Philippians 4:13 · Berean Standard Bible I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
What it claims: a source
Henry had already defined Christian firmness in exactly these terms earlier in the same
chapter: To stand fast in the Lord is to stand fast in his strength and by his grace; not
trusting in ourselves, and disclaiming any sufficiency of our own
. He also declines to treat
the clause as unique, setting it beside three other Pauline statements about supplied power —
Ephesians 6:10, 2 Timothy 2:1 and Ephesians 3:16 — so the verse reads as one member of a family
rather than a singular promise.
What it does not claim: scope over ambition
Nowhere in his exposition of this chapter does Henry turn the clause toward achievement. The
strength he attaches to it is strength for contentment, for ordinary duty, and for conditions Paul
did not choose. Its direction is Godward: through him we have grace to do that which is good,
and through him we must expect the reward of it
.
Nor is it a last resort reserved for disaster. Henry's chapter holds that There is enough in
God to furnish us with matter of joy in the worst circumstance on earth
— and the claim came
with evidence attached: Paul's doctrine and life were of a piece
.
A note on method: the claim that Henry never applies this clause to achievement is an argument from absence across the chapter, not a sentence he wrote. It is stated that way deliberately.