4:12
Paul had times when he had plenty and times when he had little. We know from Acts that there were times when he was shipwrecked, beaten, imprisoned, left for dead. Paul was not speaking from a position of ease and comfort, but from a lifetime of experience of all sorts of situations. In all of them he could find peace through Christ. Note that this verse is also yet another counter to some prosperity teaching. Paul, the greatest apostle there was, had times of plenty and had times of little. Some prosperity teaching is utterly superficial and wrong. At the same time, note that he also had times of plenty.
4:13
NIV says “I can do all this ...”, ESV has the more familiar version “I can do all things ...” Now we need to note the context of this, so that we understand this properly. Paul’s focus in life was to make known the gospel of Christ (Acts 20:24). This is not a verse saying Christ gives us the strength to do anything we want, it is a verse saying that He gives us the ability to do whatever He commands us to do. When we have a God given task or mission there will be times when we feel everything is against us and we cannot go on. In such circumstances we should take heart and learn to receive more of the power of God. The “all this” in the NIV is Paul’s ability to be content in all circumstances, and his ability and motivation to preach the gospel, even when in captivity with a possible death sentence hanging over him, and to be full of joy in the midst of it!
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