Philippians 4:13 I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me.
Paul was a person in Christ (2 Cor. 12:2), and he desired to be found in Christ by others. Now he declared that he was able to do all things in Him, the very Christ who empowered him. This is an all-inclusive and concluding word on his experience of Christ. It is the converse of the Lord’s word in John 15:5 concerning our organic relationship with Him, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.” (Phil. 4:13 Footnote 1, Recovery Version)
The phrases in Christ and in the Lord are used repeatedly in the New Testament. Paul told us to rejoice always in the Lord (Philippians 4:4). In ourselves we cannot rejoice. We can only sigh all the time. But in the Lord we are able to do all things (Philippians 4:13). Surely our God is more qualified than Solomon. He is able to make us the same as He is in His life, in His nature, in His expression, and in His function to carry out His economy. This signifies that the overcomers were sinners. Now, in the maturity of Christ’s life, they have become the same as Christ in life, in nature, in expression, and in function for the accomplishment of God’s eternal economy. (Crystallization-study of Song of Songs, ch. 12)
