Bible Truth #339 - Acts 17:22-28

Acts 17:22-28

22  Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.

23  For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

24  God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

25  Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

26  And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

27  That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

28  For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

This is part of Paul’s “speech” to the Gentiles at Mars Hill and was the culmination of his preaching “getting around town” because of his reasoning with the Jews and God-fearing Greeks in the synagogue as well as his “witness” in the marketplace every day to any who would listen to him. We know this from the preceding verses. We also know he was distressed to see the city full of idols. He was then invited to share at the Areopagus (Mars Hill) to the intelligentsia of the day.

I’m certain it can be safely said that Paul was not preaching to Christians but the lost. One of the first things he said was that he noticed they were superstitious. The Greek word from which that is translated (deisidaimon) can be used either complimentary or derogatory and it is clear from his following comments Paul intended it to be complimentary so they would better pay attention to his words. He then proceeded to tell them about the one true God.

I wrote about verse 26 in Bible Truth #78 and won’t discuss it again here except to simply say this verse tells us God determined that hundreds of millions of people would never hear the Gospel. If you don't understand what I just wrote, please click on the hyperlink for Acts 17:26.

Now the verse upon which I wanted to focus: verse 28 - For in Him we live, and move, and have our being... Exactly what do Christians think this means? I believe it harmonizes beautifully with Philippians 2:13 in that it is God Who works in us to will and to do according to His good pleasure. Man can do nothing apart from God’s will and it is God who fulfills His plan in each one of us (Psalm 57:2, Psalm 138:8), every man who ever lived, not just His Elect. No one ever lives NOT fulfilling God’s plan for their lives.

Other passages that support my conclusion are:

Psalm 37:23 - God is directing our steps

Proverbs 3:5-6 - God is directing our paths

Proverbs 16:9 - God is directing our steps

Proverbs 19:21 - the Lord’s purpose prevails

Proverbs 20:24 - God is directing our steps

Proverbs 21:1 - God turns hearts

Acts 16:14 - God opens hearts

This is why Christ said apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:4-5). The lost can do many things, but nothing, N.O.T.H.I.N.G. NOTHING they do (including praying to “accept” Jesus) will please God (Romans 8:8) which makes it easy to understand Christ’s words in John 6:63 - the flesh counts for nothing.

The point is that we humans, lost and saved, do nothing apart from God...