A familiar Bible saying, checked in context
I can do all things through Christ
Real verse, wider context
The words begin Philippians 4:13, where Paul explains how he has learned contentment in changing circumstances.
By @The..Mustard..Seed · Updated
Read the relevant KJV passage
Philippians 4:13I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Compare the evidence
Paul names both plenty and hunger, abundance and need. The examples explain the “all things” of the next verse.
Philippians 4:12I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
Paul says he has learned contentment in different circumstances, which is the immediate argument before the popular line.
Philippians 4:11Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
What the context adds
The words of Philippians 4:13 are real and beloved. The question is what “all things” refers to in this paragraph. Paul has thanked the Philippians for their concern and then describes learning to live with little or much. Verse 12 explicitly names hunger and need, as well as fullness and abundance. Verse 13 is a statement of strength amid those circumstances. It can encourage someone facing a difficult task, but the passage does not promise success at every chosen goal. Let Paul’s concrete examples guide the application before turning it into a broad motivational caption.
A question to carry forward
Which of Paul’s circumstances in verse 12 is easiest for you to overlook when you quote verse 13?
Keep reading
Read Philippians 4:10–13 and mark the circumstances Paul has learned to face.
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