2 Corinthians 13:14 … To Live in Peace (05/01/17)
“Live in peace, and the God of Love & Peace
will be with you.” ~ Paul (2 Corinthians 13:14)
First of all, it is helpful to remember that for Paul, to “live in peace” meant to live in placidity and comfort and passive meekness (see his cowardly caving to the Romans when confronted by them – Acts 16:37-38 & Acts 22:22-29; unlike Jesus, who boldly stood before both the Sanhedrin, Pontius Pilate & Herod without backing down one bit – Matthew 26:59-68, Matthew 27:11-14, Luke 23:6-9, John 18:19-23, John 19:8-11 et al) … Indeed, such fear-based living is not really Living at all. No, we are actually all called to radically Live in Peace instead (see Matthew 5:9, John 13:15-17, Matthew 7:21-24 et al) – to Live in Peace by being an active, courageous, selfless source of Peace for others – to stand between perpetrators and their victims, to place ourselves between authoritarians and the oppressed, to liberate the imprisoned and the enslaved, to inspire the downtrodden to lives of fulfillment, to embrace the wicked and remind them of their True Selves (see Matthew 5:43-48, Matthew 25:35-40, John 8:1-12 et al).
Secondly, it must be clear to most that a God of perfect Love (a la Matthew 5:48; containing the Greek “agape,” meaning a Love centered on selfless Caring – see Strong’s #26) cannot be with those who are not living a similar Love (see Matthew 5:48 in conjunction with 1 John 4:18 & John 13:15-17). As such, clearly the God of Peace (here the Greek “eirene,” meaning inner calm – see Strong’s #1515) cannot be with those who are inspiring division with words of criticism or condemnation &/or acts of persecution or punishment.
Finally, note that 2 Corinthians is actually a compilation of at least four letters from Paul (see 1 Corinthians 5:9, 2 Corinthians 2:3-4, 2 Corinthians 7:5-16, 2 Corinthians 10-13, 2 Corinthians 12:8) – the originals of which (or even copies of those originals) have either not yet been found or no longer exist … In addition, most scholars agree that several verses from 2 Corinthians were added by scribes long after Paul’s death (e.g. 1 Corinthians 14:34-35) – something worth keeping in mind when reading any verses from this particular tome.
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