Now that we've taken a quick look at five of God's incommunicable attributes, I want to start taking a closer look at each of them to make sure we really understand them. The first one we come to is independence.
Per dictionary.com, indepence is roughly defined as "being independent." Independent is defined as "not influenced or controlled by others in matters of opinion, conduct, etc.; thinking or acting for oneself:" The key phrases I see here (as it relates to God) are not... controlled by others and acting for oneself.
24"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.
Acts 17:24-25
- From this passage, how can we see that God is not controlled by others?
- He is Lord of heaven and earth
- He is not served by human hands
- From this passage, how can we see that God is acting on His own?
- He made the world and everything in it
- He gives all men life and breath and everything
God said to Moses, "I am who I am"...
Exodus 3:14a
- In this passage God is telling Moses who to say is sending him to Pharaoah. This is where God tells Moses his name: YHWH.
- From His name, we can see that God is. There is no cause suggested for God. Nothing created God. He just is.
- In this verse, do we see God as being controlled by anything? No
- In this verse, do we see evidence of God acting on His own? Yes, if He just is, he must be acting on His own
- Can you agree, based on these two passages (and there are others like them) that God is independent
