Work and Effect

May 7, 2021

The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness, and assurance forever. Isaiah 32:17 NKJV

We are told repeatedly in Scripture that the work Jesus Christ came to do was to make us right with God. When we accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and are forgiven, we have peace with God. Rightness with God is righteousness, and righteousness is peace with Him. “The work of righteousness is peace.” Rightness with God has done its work when we have reconciliation and no more war with God.

So what is the effect of the work that is done? The effect (the obvious result) is that for which every single soul yearns:

Quietness. The sinister whispers of shame are gone. The angry voice of condemnation is silenced. The shrill shrieks of fear are banished. When we know we are right with God, there is a quiet peace that envelops our hearts. My mother was a singer, not for the public but for herself. She would sing while she hung clothes out to dry, while she was snapping beans, or sweeping floors. One she sang often was this:

“I am resting tonight in His wonderful peace,
Resting sweetly in Jesus’ control.
For I’m kept from all danger by night and by day,
While the years all around me may roll.”

She explained to me the fears she had struggled with as a child and the voices inside her that seemed to tell her she was never enough. She said Jesus stilled those voices.

Assurance forever. When I know I am right with God, His peace rules over my heart and gives me the assurance that I am His child. I am loved forever. He will never leave me. He will never forsake me. Whatever I face I will never face alone. No one can take away my relationship with God. As Paul said, “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?... No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35, 37-39 NLT

Now that’s peace!

• Thank Jesus for the quietness and assurance He gives when we are right with God