True, heartfelt peace is not merely the absence of conflict, but a positive, proactive state of yielding to God and showing good will toward all. Righteousness produces peace with its qualities of quietness and assurance, while peace provides the proper environment for righteousness to grow. One builds upon the other, as a home without peace hinders the development of righteousness. God has called His saints to peace, expecting them to keep His commandments, and in return, He grants peace of mind. When a man's ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Peace leads to more peace, washing away strife and fear as a river sweeps away debris.

Peace provides the environment in which the fruit of righteousness grows because righteousness functions as seed. Regardless of how good the seed is, if conditions are not right the process of germination and fruit bearing will be hindered. James states that the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. Peace is the proper condition for the fruit of righteousness, and peacemakers function as the gardeners who supply it. Growing a good crop demands the right conditions for good seed. So important is peace to spiritual prosperity that God will permit a marriage to be broken by divorce where peace cannot exist. Living in an environment of warfare contributes little to growing in the image of the loving God of peace. It forces one to focus on himself, and growth at best will be slow and minimal.

Peace serves as the environment for righteousness. Grace from the Father and peace from the Son create the perfect conditions for growth after justification in the sanctification process. Righteousness is sown in a state of peace by those who make peace. The God of peace equips people with everything needed to do His will and to become complete in every good work. This peace supplies the conditions for Christian life and growth even amid external troubles. The Father gives peace and the Son gives His own peace to create and maintain a state of peace that produces contentment and well-being. That environment fosters growth toward wholeness and completion. When peace flows through people to others the process advances more productively toward the image of Jesus Christ. The great Shepherd leads protects and cares for the sheep to produce an environment of peace and contentment without fear or conflict. This state allows the sheep to prosper grow and reach maturity.

Peace serves as the environment in which righteousness is produced. The fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. The covenant of peace establishes the bounds of the relationship with God and creates conditions under which spiritual growth occurs and entry into the Kingdom of God becomes possible. God desires His people to be righteous and therefore makes a covenant with them so that they can achieve righteousness with His help. After the return of Christ an environment of peace will be established to produce righteousness and growth among those who accept the covenant. The same conditions of peace exist now for believers under the covenant. True peace as the ultimate expression of a right relationship with God through the covenant makes righteous living possible. Only in an environment of peace can the fruits of righteousness be produced. Sin disrupts this state of peace and requires repentance to restore it. The peace of God surpasses all understanding and guards hearts and minds so that righteous works may continue.

Any given doctrine must be built layer by layer, combining and comparing scriptures rather than allowing a single scripture to determine the doctrine. When we understand that porneia includes all the hideous perverted sexual sins that go beyond ordinary adultery- including bestiality, pedophilia, homosexuality, incest, and every other imaginable sexual perversion, we understand that Jesus gave a greater latitude and flexibility in these divorce decisions than we had earlier assumed (based exclusively upon adulterous 'fraud'). Any violence against the marriage contract (stemming from unconversion) would constitute grounds for divorce, and would permit the converted partner to remarry. Mutual access to the tree of life (God's Holy Spirit) gives marriage the best (actually the only) chance to succeed.