The ‘peace of God' is not merely a psychological state of mind, but an inner tranquility based on peace WITH God--the peaceful state of those whose sins are forgiven.
Jesus said, ‘Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid,' John 14:27.
And Romans 5:1-2 says, ‘Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.'
This is the opposite of anxiety. It is the tranquility that comes when the believer commits all his cares to God in prayer and worries about them no more.
This peace ‘which transcends all understanding' means that the full dimensions of God's love and care are beyond human comprehension. But it is something to strive for--to grasp on to with all of the power that His Spirit gives to the inner being of those He calls His children--those reconciled to Him through the blood of His Son:
Ephesians 3:16-21: ‘I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to Him Who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.'
This peace of God, which transcends all understanding, ‘WILL GUARD your hearts and your minds IN Christ Jesus.' This is a military concept depicting a sentry standing guard. God's ‘protective custody' of those who are IN CHRIST JESUS extends to the core of their beings and to their deepest intentions.
‘Guard' comes from the Greek word phroureo. It is a military term which means ‘to keep by guarding, to keep under guard, as with a garrison.' ‘Garrison' is to station troops in a fortified place for its defense.
‘Guard' is used here of the security of the Christian until the end, and of the sense of that security that is his/hers when he/she puts all of his/her matters into the hand of God. The idea is not merely that of protection, but of inward garrisoning as by the Holy Spirit. There is no guardian, no inward garrison, no protection outside of Christ:
1 Peter 1:3-9: ‘Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you ARE receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.'
