The Simplicity of God … (September 2023 Update)
God in His attributes seems extremely complex. Yet, one of His attributes is called the “Simplicity of God.” But the simplicity of God is one of His essential characteristics. Different terms are used in theology to describe God’s simplicity. Some call this the independence of God. Others refer to this as the aseity of God. What is the attribute of God and how does it affect us?
Since the different theologies will use different terms to describe Aseity, we need to define some of these various terms. Aseity literally means “from himself.” It indicates that God is not created and is not dependent on anything or anyone. Philosophically, Aseity has two aspects, one positive and one negative: absolute independence and self-existence. In its “negative” meaning it affirms that God is uncaused – that He depends on no other being for His existence. In its “positive” meaning, it affirms that God is completely self-sufficient, having within Himself everything necessary for His own existence. In short, it means that God needs no one and nothing for His existence.
The other terms used for this attribute help to explain aseity. The first is Simplicity. Simplicity means that God is not complex in His being. This does not refer to our understanding of God – that is definitely not simple! It refers to His being. He is not made up of separate parts but must be considered as a whole. It also means that there are no distinctions within His being. This means that the attributes of God are a unity, not the sum of the parts. For example, it means that God is not simply good – He is goodness. He is not simply Holy – He is holiness. He is not simply loving – He is love. Simplicity means that God is all of His attributes – the attributes are not parts of God or parts of His character. In a similar way, Unity expresses the idea that God cannot be divided into parts – He is a unified whole. This is why in 1 John 1:5, John says, “God is light” and in 1 John 4:8, He says, “God is love.” He is not one attribute – He is all at the same time. Therefore, it is incorrect to say that God is the sum of all His attributes. Rather, all His attributes are identical with the essence or being of God. That’s what the simplicity of God means.
Then there are two terms which express the results of this attribute – independence and Self-sufficiency. Independence means that God is not dependent on anything or anyone in this world. He does not need us or creation to exist. His existence is independent from all of His creation. Similarly, He is Self-sufficient – He does not need anything or anyone. We all need many things to exist. God’s existence does not depend on anything. He is independent and self-sufficient.
What does the simplicity of God mean?
First, the Bible teaches us that God is Self-Existent. Everything in the world was created but God was not created. He is a self-existent one who never had a beginning and will never have an end. His existence does not depend upon anyone. He is life, He possesses life, and He is the giver of life. We see this in Exodus 3:14 when Moses encounters the Burning Bush. Any other bush would be consumed by this fire, but this bush was strangely maintaining its own existence because the self-existent God was in the bush. In Exodus 3:14, God reveals himself to Moses as “I AM.” This is a difficult passage to translate in Hebrew it means I am the existing one. Moses tells us the same thing in Psa. 90:2: “Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” Aseity and simplicity mean that God is self-existent.
Second, the Bible teaches us that God is Self-Sufficient. God is not only self-existent He is also self-sufficient. In Acts 17:25, Paul says that God Is not “served by human hands as though He needed anything.” This means that He does not need us. Some preachers will say that God created us because He needed us. But this is contrary to God’s Aseity/Simplicity. He does not need us as worshippers – He will be glorified whether we worship Him or not. He does not need us as helpers – while it is true that God allows us to work to accomplish His will, He does not need us to accomplish His will. Because God is completely sufficient in Himself, we can rest in His sufficiency knowing that He does not need us, but that He allows us to participate in the work of His Kingdom. God is completely self-sufficient.
Third, the Bible teaches us that God is Self-Exalting. Everything that God does He does for His own Glory. In Isa. 48:11, God says emphatically, “For my own sake, for my own sake, I will act.” God repeats this twice so that no one will misunderstand. He does not need us to glorify him. He does what He does for His own glory. In Ephesians 1, Paul tells three times, that what God has done in salvation is to the praise of His own glory. Simplicity and aseity means that God is self-exalting.
Fourth, the Bible teaches us that God is Self-Content. This means that God is satisfied within Himself. He doesn’t need anything outside of Himself in order to make Him happy. In 1 Timothy 6:15, Paul says that God is “the blessed and only Sovereign.” Blessed means completely and totally happy. God is free from any inward frustration. He is completely happy in every way. We all need things outside of ourselves to make us happy. But God needs nothing – He is completely content within Himself.
Finally, the Bible teaches us that God is Self-Giving. Not only is He self-content, but He is also self-giving. In John 1:4, John writes about Jesus, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” Therefore, all life comes from Him. He is the one who gives life to all men. In John 5:26, Jesus says, “the Father has life in himself.” In Acts 17:25, Paul tells us, “He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things.” The God who needs nothing is a giver who gives life and all that we need for life.
Simplicity, aseity and independence mean that God is our sufficiency! Because of Aseity/Simplicity, we can know that God will not fail even if we fail – because He does not depend on us. Because of Aseity/Simplicity, we know that He needs nothing from us. But in His wisdom, He has chosen to allow us to participate in the work of His kingdom. Because He is completely self-sufficient, we can look to Him to meet all our needs. In Psalm 23:1, David writes, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” In Psalm 34:9-10, he writes, “O fear the Lord, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.” All our needs are met by our self-sufficient and self-giving God. In Philippians 4:19, Paul reminds us that “my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” This is the doctrine of simplicity. God and His attributes are not simple. But God is! He is self-sufficient and independent. Our resources run out. His never do. We need Him – He does not need us. In His simplicity, we find all we need for everything in life!
Teaching Ministry …
In just a couple of weeks, I will be teaching an on-line evangelism class for students in Ukraine. The class is for church planters and pastors. Be praying for me as I teach this class. This year, I will have a new translator so pray that all that we teach will be accurately communicated. And pray for the students. While things in Ukraine are greatly improved, there is still a war going on and life is difficult for the students.
Also, in October, I will be leading a men’s retreat in Florida and preaching at a couple of churches in Arkansas. While we are in Florida, I will also be meeting with a missions agency there to talk with them about helping with training and pastoral care for their missionaries. This agency sends missionaries to closed countries and has many missionaries serving in countries that were part of the former Soviet Union. So, it looks like this might be an opportunity where Katya and I can help with missions training and care. Be praying for us as we meet with them next month.
Katya, the girls and I were able to attend a discipleship conference in Rogers, Arkansas. We loved the teaching and the fellowship. And Kristina and Nadia sat in on every session and had some great questions.
Also, please pray for my time this month. Not only do I have a class to teach and a retreat to lead, I have to get ready for my two classes in November.
House Progress …
This has been an especially busy month for our house. I have been working every day from morning to evening. And I’ve had help. Katya and Sean both helped with hanging insulation. We were trying to find a way to finish the exterior. I contacted a stucco company, but their price was way too high. But the people were really nice. I told them we just did not have enough money for the stucco we wanted. The guys revised the price and came down $12K! When they came to do the work, I found out that he was a believer! God has an amazing way of providing for us!! Now we have a beautiful stucco house, and we are in the process of painting it ourselves.
Right now, we are in the process of hanging the drywall. Hopefully, the drywall will be done by the end of the month, and we will start the process of painting. We will need to take a 2-week break while I am teaching in Florida. I am hoping to find someone to do the bathroom tiling while we are gone. We were planning to do this ourselves but having someone else do it while we are gone might help us to get into the house before Thanksgiving.
Family …
This month also was the beginning of the new school year for our girls. We are homeschooling so we were able to wait until we moved into the apartment to start. We started September 1 and the girls are loving being back in school.
Also, this month, we added a new grandchild, Cassius Jonathan Cooper! Everyone, adults and kids are enjoying him. Also, Sully had his 2nd birthday too.
Pray for Ukraine …
Please continue to pray for Ukraine. It seems clear that Russia is not able to stop Ukraine from continuing to take back territory. But it is coming at a great loss of life. Please pray for this war to end. But most of all, pray for the gospel to continue to shine in this difficult time. Our students and friends are still involved in ministry, and they need your prayers. Also, be praying for the students at Kyiv Theological Seminary and Ukrainian Baptist Seminary (Lviv) as they continue to study and prepare for ministry.
Thank you for your help and support for us. Last month, we received an unexpected gift that really helped us to recover some of the money we lost on the sale of our house. God has blessed us in so many ways even in these difficult times. But we are grateful for His love and His timing for everything! We know that He is all we need but we are grateful that He has allowed so many to be agents of His love to us!
By His Grace,
Jim, Katya, Kristina and Nadia
If you missed previous updates or just want to read some short theological reflections, you can find these at our website at https://teachingresources.org/ .
Also, some have asked about how to support us. You can send checks to Teaching Resources International, PO Box 1025, Cabot, AR 72023 or pay through PayPal on our website. Just put “#1000 Ehrhard” in the memo so our treasurer knows where to allocate the funds. If you want to help with our relocation fund or building efforts, put Relocation in the memo.
Teaching Resources International 