Now many people will blame their lack of peace on their circumstances. But this is placing blame in the wrong place. The things we are going through in our lives do not actually have the power to reach us in the realm of our spirit, where peace exists and cannot be removed from the life of a Christian.

However, peace operates in our lives in the soulish realm of what we BELIEVE. And so only something we BELIEVE can keep us from operating in peace.

In other words, our born-again spirits always have peace, and we can draw this out anytime we want. But we experience the outward manifestation of peace through our soul (mind, will, and emotions).

There are a number of OPPOSITE words for peace that can help us understand what peace is. These include anxiety, depression, fear, and sorrow that doesn’t end after an appropriate amount of time.

When these things exist in your life, it is certain that you are not operating in peace. And it is also certain that you are believing a lie that has removed your abilty to experience peace.

What is the primary lie that Christians struggle with that takes away their ability to experience peace?

It nearly always has something to do with the subject of their justification by faith.

To be justified means to be RENDERED RIGHTEOUS. Christians who are not experiencing peace in their lives are almost certainly believing a lie that fits into this category.

How many Christians can look in the mirror and say to themselves, “I am righteous?”

But unless they can say this and believe it, they are believing a lie that will keep them from experiencing peace.

“Having been justified by faith” is a one-time action verb. It is not something that is constantly repeated in your life.

And yet popular religion will teach us that we are just miserable sinners who must constantly keep coming before God and repenting from all of our shortcomings so that we can STAY RIGHT with God.

This is a lie! And if you believe it you will always struggle to experience peace. Why?

Because people who don’t understand that we are justified and made righteous in Jesus one time, never to be repeated, will always be thinking that God is not pleased with them.

And if God is not pleased with their lives then He is not predisposed to hear their prayers or bless them with every spiritual blessing. And if God is not pleased with their lives then He is not very close to them and may not really be interested in their plight.

The lie of thinking that you are not perfectly justified and continuously righteous in Jesus will keep you from experiencing peace.

But you can experience peace, simply by rejecting the lie that is preventing it.

It really is that easy! And THAT is such Good News!