How We Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Us
Rejoicing in All Circumstances
Perhaps the best-known example of Paul’s admonition to rejoice in all circumstances is found in Philippians 4:10–13. Paul expresses his joy that the Philippians have renewed their concern for him by sending Epaphroditus to him. Though their love for him had not changed, they did not have an opportunity to express that concern in a tangible way (Phil. 4:10). Although this had brought him joy, Paul is also quick to point out that his joy did not depend on the Philippians’ aid (Phil. 4:11). As Hansen points out, “His great joy had nothing to do with the fact that the receipt of gifts met his dire needs.”1 Rather, his joy was in the Philippians’ ongoing concern for him, and this joy flows from the deeper reality of their shared union with Christ.
He had learned in every circumstance to be “content” (autarkēs). This noun in Philippians 4:11 is unique in the New Testament, and a cognate noun only appears twice.2 The word also appears in the Psalms of Solomon, an early Jewish document written sometime in the first or second century BC, where it refers to a “sufficient supply” of God’s provision (Pss. Sol. 5:16).3 All of these texts reflect an attitude of contentment and faith in the Lord’s provision of what is necessary.
Paul prefaces this expression of contentment by insisting that he is not speaking of being in need (Phil. 4:11). For a prisoner in an imperial jail in Rome, this is a curious statement to make. We might assume that since Paul’s basic needs were met, he would be content; however, this fails to recognize the often destitute condition of a prisoner in first-century Rome. Paul would have been completely dependent on others to provide most of his basic necessities.4 Nevertheless, he did not look to the Philippians to provide his most fundamental needs.5
Sharing Christ in Joy and Sorrow
Chris Bruno
Exploring the theology and themes of Philippians, Sharing Christ in Joy and Sorrow illustrates how believers have unity with the suffering and exalted Christ, encouraging them to live joyfully amid all life circumstances.
On the contrary, his most important need was met “through him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). As a result of this, he could be content in low or high circumstances, in plenty and in hunger, in abundance or in need. In all these things, he learned to be content (Phil. 4:11–12). Though the language Paul uses throughout this section echoes the language and ideas of some Stoic philosophers, his rationale is quite different than that of the Stoics. Note that Paul found contentment in both times of need and in times of plenty. In contrast to the Stoic ideal of eliminating all extraneous passions or possessions, Paul was still a man who knew how to feast! In contrast to the Epicurean ideal of “eat, drink, and be merry,” Paul was also a man who knew how to fast. In either case, he did not rejoice because of his lack or his plenty but because Christ had given him strength to endure. Fee rightly notes, “With that he transforms his very Stoic-sounding sentences into a sufficiency quite beyond himself, in Christ, the basis and source of everything for Paul. Thus ‘self-sufficiency’ becomes contentment because of his ‘Christ-sufficiency.’”6 The theology of union with Christ in his suffering and exaltation surely lies under the surface of this strength. Just as Christ endured death, even death on a cross, knowing that God would exalt him on the other side of the cross, so also Paul could endure any physical suffering or lack, even to the point of death, knowing that his union with the exalted Christ ensured his own eventual exaltation as well.
Of course, Philippians 4:13 is well known as a verse used to support everything from winning football games to pursuing wealth and prosperity, but those applications miss the point. Christ gives his people strength not to win football games but instead to be content whether they win or lose. Or to put it in terms closer to Paul’s experience, to be content whether they win a football game or don’t have the time or money to play a sport because they’re too focused on having food for each day. Christ strengthens his people to be content because he provides what we need, and the joyful reality at the root of this is that all we really need is Christ. Those who are united to Christ have all they need in him; therefore, they can rejoice in whatever circumstances they may face with confidence that, to use the words of the psalmist, “those who seek the Lord lack no good thing” (Ps. 34:10).
Christ strengthens his people to be content because he provides what we need, and the joyful reality at the root of this is that all we really need is Christ.
To speak of joy through sorrow is one thing; to live it is another. Nonetheless, even as I write this conclusion, my family and I have encountered the joy in sorrow that is only possible in Christ. We are walking with our own family and church through several challenges: the loss of my father, illness of other family members, relational problems, pastoral issues, and all the “normal” problems of life like flat tires and nagging colds. Yet in all these things, we can say, with Paul and many others who have gone before us, that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. I do not doubt that many who are reading this are walking through challenges of their own that come with profound sorrow and suffering.
Yet we are not alone in our suffering, for we are truly united to the sufferings of Jesus and so also united to one another. Moreover, we are united to Christ in his exaltation, so we can walk through our sorrow with the confidence that it will not always be so. Just as we walk through suffering together, we can also have deep joy in Christ together, both now and in the age to come. May the Lord give us grace to see both joy and sorrow in our union with Christ, and let this grace increasingly shape us into the image of Christ as we anticipate life with him forever.
Notes:
- G. Walter Hansen, The Letter to the Philippians, PNTC (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2009), 309.
- The cognate autarkeia appears in 2 Cor. 9:8 and 1 Tim. 6:6; autarkēs appears only in Phil. 4:11. 9 See “αὐτάρκης,” in BDAG 152.
- Acts 28:30 indicates that Paul had to provide for his own needs. Even if he were renting his lodging and under “house arrest,” he was totally dependent on others to help provide those needs.
- There may also be some dynamics of gift giving in play here. Cf. the conclusions in John M. G. Barclay, Paul and the Gift (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2017), 562–73. Also, Hansen, Philippians, 309–10.
- Fee, Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, 186.
This article is adapted from Sharing Christ in Joy and Sorrow: A Theology of Philippians by Chris Bruno.
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