Romans 12:18

If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all men.

This instruction to be at peace with all people is conditioned upon the objective possibility of being so. The subjective impossibility of the Christian's being unable to restrain himself, or some such thing, is not in view here at all. The impossibility allowed by Paul as a negation of this precept would lie only in the kind of a situation where truth and sacred duty would require resistance. Peace with some people under some circumstances, impossible without the sacrifice of sacred honor and duty, is not here enjoined. An apostle said:

The wisdom which is from above is first pure, then peaceable (James 3:17).

But, while allowing theoretical situations where peace could not honorably be maintained, we should strictly heed the principle of avoiding discord. Christ taught that people should give the cloak also, go the second mile, turn the other cheek, and avoid conflict by any honorable means whatsoever. What a shameful contrast is the conduct of some persons, allegedly Christian, who are ever spoiling for strife, and who, far from avoiding it, actually seek and enjoy all kinds of confrontations that lead to bitterness and contention.