Title: 13
Author: JOEG
Last saved by: Paul Davey
Company: Auth Co

© 2003 Joe Griffin		03-04-23-B.SBC03-4 /

Crisis Management: Philippians 4:7a: The Peace of God: Etymology of Eirēnē: Reconciliation & Divine Love: Romans 8:35, 38-39
40.	Conclusions:
	(1)	God possesses omniscience.  He knows all that is knowable, both potential and actual.  His perception of the actual is recorded in the computer of the divine decree since eternity past.  He therefore processed our prayers before we prayed them.
	(2)	The decision not to pray is contrary to the will of God.  It is His desire that we pray.  Prayers not prayed are not processed.
	(3)	Proper prayer requires an ever-increasing knowledge of God’s will which is revealed in Scripture.  The will of God may be defined as His predetermined purposes regarding the angelic conflict and human history.
	(4)	For prayer to be effective our requests must recognize the will of God.  Prayers that are in accordance with His will are always answered.
	(5)	Prayer is a system of communication which God has established so that His creatures might express their reciprocity, worship, desires, and concerns to Him.
	(6)	God is our Sovereign authority whose love for us is undiminished, warranting our reciprocity.  He is our Creator and our Provider, warranting our worship.  God has certain ends which He has decreed to accomplish within certain boundaries.  If fulfilling our desires and addressing our concerns contributes to an advance toward these ends then He will answer them.
	(7)	Prayer is, however, a volitional issue for the believer.  Prayer is a system that transcends space and arrives in heaven as we speak.  It is an Instantaneous Extradimensional Communications Network.
	(8)	God communicates with us through His Word.  We communicate with Him through prayer.
Philippians 4:6 -	[ Expanded translation ] Stop worrying habitually about anything but in every circumstance by means of the prayer network and by means of your entreaty after thanksgivings let your requests be made known to God.

E.	Philippians 4:7: 
Philippians 4:7 -		[Authorized King James Version] And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
1.	When prayer is effectual it results in tranquility of soul for the believer.  Verse six tells us that prayer is the cause that results in peace.  Verse 7 begins with a statement of fact with the continuative conjunction:
	ka…, kai -	“In fact”  This is followed by the ablative of source of the noun:
	e„r»nh, eirēnē -	“peace” plus the prepositional phrase:
	toà QeÒj, tou Theos -	“of God”  “In fact, the peace of God …”
2.	An evaluation of the meaning of eirēnē:
	(1)		Eirēnē, or peace, is synonymous with the noun katallag», katallagē.  Both mean “reconciliation.”
	(2)		Reconciliation is defined as: The sum total of all that Christ did on the Cross in removing the barrier between God and sinful man, replacing enmity with peace.
	(3)		The barrier was established by the original sin of Adam and inherited by means of spiritual death by all his progeny.  The work of Christ on the cross removed this barrier but the efficacy of His work must be ratified by faith in Christ by each individual.
	(4)		When a person ratifies through faith alone in Christ alone it results in a change from a status of hostility into a state of peace.  The spiritual condition of the unbeliever is hostility or enmity.  The spiritual condition of the believer is peace or reconciliation.
	(5)		Enmity is the adjective ™cqrÒj, echthros and means hateful, hostile, and adversarial.  Those who are without Christ are at enmity with God.  They are His opponents in the spiritual warfare.
	(6)		 If man is at war with God through unbelief then it is no wonder that he becomes hostile with his fellowman.  When groups of people have this problem it results in international conflicts, or warfare.
	(7)		The Greek language considers eirēnē, peace, to be the opposite of pÒlemoj, polemos, warfare.
	(8)		Peace or reconciliation between God and man leads to individual peace between man and man and the elimination of personality conflicts.
	(9)		However, it is man who is reconciled, not God, and can only occur through faith in Christ.
	(10)		Reconciliation and therefore peace, emphasizes the integrity of God as well as the eternal security of the believer.  No matter the outside adversity, the peace of God results in tranquility of soul:
Psalm  56:11 -	In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid.  What can man do to me?
	(11)		A word study of eirēnē will be helpful is summing up our understanding of the concept of the “peace of God.”
Kittel, Gerhard (ed.).  Theological Dictionary of the New Testament.  Translated by Geoffrey W. Bromiley.  (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1964), 2:407; 412-13:
e„r»nh (eirēnē).  Eirēnē does not merely mean rest, (but) it denotes the “whole” state of man which cannot be overthrown by any violence or misfortune.  (p. 407)
As regards the material use of the term in the New Testament three conceptions call for notice: a. peace as a feeling of peace and rest; b. peace as a state of reconciliation with God; and c. peace as the salvation of the whole man in an ultimate eschatological sense.  (p. 412)
In John 16:33 (“These things I have communicated unto you for your advantage and for the purpose that in Me you may have inner happiness [ eirēnē ].  In the world, you shall have affliction [ thlipsis ].  But keep on having confidence! I have conquered the cosmic system.”) the opposite of eirēnē as well-being or security is not anxiety but affliction (ql‹yij, thlipsis).  (p. 413)
	(12)		Confidence in reconciliation provides an inventory of ideas by which peace can become a constant defense for the soul against the exigencies of cosmos diabolicus.
	(13)		Trough faith in Christ we possess eternal life which includes an eternal citizenship in heaven, and an eternal resurrection body.  By metabolizing these concepts into our stream of consciousness we build confidence in these principles and they serve to protect us from the “affliction” of life.
	(14)		Yet even though we have tremendous spiritual assets, we often encounter circumstances in life which place us in a hopeless situation and we are left helpless to do anything about it.
	(15)		We are equipped with problem-solving devices beginning with the faith-rest drill which includes a peace of mind based on doctrinal rationales associated with reconciliation.
	(16)		The Lord uses the word thlipsis, or “affliction,” in Matthew 16:33.  Paul leads off his crescendo at the end of Romans 8 with this word and associates it with several other difficulties, none of which can trump the love of God:
Romans 8:35 -	Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall affliction [ ql‹psij, thlipsis: extreme pressure, e.g., historical disaster, catastrophe ], or anguish [ stenocwr…a, stenochōria: mental pressure ], or persecution [ diwgmÒj, diōgmos: undeserved suffering ], or famine [ limÒj, limos: depravation of physical sustenance ], or nakedness [ gumnÒthj, gumnotēs: deprivation of physical provisions ], or danger [ k…ndunoj, kindunos: natural disasters ], or a sword [ m£caira, machaira: invasion, revolution, crime, violence, terrorism ]?
	(17)		Paul offers several suggestions of which afflictions some might argue are capable of separating us from the love of God.  But at the end he offers a stirring peroration to his chapter that provides for us the confidence and security that produces in our souls the “peace of God”:
Romans 8:38 -	So I stand convinced that neither death nor life; neither angels nor rulers of angels; neither present things nor future things; neither powers,
v. 39 -	neither heaven nor hell; nor any created thing shall have the power to be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
	(18)		Convinced (pe…qw, peithō): This is a confidence that recognizes that there is no circumstance in life, no situation too great for the plan of God or the provision of God.
	(19)		Death (q£natoj, thanatos): There is nothing related to the subject of physical death that can shake the poise or demeanor of a mature believer, nor can it destroy his confidence, courage, or sense of security.  Death is looked on as profit.
	(20)		Life (zw», zōē): There is nothing that life has to offer that can destroy this confidence, courage, or security.  This includes sin, failures, weaknesses, sufferings, trials, and personal assaults.  In fact, living is Christ and the opportunity to serve and worship Him.
	(21)		Angels (¥ggeloj, angelos): Elect angels are never a concern for mature believers, in fact, all believers have a guardian angel.  This refers to rank and file demons among the fallen angels.
	22)		Rulers of angels (¢rc», archē): This refers to Lucifer and the entire structure of the angelic hierarchy including his commissioned officers.  The demonic army’s table of organization is revealed by Paul in:
Ephesians 6:12 -		Our combat is not against blood and flesh [ human beings only ] but against the rulers [ ¢rc», archē: demon generals ], against the authorities [ ™xous…a, exousia: demon commissioned officers ], against the world rulers of this darkness [ kosmokr£twr toà skÒtoj, kosmokratōr tou skotos: ambassador demons ], against the spirit forces of evil [ pneumatikÒj tÁj ponhr…a, pneumatikos tēs ponēria: rank and file demons ] in the heavenlies.
	(23)		Present things (™n…sthmi, enistēmi): Whatever the present circumstances, situations, or exigencies happen to be they cannot shake the believer’s confidence, courage, or peace of mind.
	(24)		Future things (mšllw, mellō): Likewise for whatever future events might occur.
	(25)		Powers (dun£mij, dunamis): Refers to humans who hold power in the various levels of government, business, military, or religion.
	(26)		(Verse 39) Heaven (Ûywma, hupsōma): Used for anything residing in stellar space, or metaphorically of pride and arrogance.  Refers primarily to challenges imposed by things above in the first and second heavens, e.g., Lucifer, demon commissioned officers, and demon rank and file; asteroids and meteorites; space vehicles and aircraft; military ordinance.
	(27)		Hell (b£qoj, bathos): Used here for the extreme depths of the underworld, i.e., the compartments of Hades.  Nothing there will be allowed to challenge our confidence.
	(28)		Any created thing (tij kt…sij ›teroj, tis ktisis heteros): Heteros means something different from the believer and thus refers to any unbeliever.
	(29)		Power (dÚnamai, dunamai): None of these ten challenges to the believer’s tranquility of soul shall have the power to separate him from the love of God. 
	(30)		Separate (cwr…zw, chōrizō): This is a gnomic aorist for a doctrine so fixed in certainty as to be axiomatic.  None of these 10 categories have the power to do this.  And what they are unable to separate us from is:
	(31)		The love of God (tÁj ¢g£ph toà QeÒj, tēs agapē tou Theos): This is the unconditional, undiminished, and unfailing love of God that is possessed by those who are:
	(32)		In Christ (™n CristÒj, en Christos): Refers to the baptism of the Holy Spirit, current positional truth, and top circle assets.
	(33)		This is a dramatic proclamation certifying that Paul possesses the “peace of God” about which he speaks in Philippians 4:7.  Based on our analysis let’s note the confidence this peace produces in the soul of the mature believer.  We will illustrate by a paraphrase of:
Romans 8:38 -	So I stand convinced that neither the reality of physical death nor the ramifications of our human failures; neither rank and file demons nor demon commissioned officers; neither present nor future exigencies; neither human authorities,
v. 39 -	neither dangers from above in the heavens nor dangers from below in Hades; nor any unbelievers shall have the power to be able to separate us from the undiminished love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
	(34)		We have established that eirēnē refers to the peace of mind that comes to the believer who metabolizes the doctrines associated with reconciliation with emphasis on eternal security, eternal life, the imputation of plus-R, and a resurrection body.
	(35)		Paul has provided us with an excellent application of these doctrines in Romans 8 and a demonstration of the mental attitude necessary to apply them in Philippians 4:7, “In fact, the peace …”

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