Category: What do you think?

What Philippians 4:13 actually means when it says you can do all things through Christ

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JEFF TURNER

Philippians 4:13, says “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” It is one of the most widely quoted verses in the Bible, and also one of the most misunderstood. It shows up on clothing, jewellery, and motivational content, often used to suggest that a Christian can achieve anything they set their mind to with Jesus on their side. But the context of the verse tells a very different story.

Paul wrote this from a place of hardship, not ambition. He had just been describing his experience of going through seasons of abundance and seasons of having almost nothing, and saying that he had found contentment in both. The “all things” he was referring to were all kinds of circumstances, not all kinds of achievements. His point was that Christ gave him the inner strength to endure anything life brought his way, whether that meant suffering with dignity or enjoying blessing without becoming proud. That is a deeper and more honest kind of strength than the motivational version, and it is available to every believer in the hardest moments of life.

Not that I speak from need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with little, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.

Philippians 4:11-12

Redemption came at the highest price and was given with great generosity

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TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

The word redemption comes from the world of slavery, where a price was paid to set a person free, and the price paid to free us from our slavery to sin was the life of the Son of God himself. Ephesians 1:7-8 tells us that in Jesus we have redemption through his blood and the forgiveness of our wrongdoings, and this was given to us according to the richness of God’s grace, which he poured out on us generously.

What is worth sitting with here is that this price was not paid with reluctance or resentment. God did not free us because he had to, or with any sense of holding back. He lavished this grace upon us, which is a word that speaks of abundance and generosity. If you ever wonder how much your Saviour cares for you, the cross is your answer. The cost was everything, and it was given freely and fully because of how much you are loved.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.

2 Corinthians 8:9

Justification means God has declared you not guilty and made you whole in his sight

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TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

Before coming to faith in Christ, every person stands before God as someone who has sinned, but the good news is that God reaches down and changes that standing completely through justification. The moment a person accepts Jesus as Saviour and trusts in what he accomplished on the cross, they are redeemed, forgiven, and reconciled to God.

Justification is a spiritual position, meaning it is not based on feelings or behaviour but on what Christ did roughly 2,000 years ago and how that work is applied to a believer’s life by faith. Your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and you are on your way to heaven. On top of that, the Holy Spirit living within you is constantly at work, shaping the character of Christ in your daily life. You are everything you need to be, positionally, in the eyes of God.

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Romans 5:1

Your physical heart matters, but your spiritual heart matters even more

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TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

Most of us know that eating well and staying active are important for keeping our hearts healthy, and those are worthwhile things to think about. But there is a question that does not come up as often and is even more important: is your heart right with God? Taking care of your spiritual heart has consequences that go far beyond this life.

The encouraging thing is that God does not ask us to fix our own hearts. When we come to Christ and surrender our lives to him, he promises to take out the old heart and give us a new one. He changes us from the inside out.

Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Ezekiel 36:26

God’s purpose for your life is that his glory would be seen through how you live

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TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

From the very beginning, God’s aim has been that people would bring glory to him, and that purpose has not changed regardless of when Christ may return. Whether Jesus comes tonight or many years from now, the question that matters most is whether the life of Christ is being lived out through us in a way that others can actually see.

If someone can look at your life and notice something of Jesus in it, then God is being glorified through you. That is the goal. If that is not happening, then something important is being missed, no matter how much a person knows about scripture or how long they have been a believer. The call is not just to know about Christ but to reflect him so clearly that the people around us catch a glimpse of who he is.

Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 5:16