Christian Errors

May the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you this day.

Philippians 4:13 is Not About Your Life Goals

Philippians 4:13 is likely one of the most misquoted, misapplied, and misunderstood passages within the New Testament. Suffice it to say, it is not about how one can literally do anything they put their minds to simply because they are in Christ.

Over at Patheos Grayson Gilbert addresses one of my pet peeves, taking a verse or two from the Bible out of context and applying them to our lives as though they are something God owes to us.

As apologist Greg Koukl, at Stand to Reason, rightly says, “Never read a Bible verse.” You can get Greg’s take on Philippians 4:13 here.

By taking a verse out of context and applying it in this way, we are misinterpreting and misusing Scripture.

When we favor an interpretation of this passage that highlights our particular career, fitness, or social and emotional goals, we develop an incredibly diminished view of what this passage teaches. If you would let the context speak for itself, both in its immediate and broader context, you might find an incredibly uplifting and intrinsically pastoral encouragement from the hand of the apostle Paul that directs you to treasuring Christ for His death, burial, and resurrection—and all of the implications of that glorious work for us. Yet the truncated view of this passage will likely continue to stand, unfortunately, to the detriment of people who place their hope once more in something other than Christ, which is the precise opposite of what the passage does.