CHRIST our PEACE: “He is our peace” (Eph 2:14). Peace (Gk, eirene) is the “tranquil state of the soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its lot” (W.E. Vine). True peace in the believer is stated to be the result of justification (Rom 5:1) and reconciliation (Col 1:20). In other words, both our judicial standing before God and our personally being brought near to God give us this peace. Christ “made peace through the blood of His cross” and “came and preached peace” to the human race (Eph 2:17). In addition, “the fruit of the Spirit is…peace” (Gal 5:22) and we know victory is assured when “the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly” (Rom 16:20). “Let us therefore follow after the things that make for peace” (Rom 14:19), having our “feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace” (Eph 6:15). Peace is “not the external absence of turmoil but the inward appreciation of the presence of God.”