What does Phil. 4:13 mean?

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dolljamie

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What does “I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me” really mean. Some things I will never be able to do - like saving souls, forgiving sins, being an artist (no natural ability), and many more. How do I reconciliate that with this verse?
 
Hi, and welcome !

When there is a verse I do not understand, the first thing I usually do is replacing it in its context.

Paul is imprisoned, he knows martyrdom is a probability, and yet he tells the Philippians to rejoice – because he, who had everything, threw it all away for Christ, and he is running the race for the prize prepared by God. Material circumstances do not matter any longer, living in abundance or poverty does not make a difference, only that prize does. This is why he can do all things (that is bear all things, like, in 3:10, knowing Christ, experience the power of his resurrection, and share in the sufferings of his passion by becoming similar to him in death).
 
As OddBird says, context is important. This cartoon is illustrative … (Credit to Adam Ford, whom you can find on Facebook)

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
 
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Thank you so much! This makes perfect sense to me. Finally, an explanation I can understand.
 
dolljamie said:
What does “I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me” really mean. Some things I will never be able to do - like saving souls, forgiving sins, being an artist (no natural ability), and many more. How do I reconciliate that with this verse?
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We can be connected with Saving Souls in Sin… including our own
 
dolljamie said:
What does “I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me” really mean. Some things I will never be able to do - like saving souls, forgiving sins, being an artist (no natural ability), and many more. How do I reconciliate that with this verse?
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Here’s a quote I came across that helps me understand that in the New Testament “all things” can really mean “lots and lots of things”, but may not be totally inclusive. (Note the reference to 1 Corinthians 15:27.)

Jason David BeDuhn states:

All is commonly used in Greek as a hyperbole, that is, an exaggeration. The other is assumed. In one case, Paul takes the trouble to make this perfectly clear. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul catches himself saying that God will make all things subject to Christ. He stops and clarifies that of course when he says all things he doesn’t mean that God himself will be subject to Christ, but all other things will be, with Christ himself subject to God. There can be no legitimate objection to other in Colossians 1 because here, too, Paul clearly does not mean to include God or Christ in his phrase all things, when God is implied in the subject, and Christ the explicit agent, of the act of creation of these all things. But since Paul uses all things appositively (that is, interchangeably) with creation, we must still reckon with Christs place as the first-born of creation, and so the first-born of all things.
Similar uses of all in expressions of hyperbole are not hard to find. In Luke 21:29, Jesus speaks of the fig-tree and all the trees. The fig-tree is obviously a tree, and the ancients knew it has a tree. The phrase actually means the fig-tree and all other trees, just as the NW, NAB, and TEV have it (the LB similarly: the fig-tree, or any other tree)…
Another example cant be seen in Luke 11:42 where Jesus speaks of Pharisees tithing mint and rue and every herb. Since mint and rue are both herbs, and were thought to be so by the cultures from which the Bible comes, the phrase every herb must mean every other herb (NW) or all the other herbs (TEV) or all other kinds of …herb (NIV)

Jason David DeBuhn, Truth in Translation: Accuracy and Bias in English Translations of the New Testament (Latham: University Press of America, 2003), 84-85

Note Colossians 1:20 and through him to reconcile all things for him, making peace by the blood of his cross…

Obviously, Colossians 1:20 doesn’t mean that Satan and wicked men will be reconciled to Christ.

I hope this helps…
 
gazelam said:
Obviously, Colossians 1:20 doesn’t mean that Satan and wicked men will be reconciled to Christ.
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Exactly - It’s so False to somehow argue (as some do for a purpose) that there is no Hell.
 
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