<p>4:9 <i>The things which you both learned and received and heard and saw in me, these things do</i>- Ours isn&rsquo;t just a religion like anyone else&rsquo;s; it is <i>real</i>, creative life. There is congruence between belief and action, an honest admission of our humanity, just as there was then, and this yet further compels a response in those who see it. Paul could tell the Philippians to think on whatever <i>things </i>were true, honest, just, pure etc.; and then boldly say that &ldquo;Those things which he has just listed which ye hath both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, these things do&rdquo; (Phil. 4:8,9 RV). What they had learnt and heard from Paul, they had seen in him. He was the word which he preached made flesh, after the pattern of his Lord. Paul could speak of &ldquo;my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church&rdquo; (1 Cor. 4:17). His ways, his life, his person, was what he taught- there was congruence between his teaching and himself. And this congruence was consistent- in every place and in every ecclesia, be it in Corinth, Jerusalem or Rome, Paul the person was reflected in the teaching of Paul. The lack of congruence between the message and the life is what is turning people away from the true church in these last days; and yet the opposite is true now as never before. Congruence between life and teaching, to the point that they are one and the same, is powerfully attractive, especially in these days of shallowness of personality, playing out of roles and&nbsp; other forms of hypocrisy. This was why people believed in Jesus.</p><p><i>And the God of peace shall be with you- </i>The God of peace can mean the God who gives peace. In response to their conscious effort to copy Paul in thinking about spiritual things, God would give peace in their hearts.</p>