by Context of scripture is key to receiving the blessings of God. Philippians 4:13 is a verse that is quoted often, and it should be meditated upon as an encouragement through hard times. In the previous verses, God defines the “all things” in this verse not as just any arbitrary thing but specific things needed to sustain us in this life.
God’s blessing is in Philippians 4:7 — “the peace of God that passeth all understanding.” To receive this blessing, God’s list of all things needs to be a part of our Christian walk. Reading 4:8 we find this list as a tall order of things that we are incapable of because of our sin nature. How do we reconcile this? Context connects all things in 4:13 to these things in 4:8. Only by Christ’s strength in 4:13 are we capable of being true, or honest, or just, or pure, or lovely, or of good report.
God’s provision is in Philippians 4:8 — “virtue.” By definition, virtue means strength in our moral goodness. Morally, this is a strength and goodness that we are not born with. The only reconciliation for this is “through Christ” in 4:13. The good news is this virtue is made instantly available to all men after salvation, a virtue obtained and sustained as we grow in Christ.
God’s directive is in Philippians 4:9 — “do.” By definition, “do” means to practice habitually. This is not a single act of labor. As we have “learned, and received, and heard, and seen” of Christ, His strength in 4:13 is made more and more available to us. We then apply His strength to all things by this word “do.” This is an act of continuous work on our part. Christ did His work for our salvation on Calvary, now we are to do our work for Him through a true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report Christian walk.
Our prayer is in Philippians 4:6 — “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” To receive God’s blessing of peace to sustain us in the midst of our difficulties, we need to simply and humbly ask Him (James 1:5).
As a born-again believer, do you need all these things through Christ’s strength to “keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus?”
