

He’d been tortured, imprisoned, and probably wrote this letter in the latter half of his prison years in Rome. Paul clearly doesn’t write this passage while hoping his favorite sports team makes it into the NFL playoffs. What Is the Context of Philippians 4:13 and 'I Can Do All Things through Christ Who Strengthens Me'
#All things done through christ how to
“Which must not be understood in the greatest latitude, and without any limitation for the apostle was not omnipotent, either in himself, or by the power of Christ nor could he do all things that Christ could do but it must be restrained to the subject matter treated of: the sense is, that he could be content in every state, and could know how to behave himself in adversity and prosperity, amidst both poverty and plenty yea, it may be extended to all the duties incumbent on him both as a Christian and as an apostle, as to exercise a conscience void of offence towards God and men to take the care of all the churches to labour more abundantly than others in preaching the Gospel and to bear all afflictions, reproaches, and persecutions for the sake of it yea, he could willingly and cheerfully endure the most cruel and torturing death for the sake of Christ: all these things he could do, not in his own strength, for no man was more conscious of his own weakness than he was, or knew more of the impotency of human nature and therefore always directed others to be strong in the Lord, and in, the power of his might, and in the grace that is in Christ, on which he himself always depended, and by which he did what he did as he adds here, through Christ which strengtheneth me.” ‘I Can Do All Things through Christ Who Strengthens Me’ MeaningĪccording to John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible, about this verse: But how can we know if we’ve used this verse correctly or if we’ve simply used the words of Paul to cheer on our favorite sports team or to help us open a pickle jar, as humorously shown in this comic?Ĭan we really do all things through Christ who strengthens us? If not, what can’t we do? And in what context did Paul write this verse? Let’s explore these questions and more as we dissect one of the most famous verses in the Bible. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” encourages us, spurs us to trust God more. We see the reference to Philippians 4:13 on Instagram bios, on the t-shirts of Christian school sports teams, and we’ve probably heard the words in a worship song or from the pulpit. I can do all things that God has asked me to.Christians absolutely love to use this verse, and I can, in no way, exclude myself from that.

That His will for my every day life will become clear. I believe that when I start believing that truth, when I start living in the calling God has for me, that He will show me exactly what I have to do each day. Now finding that balance, that’s pretty hard for this doing-girl. That no matter what happens, I can do it all in His strength.īut only those things that He’s actually given me the strength to do. That I can do everything God has called me to. So this is the truth that I’m preaching to myself this week.


I find myself without the strength to do the things that He has just for me. So much so that I end up exhausting myself and I can’t do what God has actually asked me to do. If I could work 25 hours a day, I would actually love it. I believe that I can do all things through Christ, but the problem is, I believe I can do ALL things through Christ.īeing a fixer, a doer, I want to do all the things. That was the important truth that I needed to remember. It says, I can do all things that God has asked me to. It doesn’t just say, I can do all things through Christ. I forgot to do it only in His strength.īut if you downloaded my list of five truths, you’ll notice a little caveat at the end of my truth. I try and try and then finally realize why I’m failing. So if I believe it, why did I put it on my list of five truths that I need to remember?īecause I forget so easily. I can’t imagine how I would have made it through. The last two years, I would have collapsed. I’m not quite sure how people make it through life without Christ’s strength. I certainly know that I can’t do them all on my own. So when I was making this list of truths I needed to remind myself of, I put down, I can do all things through Christ. I always feel like I need to do all the things. And sometimes I feel like I need to do all the things.
