thoughts of peace

PEACE [Heb. šālôm]; AV also FAVOUR, PROSPEROUS; NEB also SAFETY, FAREWELL, WELFARE, WELCOME, PROSPER (ITY), UNHARMED, GREETINGS, GOOD NEWS, SOUND, HARMONY, etc.;

REST, QUIETNESS; NEB also SAFE, TERMS, GOOD WISHES, BLESSINGS, HAPPILY

COME TO TERMS

LEFT UNDISTURBED;

TRANQUIL

These nuances include fulfillment, completion, maturity, soundness, wholeness (both individual and communal), community, harmony, tranquility, security, well-being, welfare, friendship, agreement, success, and prosperity.

Peace is often understood as the opposite of war (Eccl. 3:8; Ps. 120:7) or linked with the absence of war

II. In the NT

Corresponding to Heb. šālôm in the OT, Gk. eirḗnē and its derivatives form the dominant NT word-group expressing the ideas of peace, well-being, rest, reconciliation with God, and salvation in the fullest sense.

In classical Greek eirḗnē primarily signified the absence of conflict (especially in a political or military sense

Thus eirḗnē in the NT has taken on the broader connotation of well-being, completeness, inner satisfaction, the contentment and serenity that derive from having lived a full life, etc. The peace that Jesus gives is qualitatively different from that which the world can give

As the source of all peace, God is frequently referred to in the epistles as the “God of peace

Peace is included among the gifts of the Holy Spirit to believers

The NT expects peace to be the normal state of affairs among Christians

Jesus Christ is the mediator of peace (Col. 1:20). Peace with God is the result of being justified through faith in Christ (Rom. 5:1). The good news of salvation, which is called “the gospel of peace” (Eph. 6:15) because it reconciles believers to God and another (cf. 2:12–18), forms part of the “whole armor of God” (6:11, 13) that enables the Christian to withstand the attacks of the spiritual forces of evil.