Romans 15:13

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Christian era was ushered in with the double promise of peace and joy, the peace being prophesied by Zacharias, thus:

The Dayspring from on high shall visit us ... to guide our feet unto the way of peace (Luke 1:78,79);

and the joy having been announced by the angel of the Lord to the shepherds:

Behold I bring you tidings of great joy which shall be to all people (Luke 2:10).

Such a glorious peace and joy are available from no other source than the life of faith in Jesus Christ. These priceless endowments of the soul are the Christian's badge of eternal inheritance, his true credentials of heavenly citizenship, and his impregnable defense against all the tribulations and temptations of life. Having peace with God and the joy of the Spirit in his soul, the Christian is redeemed indeed.

Wilbur M. Smith wrote on this subject, thus:

As a result of such a redemption, accomplished with such a sacrifice, the hearts and minds of Christians may forever be kept with the peace of God that passeth understanding. There is absolutely nothing in all the biographies of unbelievers, or rationalists, or modern skeptics, which can present any such testimony to the reality of peace and joy in the human heart, promised in the New Testament. Professor Robert Flint was right when he wrote, in his famous work on Theism, "The heart can find no secure rest except on an infinite God. If less than omnipotent, he may be unable to help us in the hour of sorest need. If less than perfectly benevolent, we cannot fully love him. The whole soul can only be devoted to One who is believed to be absolutely good."[4]

The same author devoted a full chapter to the exposition of this verse; and the paragraph regarding the means of procuring peace and joy has this:

This joy can come only through believing, and I pray you, brothers and sisters, never be drifted away from the child-like faith in what God hath said. It is very easy to obtain a temporary joy and peace through your present easy experience, but how will you do when all things take a troublous turn? Those who live by feelings change with the weather. If you ever put aside your faith in the finished work to drink from the cup of your own inward sensations, you will find yourself bitterly disappointed. Your honey will turn to gall, your sunshine into blackness; for all things which come to man are fickle and deceptive. The God of hope fill you with joy and peace; but it will only be through believing. You will have to stand as a poor sinner at the foot of the cross, trusting to complete atonement. You will never have peace and joy unless you do. If you once begin to say, I am a saint; there is something good in me, and so on, you will find joy evaporate and peace depart.[5]

Wonderful as are Smith's words, as regards the necessity of believing it is not by this "alone" that people shall receive the blessing. As Smith said, one must stand at the foot of the cross, etc., and this is only another way of saying that one must accept and obey God's terms of justification, entering the body of Christ; for it is "in Christ" that all spiritual blessings are bestowed (Ephesians 1:3); and let none think to receive them by any other means than that of being found "in him." Tragically, this expression which occurs no less than 169 times in Paul's writings seems to have gone through many minds without having made any impression at all!

In the power of the Holy Spirit ... is Paul's reminder that only God's children, the baptized true believers "in Christ" who have received the Spirit as a consequence of their sonship shall ever possess this joy and peace. People may forget to tell how they are received, but the apostle failed not to declare it.

[4] Wilbur S. Smith, Therefore Stand (Boston: W. A. Wilde Company, 1945), p. 272.

[5] Ibid., p. 476.