“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness” (Gal. 5:22).

“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you” (Lk. 10:5–6).

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1).

Peace with God is the result of justification. The fruit of the Spirit is peace, and the first words we are to use in house-to-house evangelism are, “Peace to this house.”

We fight the spiritual war with the weapon of peace. Jesus said to Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place” (Jn. 18:36).

We do not use weapons of physical war in evangelism, and that is good. But we also do not consistently present the good news in peace, which we should. Many evangelists present the gospel with a belligerent attitude. Do not do that. The message of the gospel is reconciliation with God and peace for the world. The Prince of Peace went to the cross peacefully. The news of His death and resurrection should be presented peacefully.

“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 1:2).

*Excerpted from Weapons & Tactics. To purchase, visit ccmbooks.org/bookstore.