What's the Biblical basis for "Without God I could do nothing"? Often times I have had or come across the thought of "Without God I could do nothing" in a general sense, not something as specific as doing good nor our ability to fix ourselves (i.e. I'm not talking about total depravity but about all actions).

The primary Biblical evidence I can find possibly backing this is the following:


The fact that God created humans with all of their abilities/being/situation/etc. so as such without God at all we would never be able to do anything because we could never exist
Jesus' quote "By myself I can do nothing" in John 5:30 (how much more so can we do nothing)
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." in John 15:5
The fact that God ultimately controls the world and has the power to destroy us or do whatever He wants


The first potential problem that I see with these supporting the general claim that "without God I can do nothing" is that 1. doesn't really address the issue of our ability to do something now but rather the past (meaning yes, without Him we wouldn't exist, but since we do exist it doesn't determine if we can do something). The second potential problem is that 2. and 3. might only be implying a more specific case such as "apart from me you can do nothing good". The third is that in 4. if God didn't do anything ("without God") then Him stopping us wouldn't happen.

Is there any other Biblical basis for the general claim of "Without God I could do nothing"? Or is the evidence above generally enough to convince most theologians that this claim is true?
Here is an answer extracted and slightly edited (and with a new final paragraph added) from my article, &quot;Christian Beliefs that the Bible Does Teach&quot;:
As we go about our daily lives, doing this or that for our fellow human beings, we naturally suppose that we are doing it by ourselves and from our own power. There’s nothing wrong with that as long as we don't think it’s really true. Because the reality is that by ourselves, we can't do anything at all.
Our very life comes from God. Without the spirit and life of God within us we are nothing but dust:

Then the Lord God formed a human from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the human became a living being. (Genesis 2:7)

God didn't just breathe life into us in the beginning. God breathes life into us every moment. When that breath from God is withdrawn, our life is over:

When you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. (Psalm 104:29)

Psalm 127 recognizes poetically that everything we do, if it is anything at all, must come from God:

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain. (Psalm 127:1)

In the Gospels, both John the Baptist and Jesus Christ himself tell us that everything we have, everything we do, and everything we are is given to us from heaven—which means that it comes from the Lord our God:

John answered, &quot;No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven.&quot; (John 3:27)
Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:4–5)

The fact is that every good thing we do comes from God, and is done by God's power working through us. When we take credit for our good works, we are stealing the credit from God, who actually does the works. This is what Jesus meant when he said:

The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does the works. (John 14:10)

We could not even do evil without God, for the simple reason given in the first two Bible quotes above: without God we would not exist, and therefore could not do anything at all. This does not, however, mean that the evil itself comes from God. Only the ability to do evil comes from God. But that is a different question.