Here comes peace
The main meaning in the NT is obviously not the Greek one but salvation in a deeper sense. This embraces human concord, as in Acts 7:26 etc., but also peace with God. Closer to the Greek are the use for the opposite of war in Acts 12:20; 24:2; Mt. 10:34 and Paul’s use for peace of soul (cf. Rom. 15:13). The OT basis comes out plainly in such expressions as “making peace” in Jms. 3:18 and “giving a greeting of peace” in Jn. 14:27. Lk. 14:32 possibly contains an Aramaism for offering a greeting rather than seeking conditions, but in context it carries the implication of submission and homage. In the material use of the NT we find peace as a feeling of rest, peace as a state of reconciliation with God, and peace as eschatological salvation; the last of these is basic.
1. eirḗnē in Its Widest Sense as the Normal State of All Things. In 1 Cor. 14:33 peace is for Paul the normal state as distinct from the confusion of unruly prophesying at Corinth. This peace is what God wills, not merely for the soul or for the human race, but for his whole creation.
2. eirḗnē as the Eschatological Salvation of the Whole Person.
a. The shālôm of the OT is the basis here. Thus in Lk. 1:79 eirḗnē is the awaited eschatological salvation. In Lk. 2:14 again peace is the salvation that has now come to the earth. Salvation is also the sense in Lk. 19:42 and 19:38b, and cf. Rev. 12:10; 19:1. In Rev. 12:10 peace is said to have come as a historical event in Christ (cf. Heb. 13:10). Melchizedek as a type of Christ is the king of peace (Heb. 7:2), the gospel is the gospel of peace (Eph. 6:15), and Christ leaves peace with his disciples (Jn. 14:27), the opposite of this being affliction (16:33). When the disciples go out in Christ’s name, they offer peace (Lk. 10:5–6; Mt. 10:13). We are to seek this peace (Heb. 12:14). It is a power which protects us (Phil. 4:7) and which rules in the heart (Col. 3:15), although in human relations it may sometimes result in the very opposite of peace (Mt. 10:34–35).
b. In all these passages eirḗnē is materially parallel to zōḗ, and Paul makes this equation in Rom. 8:6. The striving of the flesh is enmity against God and leads to death (v. 7). Life and peace come when the mind is set on the Spirit; this brings salvation. There is a parallel in 2 Pet. 3:14, where eirḗnē is neither inner peace nor grace, but the perfect well-being of reconstitution in God’s image. Along these lines Paul calls God the God of peace who will crush Satan (Rom. 16:20) and secure our total salvation (1 Th. 5:23; cf. Heb. 13:20–21). Peace, then, embraces the salvation of the whole person, and in Christ this is already present as the power of God.
3. eirḗnē as Peace with God. Occasionally eirḗnē denotes peace with God. This is the point in Eph. 2:14ff. As the law has both divided Jews and Gentiles and separated Israel from God, so Christ our peace has healed both relationships, for he has broken down the wall of hostility by reconciling us all to God. Peace with God is solely at issue in Rom. 5:1. It is the relationship in which God places believers by his reconciling work in Christ. The context suggests that the indicative “we have” is the true reading in spite of the better attestation of the imperative “let us have.”
4. eirḗnē as Peace with One Another. When Paul in Rom. 14:17 says that God’s kingdom is peace, he is stating that the rule of God is one in which there is no evil or discord; he can thus exhort us to pursue what makes for peace (v. 19), i.e., to avoid squabbling about meats or days. The saying in 1 Cor. 7:15c is to the same effect. If a pagan partner breaks off a marriage, the Christian must accept this, the reason being (“for,” not “but”) that God has called us to peace. Peace here again means the avoidance of discord, though it also has the positive content of a divinely willed state of normalcy. In 2 Tim. 2:22 we are not just to foster peace with the devout, since metá here means “along with”; what is in view is staying out of stupid controversies (v. 23), but with a hint of salvation in the context of righteousness, faith, and love. Concord is the obvious sense in Eph. 4:3 and Jms. 3:18, and probably also in 1 Pet. 3:11.
5. eirḗnē as Peace of Soul. Peace of soul is meant in Rom. 15:13, although this peace is possible only through the saving work of God which restores our normal state. In contrast to Stoic galḗnē it is a positive state inseparably connected with joy and faith.
In the material use of the NT we find peace as a feeling of rest, peace as a state of reconciliation with God, and peace as eschatological salvation; the last of these is basic.
We are to seek this peace (Heb. 12:14). It is a power which protects us (Phil. 4:7) and which rules in the heart (Col. 3:15), although in human relations it may sometimes result in the very opposite of peace (Mt. 10:34–35).
b. In all these passages eirḗnē is materially parallel to zōḗ, and Paul makes this equation in Rom. 8:6. The striving of the flesh is enmity against God and leads to death (v. 7). Life and peace come when the mind is set on the Spirit; this brings salvation. There is a parallel in 2 Pet. 3:14, where eirḗnē is neither inner peace nor grace, but the perfect well-being of reconstitution in God’s image. Along these lines Paul calls God the God of peace who will crush Satan (Rom. 16:20) and secure our total salvation (1 Th. 5:23; cf. Heb. 13:20–21). Peace, then, embraces the salvation of the whole person, and in Christ this is already present as the power of God.
3. eirḗnē as Peace with God. Occasionally eirḗnē denotes peace with God. This is the point in Eph. 2:14ff. As the law has both divided Jews and Gentiles and separated Israel from God, so Christ our peace has healed both relationships, for he has broken down the wall of hostility by reconciling us all to God. Peace with God is solely at issue in Rom. 5:1. It is the relationship in which God places believers by his reconciling work in Christ. The context suggests that the indicative “we have” is the true reading in spite of the better attestation of the imperative “let us have.”
4. eirḗnē as Peace with One Another. When Paul in Rom. 14:17 says that God’s kingdom is peace, he is stating that the rule of God is one in which there is no evil or discord; he can thus exhort us to pursue what makes for peace (v. 19), i.e., to avoid squabbling about meats or days. The saying in 1 Cor. 7:15c is to the same effect. If a pagan partner breaks off a marriage, the Christian must accept this, the reason being (“for,” not “but”) that God has called us to peace. Peace here again means the avoidance of discord, though it also has the positive content of a divinely willed state of normalcy. In 2 Tim. 2:22 we are not just to foster peace with the devout, since metá here means “along with”; what is in view is staying out of stupid controversies (v. 23), but with a hint of salvation in the context of righteousness, faith, and love. Concord is the obvious sense in Eph. 4:3 and Jms. 3:18, and probably also in 1 Pet. 3:11.
5. eirḗnē as Peace of Soul. Peace of soul is meant in Rom. 15:13, although this peace is possible only through the saving work of God which restores our normal state. In contrast to Stoic galḗnē it is a positive state inseparably connected with joy and faith.