Joy and peace are both numbered
among the "fruit of the Spirit" given in Gal. 5:22,23. What are the
distinguishing features of these characteristics of the Spirit-filled
Christian?

Joy, first of all, is related in
the original Greek text of the New Testament to the words "grace" and
"thanksgiving." Grace—God’s un-merited favor shown to sinners— is the
foundation. Oh, what riches of His grace abound to us who were rebels and
sinners, for God has not only delivered us from eternal separation from
Himself, but has drawn us dose to Himself as His own dear children! The
response in our souls to the realization of such grace shown to us is joy. When
this joy cannot be contained in our souls it flows out in praise and
thanksgiving to God for His wonderful grace.

Because joy comes from a deep
sense of God’s infinite, continuous favor shown to us, it is what helps us to
pass calmly through trials, tribulations, and adverse circumstances. It is the
opposite of the unhappiness that many people experience when things don’t go
their way, when bad things happen to them. A believer in Christ who has a real
sense of God’s grace knows that bad things don’t and can’t happen to him or
her, but that "All things work together for good to those who love
God."

Peace has to do more with the
calmness we experience with respect to things in the future that may—or may
not—take place.  The soul that is justified by faith has peace with God, that
is, no fear whatever of the coming judgment of God, knowing that for the
believer, the judgment has already passed upon Christ.

Peace is the opposite of worry
and anxiety. "Be careful [or anxious] for nothing, but in every thing by
prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto
God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts
and minds through Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:6,7). Peace, too, is often
associated with, and flows from, God’s grace (Rom. l:7;2 Cor. l:2; Eph. l:2;
etc).

May our hearts be filled with joy
and peace as we grow in the knowledge and personal experience of God’s wonderful
grace.