Paul's Thank You Letter Series

This is at the heart of Paul’s thinking here. It relates, as we’ve noted, to his previous remarks about having peace. It’s clearly meant as a guide for our lives, not just a statement by Paul about himself.

We know well verse 13 – I can do everything, or all things, through Him. But unfortunately, we’ve seen the verse terribly abused. There’s a local businessman who uses this verse as his business slogan. I’ve heard it on his radio ads, I’ve seen it on his sign. But he only quotes part of it, which ends up sounding arrogant to me. The motto is “where we can do all things.”

But in paraphrasing that part of the verse only, this businessman is missing the most important part, and lifting this verse completely out of context. I hate to be so literal, and you might think this picky, especially related to a marketing theme, but the critical part of this verse, as well as the most important thought in the idea of contentment, presented in these three verses, is the last six words:

“through Him who gives me strength.”

Is it true we can do all things? Is that what Paul means here – we can do anything we want? The verse literally says, “I have strength for all things.” This was not an expression of pride. It was a declaration of the strength provided for Paul in everything he faced. And he makes it absolutely clear that it’s a strength that was available only through Jesus.

The King James Version of this verse says:

Philippians 4:13 (KJV) 13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Scholars agree that the phrase “through Christ” was added by transcribers. So, while it’s absolutely clear that Paul’s referring to Jesus:

The oldest manuscripts omit "Christ"; then translate, "In Him who giveth me power," that is, by virtue of my living union and identification with Him, who is my strength (Ga 2:20). —Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Once again, we see that the “in Him” is absolutely essential to our proper understanding of this verse. So, can we really do everything or anything? Could Paul mean this phrase literally and did he really believe, did he really mean to teach us, that there was nothing he couldn’t do? Or nothing we can’t do? I don’t believe that’s at all what Paul was teaching us. The power we receive in Christ, in our union with Him, is enough to do His will. It’s enough to face the challenges that arise from our commitment to doing His will.

It’s enough to help us through the daily challenges of life, both little and big. He does not give us superhuman ability to accomplish anything we can imagine, without regards to God’s plans and purposes for us. When Paul said that he could do all things, he meant all things which were God’s will for him to do.

He had learned that the Lord’s commands are the Lord’s enablements. He knew that God would never call on him to accomplish some task without giving the necessary grace. All things probably applies not so much to great feats of daring as to great privations and hungerings. William McDonald

That’s the part that’s always left out of much popular preaching about this verse, but it’s the clear context. In addition, we have to remember the words of Jesus