“Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9)

This is the seventh of the beatitudes. In the Bible, the number seven is the number of perfection, and a beatitude is a blessing, so perhaps Christ meant us to see peace as a perfect blessing. Saints, so far as it’s possible on earth, must attain to this blessing before they become peacemakers. The God of this world, Satan, tells man that peace is just the absence of conflict, but God says His peace never compromises with sin, and His Sons shouldn’t be unequally yoked with sinners (1 Corinthians 6:14-16). 

 The location of this beatitude is relevant to this fact. Christ said it just after saying, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). Saints must be pure of heart before they can be peacemakers. The saint who lives to be Holy as God is holy (1 Peter 1:15) can’t make peace with sin, or compromise with evil. You must take your stand against everything that is contrary to God and His holiness; the purity of your soul is an irreducible standard, a settled matter, before you can be peaceable. And what Christ says next is also significant. Christ was the most peaceable person who ever lived, and yet the Prince of Peace brought fire upon the earth. 

 Though He loved mankind, and did nothing evil, He was "despised and rejected of men” because He spoke the truth: ”I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin ... Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:34-35), but “you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (John 5:39). The peaceable in heart shouldn’t be surprised when they’re persecuted. In fact, the next verse says, "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven". Peacemakers are not only called blessed, but promised the ultimate blessing of eternal life. Christ said to the Church of Smyrna, “Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer ... Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10).