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16 Now [de] the Lord [kurios] of peace [eirene] himself [autos] give [didomi] you [humin] peace [eirene] always [dia][pas] by [en] all [pas] means. [tropos] The Lord [kurios]be with [meta] you [humon] all. [pas]KJV-Interlinear
16 Now may the Lord of peace
Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance.
The Lord be with you all! NASB
The Lord be with you all. The
last few words at the end of this verse, seem plain
enough, but there is more here than meets the eye.
God is omnipresent and as
such, is everywhere simultaneously. So
obviously God is with you in that sense.
Having someone nearby
is one thing, but having someone nearby to whom you can look for support is quite
another.
But Gods strength comes
in various forms.
As humanity, Gods
strength sustains the world so that we can all have a place to live.We call this common grace.Included in common grace are the laws of
divine establishment, which include principles of, volition, marriage, family,
free enterprise, legal due process, nationalism, fundamental economics and so
forth.
These are the things
that guide, stabilize, and sustain society in the midst of the laws of the
jungle, which oppose all divine rules, and attempt to tear down society in all
of its aspects.
Even the concepts of the
male, female roles in society are attacked by the numerous philosophies that
have been invented to create equity but are never equitable, among the genders,
and are in fact attacks against divine rules of stability.
God defined the female
role as a stabilizing influence through the marriage and family units.While the male assumes the active role, the
female assumes the passive role, and together they both serve to stabilize
society.
These roles have
nothing to do with who you are or what you do in life. Either male or female can change diapers of
build rockets.Your occupation is
irrelevant in your relationship with God and/or your role in society.
However, it is the
world that creates discrimination and prejudice in order to make one group superior
to another.And it is that superior
minded group that advances evil at the expense of everyone else.
If you can keep the
inferior groups suppressed, then the elites believe that they can gain and keep
power and control for themselves. And this applies in all cases, whether
slavery because of race, whether denial of rights because of gender (women),
whether citizens denied freedoms because of abusive government.Keep them in the dark and deny them access to
truth.That is the policy and force of
evil in the world.
But God,
provides a higher level of grace, for those who believe in Christ.
For those who reject
Christ, they are at the mercy of the world.And in the world they can survive if the rules of divine establishment
function as designed.In a world where
these principles are compromised, then trouble makes life difficult for
everyone.Marriages fail, alternative
lifestyles crop up, principles of family and God are always under attack,
socialistic or legislative philosophies try to stamp out free enterprise,
internationalism (one world) tries to subdue nationalism, and so forth.
But for believers in
Christ, an additional higher law, takes over.The Law of Christ in you (post salvation grace plus
greater grace of maturity).
We all live in this
world and we are all subject to the activities that occur in the world.But as a believer in Christ, then Christ
takes on the additional role of protecting you.This role is not available to the unbelieving crowd.
However, Christ s role
in your life depends on your participation in advancing in your spiritual life.
Again, for believers
who are positive, then there is the additional support mechanism from God.But for believers who disregard their
spiritual life, then there is the support provided that the rest of the world
has common grace.
It is to this post
salvation grace that Paul is referring to as well as the advanced grace of
spiritual maturity, which is called greater grace in James.Refer to the detailed studies in James on
this subject.
When one attains or is
in the process of advancing toward spiritual maturity, then greater grace
becomes more and more apparent in your life.
This is Christ in you. The achievement of peace
through advancement to maturity in the spiritual life.
This is not acquired by
singing about it, by hearing devotionals, by making wishes, even though these
things exercise the emotions.
However, spiritual
advancement is attained by work work that is defined by God for the spiritual
life.And that work is residence in
fellowship, daily bible study, listening to and learning doctrine, applying it
to your daily life, developing an understanding which God provides, replacing
your understanding which the world would want you to have, developing true
wisdom, inner happiness, spiritual productivity by the application of correct doctrine
to your daily life, obedience to Gods mandates, and not the least of which is
the persistence to stick with your studies, regardless of your situations in
life.
These things must be
followed with a rigid self discipline, and not occasionally or only as they may
be convenient to your life.
Then through this, you
will have the greatest access to God, to Christ, and to the ultimate goal of
the spiritual life peace.
And can you even
accomplish these things?Yes.
Phil. 4:13
13 I can do all things
through Him who strengthens me. NASB
Yes, you can accomplish
that which seems to be the impossible, because the world would have you believe
that it is impossible.But Christ is
greater than the world, so you only have to replace the worlds
views in your soul, with those of Christ.That takes commitment and a resolve to accomplish it.
And so, the world will attack
anything and everything that represents truth.
Women represent the
foundation and stability of the marriage and family unit, and therefore society.By attacking women restricting their access
to truth, by restricting their access to education, by restricting their
freedoms and liberties, then society is rendered dysfunctional and unstable.
Thus the real need for womens studies and as we have mentioned before, the women
of Islam, who are probably the largest and most repressed group on the planet.But where the women are, then the men have no
choice but to follow.Well, at least that
is a good plan.
The studies of Bible
doctrine are not directed at any one gender, because the whole Bible is for
everyone.But often times a whole family
is led to the Lord when just one member enters into the Christian faith, and
then hopefully others follow.
Your objective in life,
your very best objective in life, in order to gain for yourself and for others,
the very best life and most complete life possible, is through Bible doctrine.
Life is a very serious
matter.Everything is on the line and
determined by your thoughts and decisions.
You can pursue the
world, and gain those things from the world, which you see and sense everyday, but they are all temporary and an illusion, not
the real deal.
Or, you can pursue God,
Christ, doctrine, and your spiritual life and gain far more, than anything
anyone could ever gain from this world in a thousand lifetimes.And your complete life, your completed life
is readily available to you through your positive decision to pursue truth
through your daily studies.
Through consistency,
and perseverance, with no excuses, you can have the greatest life beyond imagination.