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

© 2003 Joe Griffin		03-04-24-A.SBC03-5 /

Crisis Management: Phil 4:7b: Summary of Eirēnē: Utilizing the Peace of God to Surpass Human-Viewpoint Thinking; Phroureō: The Garrison of the Soul

(36)		Summary of H„r»nh, Eirēnē:
			The peace of God means that the difficult realities of life are reduced to insignificance, especially when compared to the perfect peace of the eternal future guaranteed us by faith in Jesus Christ.  True peace is the stabilized mental attitude which views the invisible truth of Bible doctrine as a greater reality than the visible reality of human afflictions.
			When a believer uses the faith-rest drill: believes the promises, and applies the doctrinal rationales, he is unmoved by difficult circumstances.  He operates from a condition of eirēnē: peace.  It is a positive approach to life that does not merely mean a relaxed mental attitude.  It also encompasses a disposition toward life made possible by a spiritually mature soul which cannot be overthrown by any outside adversity.
			For such a mental attitude to be consistent in the believer’s life there must be a large inventory of ideas available for thought, recall, and application.  These thoughts include knowledge of the will of God, understanding of the plan of God, execution of the sophisticated spiritual life, production of divine viewpoint, reciprocity toward God, joint-participation in the happiness of God, and occupation with Christ.  With this power package at his disposal he has the ability to face any suffering, any pressure, and any disaster in life.
			This peace therefore can be described in its relationship to the believer with several English words.  They describe how the believer utilizes the peace of God in its many applications:
		(1)	Stability: The characteristic that causes a person, when under pressure, to call upon forces that restore him to his original condition.  The stable person’s knowledge of doctrine always controls his emotions.
Isaiah 33:6 -	By means of wisdom and knowledge shall there be stability in your times.
		(2)	Confidence: A relationship of trust; a reliance on another’s discretion, i.e., God the Father.  When under pressure, confidence produces:
		(3)	Courage: Mental and moral strength to persevere, withstand, and overcome danger, fear, or difficulty.
Joshua 1:9 - 	“Have I not commanded you?  Be confident and courageous!  Do not fear to the point of panic or allow dismay to destroy your courage.  The Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
		(4)	Equanimity: The quality of being even-tempered under pressure.  Implies a mental balance and an evenness of temperament as attributes of one’s character.
		(5)	Prosperity: To flourish in the Christian way of life and in the plan of God.  Spiritual prosperity includes having an inventory of doctrinal ideas on which to call when faced with pressure situations.  At such times the believer finds his possession of doctrine to be more desirable than silver and gold.
Thus the peace of God is reflected in the believer’s life most dramatically when he is placed under pressure.  In such circumstances he finds that the peace of God is expressed by stability, confidence, courage, equanimity, and prosperity of thought.
3.	The source of this peace is from God, the ablative of the noun, QeÒj, Theos, “In fact, the peace from the source of God,” is said to confound the world.  This is expressed by the present active participle of the verb:
	Øperšcw, huperechō -		“to surpass; to rise above”
	present:	Durative; denotes that which has begun in the past and continues into the present.
	active:	Peace from the source of God produces the action of “rising above, transcending, or surpassing.”
	participle:	Circumstantial; this status is dependent upon volition.
4.	What this status of soul surpasses is stated next by the adjective and noun in the accusative case:
p©j noàj, pas nous -	“all human-viewpoint systems of thinking”
5.	This phrase refers to human viewpoint understanding of spiritual matters.  The unbeliever simply is not equipped to process the knowledge that is contained in Scripture.  As a result he cannot comprehend the tranquility of soul the believer is able to maintain while under various levels of stress and difficulty.  It is said by Paul to “surpass” him:
Philippians 4:7 -	In fact, the spiritual prosperity from the source of God rises above, transcends, surpasses all human viewpoint systems of thinking …
6.	The believer’s spiritual anatomy is structurally different from that of the unbeliever’s according to Paul in:
2 Corinthians 5:17 -	Therefore, if anyone is in union with Christ, he is a new spiritual species [ divine operating assets available only to the believer ]: old things [ pertaining to spiritual death, e.g., lack of assets to learn, retain and apply doctrine ] have lost their power; behold, new things [ the human spirit, Operation Z, mentorship of the Holy Spirit; epignōsis in the kardia; 10 problem-solving devices; and the sophisticated spiritual life producing the peace of God ] have come into existence.
7.	These “new things” include in our context the possession of spiritual prosperity and all this phrase implies: stability, confidence, courage, equanimity, composure, and endurance.  Not only do these things surpass the thinking of unbelievers, and even reversionists for that matter, they also do something else: they make it possible for our souls to become impervious to the attack of the enemy.  This is revealed next by the future active indicative of the verb:
	frouršw, phroureō -	“to guard; protect; keep; keep watch as a military sentry; to keep in a state of security.”  It is a military term meaning “to keep under guard as with a garrison.”
	future:	Gnomic: the statement of a fact or performance which may be rightfully anticipated or expected to occur for the believer who has acquired the “peace of God.” 
	active:	This spiritual prosperity from the source of God produces the action of garrisoning the believer’s soul from outside adversity.
	indicative:	Declarative for a statement of fact.

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