SIX THINGS GOD CANNOT DO

by Stan Butler

God is sovereign. We say and believe that God is sovereign and although the word “sovereign” is not found in the Scriptures we use that word to mean that He is the Supreme Ruler, He’s all knowing, He’s all powerful, simply that He IS. We say as our sovereign God…He can do anything He wants to. He even says in Matthew 19:26; “with God, all things are possible.” Yet as we read the scriptures we see that this statement seems to contradict itself, because we know that there are many things God just cannot do. How can this be, because in 2Timothy 2:13 it says; “that God cannot deny Himself.” Well, that word “deny” in the Greek means “to contradict.” So how can this be that in one scripture we see that God can do anything, then flip a few pages and read where He cannot do this or that.

Let me give you an example of a scripture that seemed to me at first to be contradictory:

In Proverbs 17:15, we read, “He that justifieth the wicked is an abomination to the Lord.” God does not like to see a wicked person go unpunished. Yet God is a justifier of the wicked, and in order not to contradict himself, God simply saw to it that the penalty for sin was paid. In order for God to demonstrate love and justice, the penalty for all sin had to be satisfied, and the only way for that to happen was for God to offer and indeed let His only Son die for all the sins of mankind.

Can you imagine how God feels about our court system that we have in place today? A rapist, a murderer, a thief goes unpunished because someone forgot to read him his rights! The case is thrown out of court and the criminal goes free… the criminal can say, “it’s just as if I’d never committed the crime.” Oh how Almighty God must hate that.

Let’s look at some other things which God cannot do according to His word:

God cannot deny Himself: 2Timothy 2:13; This has just been explained. God’s word is never contradictory.

God cannot wash away sin without blood: Hebrews 9:22 says, “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission.”
Aren’t you thankful for the waters of baptism? Acts 22:16b; “arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins.”
Aren’t you thankful for the cup you drink from every Sunday? Matthew 26:28; Jesus holding the cup said these words: “This is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”

God cannot sin: James 1:13; “God cannot be tempted with evil.”

God cannot change: Malachi 3:6; “I am the Lord, I change not.”

God cannot save man without man’s consent: We see this illustrated in Matthew 23:37: Jesus says, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.”

God cannot lie: Heb 6:18; “it is impossible for God to lie.”
Titus 1:2; “which God, who cannot lie.”
How wonderful it is to know that when we read something in His Word, we can absolutely rely on it to be the truth, and always to know that when God says something…it is settled and we can believe it.

Be assured, the things which God says He cannot do are only because of the limitations He has placed on Himself.

Some of the content for this post I got from a sermon preached by Bro. Larry Jamison, evangelist at Oakland Christian Church, Oakland, Kentucky. Larry got the content of his sermon from the Scriptures. I guess that would make God the original author. Enjoy.

My thanks to Michael, a brother in Covenant, who is my corrective grammarian.