Discover Ability Biblical Meaning. Ability means the various uses of resources, material, mental, and spiritual. Looking at ability from the angle of wealth, we can support with “gave after their ability” (Ezra 2:69). Looking at ability from the angle of mental endowment, we can support with “ability to stand in the king’s palace” (Daniel 1:4). If we are looking at ability from the angle of talents and character, we can back up with “several abilities” (Matthew 25:15). Also, if we decide to look at ability from an angle of spiritual strength, we can point to “minister, as of the ability which God giveth” (1 Peter 4:11). Therefore, we can look at ability as either possession, native capacities, talents, or gifts of the Holy Spirit.
God is omnipotent, meaning that He possesses infinite, complete, and perfect power. That is why we can say without a doubt that unlike humans, God’s abilities are limitless. God can do anything that He wants to do, absolutely anything. This is a claim that none of us can make. Human capabilities are limited but God is able to do everything that He wills. We often make use of the term power to refer to God’s authority or His prerogative to do anything that He wants. In more accurate terms, we’ll talk of His sovereignty. Power refers to His ability to perform, His strength to act, and that’s the kind of power in God’s Omnipotence. In fact, God Almighty is able to do anything that He wants to do.
Ability Biblical Meaning
One of God’s names clearly tells us that He is able to do whatever He pleases, a name He first revealed to Abraham, the father of faith. God had promised to make Abraham the father of a great nation, and naturally, Abraham needed a son for that promise to come true, Abraham, in his human mind, thought that Hagar’s child, Ishmael, was to be that son, but God told him that Sarah, his wife, would bear a son named Isaac through whom the promise would be fulfilled. Upon hearing this, everything seemed preposterous before Abraham. Behold, he was ninety-nine years old and Sarah was ninety, and humanly speaking it was not possible for them to have a child at that age.
The Bible makes us understand that God helped Abraham and Sarah to believe that He could give them a son despite their advanced ages by the way He introduced Himself that day: “Now when Abram was ninety nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless’” (Genesis 17:1). El Shaddai is God Almighty, the God who can do anything that He wants to do, even rejuvenate dead wombs and give babies to couples in their nineties! Behold, He is all-powerful, almighty, and sovereign over the Earth and the Heavens. This name is used forty-seven more times in the Old Testament of the Bible and never of anyone but God. However, it has a New Testament equivalent, used ten times, which literally means “to hold all things in one’s power.”
What The Scriptures Say About Ability
The Scriptures are punctuated with references to God’s Omnipotence from the beginning to the end. Behold, He is the Lord strong and almighty (Psalm 24:8). All power in Heaven and on Earth belongs to Him (Psalm 62:11). Let’s further support this point by reading from Psalm 147:5 – “Great is our Lord, and abundant in strength.” He wants us to know Him as the God who is able to do anything. It is really amazing to watch Biblical characters discover Him in that light. Abraham was one of the first persons to discover God’s ability to do all things. Sometime after that initial revelation of Himself as the Almighty, God again promised Abraham a son, this time in Sarah’s hearing, and she laughed to herself (Genesis 18:12).
“Why did Sarah laugh?” The Lord God asked. Then He added, “Is anything too difficult for the LORD?” (Genesis 18:14). Upon learning the answer to this question, Abraham and Sarah believed that God would keep His Word. And they finally did, “being fully assured that what He had promised, He was able also to perform” (Romans 4:21). That is, both Abraham and Sarah grasped the truth of God’s Omnipotence. Most of us have had disillusioning experiences with people who have promised more than they have been able to deliver, and we have the tendency to transfer our skepticism to God Almighty. At times, we fill our minds with unnecessary and misleading questions like does He really care? Does He really have the power to bring good out of adversity? Is He really in control? As Christians, we should just believe as Abraham and Sarah did and later thanked God.
Great Things That God Can Do For Us If We Believe
As Christians through Christ our Lord and Savior, we can know the Omnipotent God intimately and experientially by thinking and believing what He said He will do. Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Likewise, God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He did it in the past, He is still doing it these days, and He will certainly do it in times to come. All we need to do is to put our trust in Him. The New Testament word “to be able” means essentially “to have power” (dunamai the verb form of that familiar Greek noun, dunamis). Each time that we read in the Bible that God is able to do something, it means that He has the power to do it. It is that simple. This is a concept related to His Omnipotence. Below are some things that God can do:
1) God is able to save us completely – Hebrews 7:25
Hebrews 7:25 says, “Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” Here, the writer to the Hebrews is assuring us that God is able to perfectly save us for all time and eternity through Christ, Savior of the world. Once we have sincerely repented, welcomed Christ in our lives, and been born again, we never need to fear for our eternal destiny. Behold, our Omnipotent God has the power to keep us. Apostle Peter understood this and put it in the very words. He said we are “kept by the power of God” (1 Peter 1:5). We should always remember that it is not our ability but God’s, it is not our strength but God’s, and it is not our might but God’s.
2) God is able to keep us from sin – Jude 24
Jude 24 says, “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy.” This great benediction assures us that God has the power and is able to keep us from falling into sin. Hebrews 2:18 tells us how He does it: “For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.” We can say without a doubt that our Omnipotent Savior has conquered temptation Himself, and now He is close to us for us to lean when we are tempted. By learning to lay hold of His power, we are able to conquer those stubborn sins in our lives.
3) God is able to heal our diseases – Isaiah 53:5
Isaiah 53:5 says, “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” God is aware of our diseases and He is able to heal and make us whole if we humbly turn to Him. Jesus Christ taught this very lesson to two blind men right after He emerged from the house where He had raised Jairus’s daughter from the dead, the supreme demonstration of His power. The Bible tells us that the two blind men cried out “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” (Matthew 9:27). Upon hearing this, Jesus turned and asked, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” (Matthew 9:28). When they answered, “Yes, Lord,” Jesus Christ touched their eyes and restored their sight.
Behold, these two blind men started seeing and rejoicing. Jesus Christ may be asking you the same question: “Do you believe I have the power to heal you?” He does not always heal, obviously because He knows that sickness is sometimes the best way to accomplish His perfect purpose in our lives. But He is able and wants us to believe that He can completely heal us and make us whole. Believing that Jesus can restore our health is the very first step to good health. When we are sick and deprived of strength, let’s look up to God because He is able to heal us and bless us with good health.
4) God is able to supply our needs – 2 Corinthians 9:8
2 Corinthians 9:8 says, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.” This is a Biblical promise that was addressed to faithful and cheerful givers. Such people can count on God to take care of everything that they need, in every circumstance of life. It is without a doubt that only an Omnipotent God could make such a promise. It is worth pointing out here that it is the love that accompanies our sacrifices that makes them acceptable unto the Lord God. Remember the Scripture that says no one can please God without love. Thus, when giving, always do so in love.
5) God is able to deliver us from death – Daniel 3:17
Daniel 3:17 says, “our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire.” Daniel’s three friends taught and demonstrated this lesson when they were standing beside the door of a blazing fiery furnace heated seven times hotter than normal. Putting their trust in God, they courageously declared to Nebuchadnezzar, “our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire.” However, God does not always deliver us from death. Many have laid down their lives for their faith throughout the centuries. However, God is able to deliver us if He so desires. Jesus knew this and that’s why “He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death” (Hebrews 5:7).
As Jesus prayed in the garden to His Father, He said, “All things are possible for Thee; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what Thou wilt” (Mark 14:36). While all things are possible, Jesus submitted to His Father’s will and trusted Him to do what was best. This is exactly what is expected from us as Christians. We should always put God’s will first and trust Him for the best. We are invincible and immortal until God’s time to take us home. God is able to deliver us from any danger. After Daniel had spent an entire night in a den of lions, the Bible tells us that King Darius hurried to the den in the morning and called out to him, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you constantly serve, been able to deliver you from the lions?” (Daniel 6:20).
Ability Biblical Meaning
Philippians 4:13 – “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.“
Colossians 3:23 – “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,“
2 Timothy 1:7 – “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
Ephesians 3:20 – “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,”
Romans 15:13 – “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
Galatians 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Isaiah 43:18-19 – “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
Group 1 – Ability Biblical Meaning
Luke 18:10-14 – “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’…”
1 Corinthians 12:4-11 – “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, …“
Ezra 10:4 – “Arise, for it is your task, and we are with you; be strong and do it.”
Group 2 – Ability Biblical Meaning
Mark 9:23 – And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.”
1 Peter 4:10 – “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:“
Job 42:2 – “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”
Ephesians 3:20-21 – “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
Deuteronomy 29:29 – “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.“
Acts 11:29 – “So the disciples determined, everyone according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea.”
1 John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Group 3 – Ability Biblical Meaning
Romans 12:4-8 – “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; ...”
Malachi 3:10 – “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.”
Psalm 147:10-11 – “His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.”
Group 4 – Ability Biblical Meaning
John 15:5 – “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.“
2 Corinthians 8:12 – “For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.”
Mark 14:8 – “She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial.”
Genesis 24:35 – “The Lord has greatly blessed my master, and he has become great. He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male servants and female servants, camels and donkeys.“
James 5:16 – “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”
Exodus 36:2 – “And Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whose mind the Lord had put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to do the work.”
Philippians 1:6 – “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
Group 5 – Ability Biblical Meaning
Exodus 28:3 – “You shall speak to all the skillful, whom I have filled with a spirit of skill, that they make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him for my priesthood.“
1 Peter 4:11 – “Whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
John 5:30 – “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.”
John 5:19 – So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.”
Acts 2:38 – And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Group 6 – Ability Biblical Meaning
Luke 14:12-14 – He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
Psalm 138:8 – “The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.”
Luke 12:48 – “But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.”
Group 7 – Ability Biblical Meaning
Genesis 18:14 – “Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”
Ezra 2:69 – “According to their ability they gave to the treasury of the work 61,000 darics of gold, 5,000 minas of silver, and 100 priests’ garments.“
Galatians 6:4 – “But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor.”
John 3:13 – “No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.”
Ecclesiastes 9:10-14 – “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them. I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. There was a little city with few men in it, …”
Group 8 – Ability Biblical Meaning
Acts 2:1-47 – “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. …“
Acts 16:16 – “As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling.”
Mark 10:23-27 – And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”
Group 9 – Ability Biblical Meaning
Romans 8:37 – “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
John 16:29-31 – His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.” Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe?
Romans 8:31 – “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?“
John 14:12 – “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.”
Jeremiah 14:22 – “Are there any among the false gods of the nations that can bring rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Are you not he, O Lord our God? We set our hope on you, for you do all these things.”
Luke 1:37 – “For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Group 10 – Ability Biblical Meaning
Luke 2:14 – “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
Matthew 25:15 – “To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.”
1 Corinthians 12:6 – “And there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.“
Genesis 26:16 – And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”
Group 11 – Ability Biblical Meaning
Genesis 18:18 – “Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?“
Philippians 1:5-7 – “Because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.“
Group 12 – Ability Biblical Meaning
Genesis 2:7 – “Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”
Matthew 19:19 – “Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Romans 12:1 – “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
Group 13 – Ability Biblical Meaning
Romans 12:3-8 – “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; …“
Ecclesiastes 12:7 – “And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.”
Group 14 – Ability Biblical Meaning
Genesis 23:6 – “Hear us, my lord; you are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb to hinder you from burying your dead.”
Genesis 30:8 – Then Rachel said, “With mighty wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister and have prevailed.” So she called his name Naphtali.”
Ephesians 6:12 – “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
