Philippians 4:13 // Context Study

[Chad]

I CAN DO ALL THINGS: panta ischuo (1SPAI): (Jn 15:4,5, 6,7; 2Co 3:4,5, 6) (Macarthur on Php 4:13)

Context - Remembering that context(the text before and after a passage) is critical for the most accurate, robust interpretation, keep in mind that this famous verse is closely "hinged" with the preceding two verses (Php 4:11, 12-note) in which Paul explains how he is able to come to the point that he can make the glorious, profound declaration in this passage. Paul knew that God was able to change his circumstances, but that He was much more interested in changing Paul and this is still His desire for His children. In short, he had learned the "secret", he had counted the cost and paid the "cost", and in the crucible of testing wrought by both good times and bad times, he had come to the point of realization that his sufficiency was solely in his Savior. This principle is echoed in his second letter to the church at Corinth, where Paul writes...

Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider (logizomai - word study) anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy (Greek = hikanotes = sufficiency, competency, ability, capacity, fitness = state of being qualified for something) is from God, 6 who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Literally this verse reads...

“I have strength for all things in Him Who strengthens me.”
I can do all things in Him strengthening me. (Eadie)
The idea is...
In all things I continue to be strong by the One Who infuses the power into me.
The Living Bible expands the text this way
I can do everything God asks me to with the help of Christ who gives me strength and power.
The Twentieth Century New Testament
Nothing is beyond my power in the strength of him who makes me strong!

Phillips has a nice paraphrase
I am ready for anything through the strength of the one who lives within me. (Phillips)

Jesus taught the same principle when He instructed His disciples to...
Abide (aorist imperative = a command calling for urgent, effective action!) in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides (present tense) in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide (present tense = as a lifestyle) in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides (present tense = as a lifestyle) in Me, and I in him, he bears (present tense) much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing (oudeis = denying absolutely and objectively, not one thing!... of eternal value). (John 15:4, 5)

Spurgeon writes...

What a gracious attainment! There is no boasting in this declaration; Paul only spoke what was literally the truth.

J Vernon McGee recommends some caution when interpreting and applying this verse writing

When Paul says all things, does he literally mean all things? Does it mean you can go outside and jump over your house? Of course not. Paul says, “I can do all things in Christ”—that is, in the context of the will of Christ for your life. Whatever Christ has for you to do, He will supply the power. Whatever gift He gives you, He will give the power to exercise that gift. A gift is a manifestation of the Spirit of God in the life of the believer. As long as you function in Christ, you will have power...Now Paul is not saying that we can do all things. I can’t jump like a grasshopper can jump. When I was in school I was the high jumper, but I can’t jump anymore. You see, I can’t do all things, but I can do all things which God has for me to do from the time He saved me to the time He will take me out of this world." (McGee, J V: Thru the Bible Commentary: Nashville: Thomas Nelson)

Dwight Pentecost sums up this verse writing that...

We are commanded to live victoriously over sin. We have no ability of ourselves to fulfill this command. But we can live victoriously, because we can do all things through Christ. We are enjoined to defeat Satan in our warfare with the evil one. We can do all things through Christ, for He is the victor. We are commanded to be lights to the world, to be witnesses for Jesus Christ. We can do all things through Christ, because He is the light. We are commanded to love the brethren. We can do all things through Christ, because He is love. All that Jesus Christ is today in glory can be manifested through us, because it is God who works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. There was no limit as to what Jesus Christ could do when He was here on this earth. On the authority of the Word of God, we say there is nothing that Jesus Christ cannot do from glory through us.

All things - Is this to be taken literally? Is Paul advocating a veritable "holy omnipotence?" The qualifying phrase is all things that are in God's will. The point is that Paul had come to learn the secret that God would never require him to accomplish or carry out some task without also supplying the grace needed to bring the task to completion and/or fruition.

Ray Pritchard adds that...

This is the principle of Divine Direction. It's crucial for you to understand this second answer because it is clearly stated in the text. "I can do all things through Christ." This verse is not a blank check. It's not as if Paul is saying, "I can do anything I can dream up." No. If you read the context, he is speaking about the varying and sometimes difficult circumstances of life. Verse 11—"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." Php 4:12—"Sometimes I find myself with plenty of food and sometimes I have nothing to eat. Sometimes I have a roof over my head and sometimes I don't." "I know what it is to have money in the bank and I know what it is to be flat broke. And I've learned to be content no matter what my situation might be." (That's the Pritchard Loose Paraphrase.) Then Php 4:13—"I have learned through the power of Jesus Christ that I can face whatever comes my way." If it's good, I can enjoy it. If it's not so good, I can deal with it. Why? Because I have access to the everlasting strength of Jesus Christ.

Let me put this teaching in one sentence: Through Jesus Christ you can do everything God wants you to do this year. You can face everything he wants you to face, you can fight every battle he wants you to fight, you can obey every command, you can endure every trial, and you can overcome every temptation through Jesus Christ. (Philippians 4:13: One Word You Shouldn't Say In 1993)

Jamieson writes that...

After special instances he declares his universal power—how triumphantly, yet how humbly! [Meyer].

Spurgeon wrote...

We know not how much capacity for usefulness there may be in us. That donkey’s jawbone lying on the earth, what can it do? Nobody knows. It gets into Samson’s hands. No one knows what it cannot do now that a Samson wields it. And you have often thought yourself to be as contemptible as that bone. You have said, “What can I do?” But when Christ by his Spirit grips you, what can you not do? Truly you may adopt Paul’s language and say, “I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.”

Can do - I have strength (for), where Paul passes from the physical meaning ischuo to the metaphorical, spiritual meaning.

ESV Study Bible adds the caveat...

This does not mean God will bless whatever a person does; it must be read within the context of the letter, with its emphasis on obedience to God and service to God and others.

Can do (2480) (ischuo from ischus= might) means to be strong in body or in resources. Ischuo can speak of physical power (Mk 2:17, 5:4, 9:12). It can speak of having the required personal resources to accomplish some objective as here in Php 4:13 or conversely with the negative speaks of that which is good for nothing (Mt 5:13-note). Ischuo is the equivalent of to have efficacy, to avail or to have force.
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 always the Lord’s enablements. Where the finger of God points, the hand of God provides the way.

Ischuo can mean to be valid or be in force as a covenant (He 9:17-note).

Ischuo - 28x in the NT - Mt 5:13; Mt 8:28; 9:12; 26:40; Mk 2:17; 5:4; 9:18 = (here ischuo refers to power as evidenced by extraordinary deeds); Mk 14:37; Lk 6:48; 8:43; 13:24; 14:6, 29, 30; 16:3;20:26; Jn. 21:6; Acts 6:10; 15:10; 19:16, 20; 25:7; 27:16; Gal. 5:6; Php 4:13; Heb 9:17; Jas 5:16; Rev 12:8.

“I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).

It is very likely that God, in His sovereign calling and preparation of Paul for his tremendous task, had endowed him with more noble qualities and strength of character than any person since; yet Paul consistently attributes his spiritual strength and accomplishments to the Lord’s power. I once heard someone say, “When I do something wrong, I have to take the blame, but when I do something right, God gets the credit.” This person was complaining, but he was exactly correct. Certainly God cannot be blamed for our sins, but only He can provide the spiritual power to enable us to live godly lives.

As the source of power for godliness is Christ, so the means of experiencing that power is through our relationship with Him. This truth is Jesus’ essential teaching in His illustration in John 15 of the vine and the branches. It is only by abiding in Him that we can bring forth the fruit of godly character. The most helpful explanation I have found of what it means to abide in Christ comes from the nineteenth century Swiss theologian Frederic Louis Godet:

To abide in me’ expresses the continual act by which the Christian sets aside everything which he might derive from his own wisdom, strength, merit, to draw all from Christ.

Paul expresses this relationship as “living in Christ.” He says in Colossians 2:6–7, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith.” The context of this statement is that all the wisdom and power for living the Christian life are to be found in Christ rather than in manmade philosophies and moralisms (Col 2:2, 3, 4 and Col 2:8, 9, 10). This is what Godet is saying. We have to set aside any dependence upon our own wisdom and strength of character and draw all that we need from Christ through faith in Him. This faith, of course, is expressed concretely by prayer to Him. Psalm 119:33, 34, 35, 36, 37 is a good example of such a prayer of dependence.

This relationship is also maintained by beholding the glory of Christ in His word. In 2Corinthians 3:18 Paul tells us that as we behold the Lord’s glory, we are transformed more and more into His image. Beholding the Lord’s glory in His word is more than observing His humanity in the gospels. It is observing His character, His attributes, and His will in every page of Scripture. And as we observe Him, as we maintain this relationship with Him through His word, we are transformed more and more into His likeness; we are enabled by the Holy Spirit to progressively manifest the graces of godly character.

So it is this relationship with Christ, expressed by beholding Him in His word and depending upon Him in prayer, that enables us to draw from Him the power essential for a godly life. The Christian is not like an automobile with a self-contained power source; rather, he is like an electric motor that must be constantly connected to an outside current for its power. Our source of power is in the risen Christ, and we stay connected to Him by beholding Him in His word and depending on Him in prayer. (Bridges, J.. The Practice of Godliness)

entire study article can be found at: Philippians 4:13 Commentary