The Lord permits no rivals. In Isaiah 43:11, He said, “I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.” Yet, there is a battle on the horizon that will bring all matters to a head. The Antichrist will sit in the temple of God claiming to be God (2 Thessalonians 2:4). He will torture the people of God (the Jews) and blaspheme the name of God. He will set up his image and demand that the people worship him (Revelation 13:14-15). This peak of idolatry and blasphemy will lead to the culmination of God’s jealousy when He returns to judge the world (Revelation chapter 19).
The New Testament sheds light on two types of peace: peace with God and the peace of God. Peace with God is “through” the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1; Colossians 1:20). According to today's passage, this “peace with God” is experienced only upon one’s justification at the moment of salvation. Trusting Christ's payment through His death, burial, and resurrection remains the only basis for grasping this peace. Before a man trusts in Christ, he is God's enemy (Romans 5:10), but after salvation, he has been gloriously reconciled to God through the work of God's Son. No man earns this peace and no man can lose this peace to again become God's enemy because this peace is an everlasting peace.
