The verse is Paul's closing wish and blessing that the God of peace be with all the believers, joining God's peace with His presence and blessing resting upon the church. It closes his appeal for united prayer, making peace the seal upon striving together in prayer to God.
In its setting Paul was about to go to Judea to bear the gospel of Christ as Saviour of the world to those opposing that truth. He wanted the Gentile Christians to strive together with him in prayer to God rather than talk about one another's faults.
Keeping that peace means guarding the door of the lips with sanctified speech cleansed from faultfinding. It means refusing to speak unadvisedly or to talk of one another's faults, and refusing to listen to faultfinding and criticism. It means keeping silent when provoked or spoken to harshly, and speaking kindly and tenderly to encourage and refresh.
It means striving together in prayer for God's appointed workers instead of criticizing them. That united prayer is that God will protect and bless them and deliver them from those who do not believe, so the way will be opened for the reception of the gospel. It looks to Paul coming with joy by the will of God and being refreshed together with the believers.
It calls for confessing sins and humbling the heart before God. A quarrelsome, faultfinding spirit shuts God's peace out of the heart. Such a spirit will not enter the city of God.
The verse is Paul's closing wish and blessing that the God of peace be with all the believers, joining God's peace with His presence and blessing resting upon the church. It closes his appeal for united prayer, making peace the seal upon striving together in prayer to God.
In its setting Paul was about to go to Judea to bear the gospel of Christ as Saviour of the world to those opposing that truth. He wanted the Gentile Christians to strive together with him in prayer to God rather than talk about one another's faults.
Keeping that peace means guarding the door of the lips with sanctified speech cleansed from faultfinding. It means refusing to speak unadvisedly or to talk of one another's faults, and refusing to listen to faultfinding and criticism. It means keeping silent when provoked or spoken to harshly, and speaking kindly and tenderly to encourage and refresh.
It means striving together in prayer for God's appointed workers instead of criticizing them. That united prayer is that God will protect and bless them and deliver them from those who do not believe, so the way will be opened for the reception of the gospel. It looks to Paul coming with joy by the will of God and being refreshed together with the believers.
It calls for confessing sins and humbling the heart before God. A quarrelsome, faultfinding spirit shuts God's peace out of the heart. Such a spirit will not enter the city of God.