Finding Peace: A Brief Exploration in Philippians

This short piece answers three questions pertaining to peace, as it relates to Paul and his letter to the Philippians.

Can people without a commitment to Christ find peace? 

             No. Not genuine peace. Peace is derived from the very nature of God—like love. Apart from him, there is no peace. Peace indicates wholeness, completeness (AYBD, “Peace”). Outside of a commitment to Christ, which in turn bonds us to him (union with Christ), we cannot experience true peace because it is subject to conditions, circumstances, and things in the environment/creation. One may experience temporary peace, but it will inevitably fade—even if it lasted a lifetime, it is not eternal and therefore it is not peace in the fullest sense of the word, rather a cheap counterfeit which abandons the sinner at death. This is why there is such a dangerous fallacy in thinking that someone who has passed away outside of Christ is “in a better place,” or “finally at peace.” Apart from God, nothing of the sort exists. Peace, in the fullest sense of the word is an environment which encompasses the believer in totality—there is nowhere you can go to escape the domain of peace because of one’s union with Christ who is the Prince of Peace, the very source of its existence.  

Is it possible that “our world” will be able to have peace? 

            I don’t believe that it is possible; not peace that lasts. On that note, as mentioned above, genuine peace—because it is derived from an essential attribute of God—lasts eternally. Peace that lasts a moment, or even just a year is not genuine peace because it is dependent on something, or some condition. So, world peace cannot exist so long as the fundamental order of the universe has been corrupted by sin. You cannot answer these questions, then, without addressing (at least to some degree) sin and God’s restoration of the cosmos through Christ’s atoning death. In some sense, this is what Paul is getting at in Romans 8:20-25. He is looking towards the restoration of creation that lays the foundation for shalom again. The fact that we must wait for God to act indicates that peace apart from God is not possible. Our world is, however, able to experience limited degrees of what peace is like—and this should drive us towards God who is peace in and of himself.

What are the essential factors we need to understand that promote or prohibit peace?

            I think that we first need to understand what genuine peace is, then where it comes from. Peace is completeness. It is the state of totality and wholeness—without lack of any kind. This does not come from some kind of abandonment of the self, or emptying of the mind or abandoning of desires as some mystics or Buddhists would say. Instead, it is found in one’s union with the source of all things—the one in whom all things emanate from and find their existence and sustenance from—The Lord Jesus Christ. I love in Colossians when Paul declares, “For God was pleased to have all his fullness [completeness] dwell in the Son and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peacethrough the blood of his cross—through him, whether things on earth or things in heaven.” (Col. 1:19-20) With this in mind, that which prohibits peace is only temporary and ultimately futile in its obstruction of peace because Christ will reign victorious, and his rule of peace will prevail. Obsessive worry, doubt, and unbelief in God’s provision and providence undermine peace. An orientation of the heart away from God and towards self will undermine peace. The peace of God (Phil. 4:7) will guard the believers heart from such things.