Tag Archives: grace

The God of Peace Will Crush

Ah, the God of peace—sounds like a serene deity lounging on clouds, doesn’t it? But flip open your Bible, and you’ll see He’s more like a divine general, marching into battle with a strategy that leaves enemies flattened. Romans 16:20 declares our thesis statement plainly: “The God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.” Notice it was not under God’s feet, but your feet. When Satan eyes meet yours, it should be when he is crushed under your feet. This is the only correct position for Satan to meet your gaze.  

Jesus Himself chimes in from John 16:33: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” This isn’t some fluffy, feel-good tranquility; it’s peace forged in victory, the kind that comes when God stomps out what’s troubling you. If your idea of peace is just a balanced brain chemistry or a quiet afternoon without the kids yelling, you’re missing the biblical punch. God’s peace is intellectual and material—your mind aligns with His unbreakable promises, stabilizing your whole being, and then reality bends to match, with enemies crushed underfoot. Peace comes through war, blood and triumph.

Let’s unpack this. The Bible hammers home that true peace arrives through conquest, destruction of foes, or flipping former adversaries into allies. You don’t get heart-peace by ignoring the chaos; you get it because God removes the chaos-causer, by destroying it. The enemy isn’t politely asked to leave—he’s demolished. Joshua 21:43-45 spells it out: God handed Israel the promised land, giving them “rest on every side” after delivering enemies into their hands. No foe stood against them because God fulfilled every promise. Rest? Peace? It came post-victory, after the dust settled from crushed opposition. Or take 2 Samuel 7:1: Once David was palace-settled, “the Lord gave him rest from all his enemies around him.” God’s provision of peace followed conquest, not some mystical inner glow detached from reality.

Then there’s 1 Chronicles 22:9, where God promises David a son of peace: “I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side.” Solomon’s reign would embody this—peace through subdued threats. Even Proverbs 16:7 adds a twist: “When a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” God doesn’t just crush; sometimes He recalibrates relationships, turning rivals into reluctant allies. But make no mistake, it’s His sovereign hand at work, not some human diplomacy. This isn’t a chemical brain balance or anti-intellectual fuzziness. No, God’s peace is rooted in logic and substance: your mind assents to His truths and promises, renewing your propositional framework to be stable and healthy. That’s why Philippians 4:7 calls it “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding”—not because it’s beyond intellect, but because His promises blanket every life scenario. You might not eyeball the “how” in a tough spot, but faith knows He’ll deliver peace. It will happen.

Jesus embodies this perfectly. He overcame the world, so we cheer amid tribulation. Think Jericho: marching and trumpeting wasn’t busywork; it was praise rooted in promise. God vowed victory, so those walls were toast before the first lap. They praised pre-fall because faith treats God’s word as done deal. God crushed those walls under their feet, bringing peace. Paul’s line in Romans labels God “of peace” precisely because He’ll “soon crush Satan under their feet.” Not in some distant heaven, but here, now. Heaven will be a place of peace, because all enemies will be crushed. Crushing enemies “is” the act of peace-bringing. Jesus nailed this at the cross, pulverizing sickness, poverty, curses—the lot. It’s done. Isaiah 54:17 echoes: “No weapon formed against you will prosper.” Weapons form—tribulations like demons, illness, lack—but cheer up! Jesus defeated them; by faith, they’re soon underfoot.

Don’t get me wrong; this peace starts intellectual, in the mind’s assent to God’s guarantee, but it spills into flesh and circumstance. We praise pre-victory, as with Jericho, because faith’s useless post-fact. It’s for the “before,” fueling praise that knows enemies will crumble, yielding total peace. Peace without crushed foes? That’s non-biblical bunk, a counterfeit calm that leaves Satan smirking.

Dig deeper into Scripture, and this crushes any watered-down view. Isaiah 45:7 has God declaring, “I form light and create darkness; I make peace and create evil; I am Yahweh; I do all these things.” Peace isn’t accidental—God authors it, often through calibrated calamity for the reprobate and triumph for His elect. No weapon prospers against you, but they do form. The promise is simple. With faith the weapons will be ineffective against you. God did not send those people to attack you, and so you are free to condemn them in the name of Jesus and crush them under your feet.  For reprobates, even sunshine fattens them for slaughter (Psalm 73). But for us, temporary trials and forged weapons against us, yield an opportunity for easy game XP for our level ups.

Look at Colossians 1:19-20: “For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross.” Peace via bloodied conquest—Jesus reconciling by demolishing sin’s divide. Or Romans 5:1: “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Justification swaps enmity for alliance, but it’s God’s doing, not our charm.

And Isaiah 53? Brutal beauty: “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” Chastisement for our peace—Jesus bore the bloody atonement so we carry calm. He says, “My peace I give you” (John 14:27), not some generic vibe, but His substitutionary shalom. Leviticus’ scapegoat “carried away” our sins; same word in Isaiah for Jesus bearing sickness. He was led outside the camp as our diseased substitute, so we don’t carry illness or turmoil, because He carried on Himself so that we don’t. That is what the idea of a substitution means. If you carry the same sickness Jesus carried, then there was no substitution. Peace in soul, body, life—it’s contractual, sealed in blood, already carried away to the grave by Jesus’ substitution.

Hebrews 4 ties peace to approaching God’s throne: redeemed, we boldly ask and receive help. No spiritualizing—it’s literal receipt. Jesus contrasts pagan prayer myths. When the pagans pray they mainly give to their gods, and when they do ask, it is done without much hope, even with trepidation, knowing the request could be used against them. Jesus’ prayer doctrine contradicts this. God gives us a fish for fish, a miracle for a miracle, a child of a child, prosperity for prosperity, a spouse for a spouse and Spirit for Spirit (Matthew 7:7-11). If evil humans give good gifts, how much more our Father? Our Good Father gives us the things we ask for; anything less is demon dogmatics.

This crushes defective ethics peddling unbelief. Faith-fumblers teach God’s stingy or sickness teaches lessons—nonsense! Experience as a teacher is the worst type of teacher. For us, revelation’s our sole teacher of knowledge. Sickness comes from Satan not God. Therefore, destroy it in Jesus’ name, advancing His kingdom. If you are doing something to give a foothold, correct your behavior. To let Satan’s attacks linger glorifies hell, not God. Mindset matters: the atonement is finished and the benefits already deposited into your account by grace. Faith sees them, withdraws at will. Forgiveness, healing, prosperity are not begged, but claimed in faith. The natural man, using the five senses, cannot receive the things of the Spirit, who reveals to us all the good things God has freely deposited to our accounts.

Cheer up! Praise God before the crushing, knowing God’s promises are guaranteed. Peace starts in faith-filled minds, and manifests in crushed foes. Biblical peace is where God’s crushes Satan shortly under your feet. Notice it was not under God’s feet, but your feet. When Satan eyes meet yours, it should be when he is crushed under your feet. This is the only correct position for Satan to meet your gaze.  If doubters peddle less, get them out of your life. For us? We assent, crush, receive and advance. All things possible when you believe—mountains move, enemies flatten. That’s God’s type of peace: conquest, not compromise.

The Correction of Righteousness

“And when [the Holy Spirit] comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me. Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more. Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged,” John 16:8-11 NLT

Picture this: Jesus ascends to the Father like the VIP He is, and the Holy Spirit swoops down to earth like a divine fact-checker, ready to set the record straight on sin, righteousness, and judgment. Jesus even gives us the SparkNotes version of each.

First up, “the” sin of the world—singular, folks—is that people refuse to buy what God’s revealing, especially the whole “Jesus is God’s Son” revelation.

Second, the cosmic swap meet—our sin for Jesus’ righteousness—went down at the atonement, but the official press release? That hit when Jesus rose and got the VIP seat at the Father’s right hand of Power. This was the courtroom gavel slam declaring that everyone Jesus died for is now rocking the “Righteousness of God” title. And trust me, it’s not because of our stellar résumé—God’s the one with the authority, power, and dominion here. The law’s DIY righteousness kit? Total flop, thanks to its pesky human origins.

Third, judgment. Salvation’s a two-parter (we will only focus on the first aspect), Judgment. This is like storming the gates, with guns blazing, to free your enslaved loved one by taking out the bad guys. Exhibit A: Israelites wading through the Red Sea while Pharaoh’s army gets a watery goodbye. Exhibit B: Jesus on the cross, shredding Satan’s accusation privileges (Revelation 12:10) and teleporting us from the devil’s grip (Colossians 1:13) to His kingdom. Greater is Jesus in me than that cosmic loser out there. By judging and trashing Satan’s works, Jesus pulls off the ultimate rescue mission. Jesus vs Satan in this context, is the archetype of Hero vs villain. Jesus won. Pharaoh’s army drowned while Israel was delivered; Satan’s power was broken while humanity was redeemed. This frames judgment not as something believers fear but as something already accomplished on their behalf, securing their freedom. We’re free, because our enemy’s toast.

Now, let’s get to the juicy bit. Jesus dropped this as a mic-drop moment for the whole sinful world, but if you’re already “born-from-above”—congratulations, you’re in the club—what’s this mean for us? We’ve already had our sin epiphany, repented, got the forgiveness stamp, and unlocked the power to heal sickness and evict demons like it’s our day job. So, what’s the Spirit correcting now?

For believers, who have already accepted Jesus, the sin of unbelief no longer defines them. Instead, the Spirit’s role shifts to a positive correction—reminding them of their new reality in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:21, “Paul writes, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (NLT).

The big idea: if you’re already God’s righteousness, the Spirit isn’t here to wag a finger and say, “You’re not righteous, you naughty thing.” No, He’s correcting you when you forget you’re basically divine royalty and start moping around like a spiritual peasant. The word “convict” here means “correct”—when you’re off-the-mark. Pre-salvation, the Spirit was all, “Yikes, you’re a mess.” Post-salvation? It’s, “Honey, you’re dazzling—act like it.” The correction’s positive now, a holy hype session. You’re not seeing yourself as the perfect, glorious righteousness of God? That’s what He’s fixing.

Romans 8:1 declares, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

If you’re saved and still hearing a naggy voice droning on about how sinful you are, newsflash: that’s not God. It’s either Satan doing his accusatory shtick or you secretly loving a good self-pity party. Sure, the Word’s a sharp sword—ouch, it’ll call out sinful behavior when you’ve been sinful. But that’s about your actions. The Spirit’s correction we’re vibing on here? It’s about your shiny new reality in Jesus. He is correcting our vision when we forget our royal status as co-heirs with Jesus. It’s a call to live boldly from that identity He’s whispering (or shouting, if you’re stubborn) in our hearts, “You’re perfect, righteous, glorious—a prince of heaven! So why are you slumming it with sin? It’s beneath you.” You’re righteous, so act righteous. You’re heaven’s VIP, not some back-alley chump chatting up thieves and creeps. You’re a co-heir with Jesus—stop rummaging in human resources’ dumpster and cash that check from heaven’s bank account: withdrawing from “heaven’s bank account” for all the good things Jesus has already give to you by grace.

That’s the Spirit’s vibe today. So, double-check the voice you’re tuning into—it better be the Spirit’s, not some sleazeball demon with a guilt trip agenda.

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[Grok (xAI), 2025. Proofreading, copyediting, and stylistic enhancements.]


The Power of the Lord was with Jesus

“The power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick.” (Luke 5:17 NIV)

It was not Jesus’ power, but the power came from God, or more precisely the Father in the anointing of the Spirit. Jesus was baptized in the Spirit to begin His ministry. We know the Spirit’s baptism on Jesus was for “power” because Jesus said He drove out demons by the Spirit of God, not His. He did not drive them out by His name, but by the power of Spirit.  We see again in our original verse that the “power of God” was with Jesus to heal. It was not Jesus’ power, but the Spirit’s power. Jesus came as a man, born under the law, and even ministered God’s power as a saint does, by the power of the Spirit. Jesus says in John 14:10 that “it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.” Jesus did not use “Jesus” power and authority, but ministered the works of the Father through power of the Spirit.

Thus, after His resurrection Jesus commanded the disciples, not to minister or spread the news, but to wait in Jerusalem until they were baptized in the Spirit for “power.” It was the same baptism of power He had. It is like that of Elijah and Elisha and the passing of the mantle of power. Elisha received a double portion and Jesus in a similar way said anyone who believes in Him will do greater miracles (double portion). As a human, Jesus received the mantel of power by the baptism of the Spirit; He did the Father’s works by the Spirit. He was the forerunner. He showed us how to do it. He then ascended to heaven and handed the mantle of power to us, for us to complete the works of the Father. We are baptized in the same Spirit to do the same works of the Father, except for the work redemption. We are baptized in the same power of the Spirit to do even greater works, not because we are greater in ourselves, but because Jesus now sits on His throne and in authority directs us to expand His kingdom.

This is why it is dumb to say, “Well, that was Jesus, and this is us and so we can’t do what He did.”

Consider how generous He is with His power! He likes it when we ask for more of His Spirit and power. Ask!

Once a Prince of Heaven, Always a Prince of Heaven

“For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things like we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Hebrews 4:-5-16

The immediate context of approaching God’s throne of grace for help is that Jesus can sympathize with our weakness and struggle against sin.  This verse should be used to approach God boldly for all types of asking and help, but it is important to remember the immediate context. In our struggle to fight sin we are told Jesus sympathizes with us and commands us to boldly approach God’s throne for help.

This is important because when we do sin, or if we are still fighting a besetting sin, one major battle Satan will fight us on is boldly approaching God for help. When we fight sin, approaching God boldly is the #1 thing we need to do. Why. Only God can help. And Satan wants to hinder you from going to the only one who wants and can help you.

The temptation is from shame. You feel ashamed and so you do not want to approach God’s majestic throne with boldness, and yet, this is the most important thing for you to do. We must remember that our faith is based on God’s revelation not “feelings.” We must repent and by faith know we are forgiven.

We do not fix a sin by sinning more. The command is for us to approach God with confidence, with our heads held high, and ask for help. Because we are asking for help in a sin, some see God is angry and does not want to help. They think a correct application of “the fear of God” is keeping them from boldly approaching. Yet, our passage says Jesus sympathizes with us and will help us if we ask Him.  Because it is a command, then to not boldly approach God for help is “not fearing him.”  Any sin qualifies for “not fearing God,” because it is a violation of God’s command. God has intelligently thought of everything, and His command is simple. If you are struggling with sin, repent, but do not stop there; you must also boldly approach God asking for help and you will receive help.  

You do not have permission to sit in the corner of your room in self-pity and whine and then approach God like a beggar for help. It is good to have godly sorrow for one’s own sin, but that does not excuse you from disregarding your identity in Christ when you approach God. A beggar is the definition of an outsider, but you have been redefined as an insider. You are always a prince of heaven, therefore, when you enter God’s throne room you always enter in as a prince, with your head held high. It is similar to the line from the popular book Narnia, “once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen of Narnia.” You have a new definition, given by God himself. It is final and permanent. Therefore, when you approach God, you always approach Him as a child of God, a royal prince of heaven, especially if you need help fighting sin.  Let nothing hinder you from approaching God in confidence to receive His help.