Acts 17:28 states, “For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’” Upon first glance at this passage of the New Testament, it can be quite confusing to understand what Paul is telling us. In this article, we are going to learn more about this passage and what it means.
Broader Context of Acts 17:28
Paul had just recently arrived in Athens when he grew distressed over the fact that the city was full of idols (Acts 17:16). As was his custom, he first went to preach at the synagogue (Acts 17:17).
As he was speaking to the people in the synagogue, a group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers approached Paul and started debating with Him because Paul was preaching about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus (Acts 17:18).
The Epicurean and Stoic philosophers believed Paul was advocating for foreign gods, so they brought him to the meeting of the Areopagus, which is where individuals would come and listen to different ideas all day (Acts 17:19-21).
The Epicurean and Stoic philosophers said, “‘May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.’ (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas)” (Acts 17:19b-21).
After the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers said this, Paul started giving his speech to the people present. He stood up and said,
Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring’” (Acts 17:25-28).
In this speech to the people of Athens, Paul includes the statement, “For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring’” (Acts 17:28). Therefore, when Paul says, “For in him we live and move and have our being,” the “him” he is referring to is God.
Paul quotes the crowd's own poets to capture their attention. He wanted to convey the truth that we live, move, and have our being because of God, not because of lifeless statues or false gods.
In Paul’s speech to the people of Athens, he wanted to convey the truth that we only live because of God. God created us by the works of His own hands. We did not come into being by the idols the people of Athens had built for themselves.
The saying, “For in him we live and move and have our being” comes from Epimenides of Crete or another unknown Athenian poet.
It comes from this quote, “They fashioned a tomb for thee, O holy and high one — The Cretans, always liars, evil beasts, idle bellies! — But thou art not dead; thou livest and abidest for ever, For in thee we live and move and have our being.”
Paul was using this quote from the poet to connect it to the true God. In the same way, the second quote Paul uses is from the poem Phaenomena from the Cilician Stoic Aratus,
“Let us begin with Zeus. Never, O men, let us leave him unmentioned. All the ways are full of Zeus, and all the market-places of human beings. The sea is full of him; so are the harbors. In every way we have all to do with Zeus, for we are truly his offspring” (Ibid.).
The Stoics philosophers in the Areopagus would have believed all humans were equally Zeus’ children. Therefore, the Stoics would have believed that all individuals indeed deserved citizenship and freedom.
Paul was connecting this saying of “for we are truly his offspring” to the truth that we are the true God’s children. He pointed out that humankind could not be created by an idol or a statue because humans would have made the idol or statue with their own hands.
Paul is stressing the truth that we are created by the God of the Bible, not Zeus or any other false God. It is through God of the Bible that we live and move and have our being.
Live, Move, and Have Our Being
All human beings have life because of God. God created us because He loves us and wants a relationship with us. In God, we live, move, and have our being. We live because He is the One who breathed life into our bodies, and we continue to live in Him because of our dependence on Him.
God is in control of everything, including the day we take our final breath and return to Him. In Him, we live because He is our source of life and our source of purpose in the world. Psalm 36:9 tells us God is the fountain of light, “For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.”
In God, we move as our strength only comes from God. We can take a step forward each day because of Him. Whether physical strength or mental strength, we can only go forward because of God.
God is moving each day and extending love to us through His constant provisions. Since God so loved us, we also ought to extend that same love to our fellow brothers and sisters. 1 John 4:11 tells us, “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
Thirdly, we have our being in God. We would not exist today here without God. The Lord is our Creator, and through Him, we can have our being. Everything in all Creation is upheld by God (Colossians 1:16-17). Without God, we would not exist.
The very truth of human beings in the world attests to God. Every part of our being was created by God, ranging from the hair on the top of our heads to the tip of our toes on our feet. Each part of us was created by God with the purpose of serving, obeying, and loving Him.
What Does This Mean?
Therefore, we live and move and have our being because of God. Everything in all creation is upheld by God’s mighty hand, including our very existence. We would not be able to live and move and have our being apart from God.
He is our Creator, and we owe everything to Him. Not only did He create us, but He also sent His Son to die for our sins in order for us to have eternal life with Him forever. May all the praise, worship, and glory go to God now and forevermore.
For further reading:
What Does it Mean to Be Led by the Spirit?
How to Live a Spirit-Filled Life
How Can I Recognize the Guidance of the Holy Spirit?
Why Did Paul Compare Christianity to Greek Mythology?
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