OUR LORD AND MASTER WHO MUST BE OBEYED (SERVED). Paul goes on to say that he and the they had access by faith unto God’s grace and, through that grace, they would continue to “rejoice in the HOPE of salvation.” Read Romans 8:24,25. The series titled Hope and Salvation reveals one of Satan’s most effective lies–THAT WE ARE SAVED AND BORN AGAIN IN THIS LIFE. The Holy Scriptures reveal that salvation and rebirth will be awarded at the return of Jesus Christ. Read the series using the key word–Hope. Read The Justification-Salvation Confusion. Key word–Justification. Also read Born Again. Key word–Born. I hope you are reading the series and passages I recommend for they are vital to your search for God’s Truth. As you will see, what God and the church say about a subject are not the same. Often they are near total opposites. Nevertheless, peace reigns in “the church.” This is made possible due to Biblical ignorance–a self-inflicted spiritual wound that will, if not corrected, result in the victim’s downfall. As the following reveals, the Israelites not only remained ignorant of God’s Word, they deliberately disobeyed what they did know. It is no wonder that He had them defeated, slaughtered and enslaved. The ten northern tribes went down in 722 B.C., followed by the two southern tribes in 585 B.C.

One of the most graphic and powerful passages of Scripture relative to PEACE of mind in one’s spiritual walk is found in the Old Testament. In Jeremiah 6:13-15 and 8:11-13 we find the prophet telling the people what the Lord is saying to them through him (vs 9). In verse 13 God warns the people about the priesthood and the prophets, that they “deal falsely” with the people by telling them that all is well even though they are disobeying their God. The religious leaders say to the people: “peace, peace when there is no peace.” Their priests and prophets led them so far away from God’s Truth that, when they committed abominations “they were neither ashamed, nor did they blush.”

In 8:11-13 the Lord, through Jeremiah, repeats the above statement. He notes that the prophets and priests “healed the hurt” of the people by telling them that all was well in spite of their rejection of the Word of God. In this way they caused the people to have PEACE when it was not warranted. Theirs was a counterfeit peace provided by the master counterfeiter–Satan. The modern-day version of “healing the hurt” of those who claim a relationship with the Lord is exhibited when church people are encouraged to observe Satan’s Sunday sabbath, Christmas, Easter and Valentine’s Day and when they fail to “try the spirits” of their leaders to see if they are of God (1 Jn. 4:1) and refuse to “study to show themselves approved of God” (2 Tim. 2:15). Instead, they receive proclamations of PEACE, PEACE from their false prophets who tell them about a future rapture which will take them into the presence of a trinity.

Due to their church doctrines, they are assured that when, not if, they sin, all is made well by a prayer of repentance. “Peace, like a river” covers congregations world-wide as they prepare to enter another week with the assurance that, no matter what they do, Jesus eagerly awaits their request for His forgiveness which He is supposedly anxious to bestow on them, thereby freeing them to sin again and again …. An ancient church hymn assures us that no matter what we do or how often we do it, “He’ll always say, ‘I forgive.'” Indeed, the people hear the promise of “peace, peace when there is no peace” from God. The peace they receive is from Satan–“the god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4). Read the series concerning God’s forgiveness of sin. Key word–Forgiveness. There are several of them.

Relative to sin and the Lord’s forgiveness, no passage of Scripture is more plain than Second Chronicles 7:13,14. Turn to that passage so that we can read it together. Here we are told from Whom come problems upon individuals and nations, and why those problems continue to flow through church people’s lives. Read The “Voices” of God. Key word–Voices. In this passage God makes it clear that it is HE who sends droughts and diseases (and other so-called “natural disasters”) upon “My people who are called by My name.” The rest of the passage makes it equally clear why He pours out His wrath on both church people and non-church people alike. Let us now do a “fine print” study of verse 14 where the Lord says: “If My People, who are called by My name will HUMBLE THEMSELVES, PRAY AND SEEK MY FACE….” Obviously, His people had been doing NONE OF THOSE THINGS. God’s final command is the most important, and also the most ignored within church circles. “… and TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS ….“

In Second Corinthians 10:11 we are told that God’s Words to and dealings with ancient Israel were recorded and preserved to be used as teaching tools for the end-time (Laodicean) church. Here God is telling His people then and now that the vast majority of those identified as His people are WICKED, EVIL SINNERS. And what is His definition of sin? “To transgress the LAW is sin, for SIN IS THE TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW” (1 Jn. 3:4). Read First John 3:1-10 and 2:3-5. As James 2:10 reminds us, to break one commandment of God’s Law is to break the entire Law,” making one a “worker of iniquity.” Read Matthew 7:21-23 to see what Jesus said about iniquitous people.