In his letter to the church at Philippi, Paul starts by giving thanks to God for the Philippian Christians’ partnership with him in the Gospel. He advocates that his chains, ie his imprisonment for the sake of the Gospel, are in fact serving to promote the Gospel rather than hinder it. He urges us to imitate Christ’s humility, to shine as stars, have no confidence in the flesh and to press on toward the goal for which we were called. Amidst this powerful encouragement by Paul, we hear how two dear Christian coworkers for the Gospel, Euodia and Syntyche, have been in disagreement with each other. Paul pleads with them to agree with each other and then broadens his subject to exhort us all to rejoice at all times in the Lord and implores the church not to be anxious about anything, but rather;

But just what does Paul mean when he then goes on to refer to the peace of God, and how does it surpass all understanding?

I believe first we need to understand what Paul would have had in mind when he used the word “peace”. When we refer to peace today we generally think of quiet tranquility, a state of calm and well being. However Paul would have had far more than this in mind. The word “peace” in the time of the early church, was used to refer to victory over ones enemies and a cessation from war. Whilst this would particularly refer to a nation being free from war and disturbance from adversaries, Paul would also have used it inwardly, as indeed he is doing in this passage, to refer to a man’s soul being at peace in God.

However, whilst a Christian may have peace with God, not every believer automatically has the peace “of” God. The peace of God is a peace which, by His grace, He bestows upon us in response to our faith in His provision, protection and love. This peace results in us being in a state totally free from anxiety or worry, because we know that God is in control, Jesus is Lord and all our needs will be met. This is the sort of peace that Jesus wanted us to have when He said;

It is a state therefore whereby a believer can say that all is well in my life, and it will always remain so, God is my guide and protector, His Son intercedes and prays over me, His Spirit dwells in me and I shall never lack or be in want.

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