We like to dogmatically say, “God can do anything!” We quote Scriptures like “Is there anything too hard for Me?” (Jer. 32:27) and “With God all things are possible” (Mt. 19:26). However, there are some exceptions. In His sovereignty, God has imposed some limitations on Himself. Let’s explore ten things the Bible reveals God cannot do (you can make a longer list, but these cover the main bases):
- God cannot lie! Our God is the source of absolute truth. Even Balaam, a false prophet, knew “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (Num. 23:19) Paul wrote in Titus 1:2, “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.” God’s Word is trustworthy and completely credible. Jesus declared, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Mt. 24:35). Hebrews 6:17-18 affirms it is impossible for God to lie. If God has spoken something, you can count on it. Our God is a promise maker and a promise keeper (2 Cor. 1:20). You can take it to the bank.
- God cannot die! God is eternal (without a beginning and without an ending—Ps. 102:27, Lam. 5:19). “Before . . . You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God” (Ps. 90:2). Jehovah/Yahweh always has been God and always will be God. He’s the uncaused cause who existed before anything else (Jn. 1:1-3). He simultaneously dwells in the past, present, and the future. He’s not bound by time and space. But here is a mystery, He did die. How could God die? He sent His own Son in a flesh body and the human part of Him died. But the Divine part of Him never died and never will.
- God cannot get tired and does not sleep! He is omnipotent—all powerful! He is a spirit being not bound by a physical body. He doesn’t require sleep to rejuvenate. “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary” (Is. 40:28). Here’s another mystery, when Christ assumed a human body, He got tired and required sleep. In His resurrected and glorified state, He doesn’t need sleep. God will be awake all night anyway, so you might as well rest in peace. He’s on call and on duty 24/7—“He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper” (Ps. 121:3-5). Fear will keep you up all night, but faith makes a fine pillow.
- God cannot sin, be tempted by evil, or tempt anyone else! “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God;’ for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone” (Jam. 1:13). He has no desire or inclination toward evil whatsoever. Sin does not appeal to Him at all. We don’t have to worry about God backsliding. He is so holy, He is repulsed by sin. He will never try to entice us to sin, but He will, at times, test our faith. Genesis 22:1 in the King James Version is a mistranslation—“God did tempt Abraham.” Nearly every other version renders it, “God tested Abraham.” God didn’t try to trick Abraham into sinning; He tested his faith to extreme measures. Abraham obeyed, and passed the test, and so can we.
- God cannot look upon iniquity! “You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness” (Hab. 1:13). Does this mean God can’t see or is oblivious to all the evil in the world? No, because in the days of Noah, “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth . . . and He was grieved in His heart” (Gen. 6:5-6). God sees and knows what is happening on earth, but He can’t look upon sin with favor or approval. Remember when Christ cried out on the cross, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” (Mt. 27:46) God the Father turned His back on His Son when Christ absorbed our sin like a sponge in His body (2 Cor. 5:21, 1 Pt. 2:24). God the Father had to look away because He cannot condone sin.
- God cannot fail! “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites” (Josh. 3:10). It is impossible for God not to succeed. If He failed, He would stop being perfect and thus cease to be God (Ps. 18:30). Isaiah prophesied of Jesus, “He will bring forth justice for truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged, till He has established justice in the earth” (Is. 42:3-4). We have failed Him many times, but He has never failed us. He’s never lost a battle, and His plan will ultimately triumph in the end. As a song says, “Out of all the gods men worship, there’s a difference you can tell, He’s the only One who ever gave His Son, He’s the God who cannot fail.”
- God cannot change! “For I am the Lord, I do not change” (Mal. 3:6). What God did in Bible times, He still does today. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8). Consequently, it’s not hard to please God because you know what to expect. It’s hard to please some people because they often change their minds. If you try to please everybody, you’ll please nobody and lose your sanity in the process. What God loved in Bible days, He still loves now. What He hated then, He still hates today. Things change, people change, seasons change, times change, trends, fads, and opinions change, but God remains the same forever.
- God cannot be partial or prejudiced! “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality” (Ac. 10:34). God sent Peter to Cornelius’ house who was a Gentile and a Roman Centurion. Peter had a mental block about Gentiles being saved and Spirit filled. So, God showed him a vision of a sheet with all kinds of animals on it. A voice said, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” Peter, a kosher Jew, protested, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean” (Ac. 10:13-14). The voice from heaven said, “What God has cleansed, you must not call common.” Cornelius’ entire household was saved and filled with the Holy Spirit as God threw open the door of grace to the Gentiles (Ac. 10:34-48). The Bible clearly states God is no respecter of persons (Rom. 2:11, Eph. 6:9, Col. 3:25, Jam. 2:1-9). In Christ there is no black or white, male or female, rich or poor, Jew or Gentile—we are all ONE in Him. God sees only one race—the human race in desperate need of His grace.
- God cannot learn or be surprised! God is omniscient—all knowing (1 Jn. 3:20). He has all wisdom and knowledge and never has to learn or be taught anything. “O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether” (Ps. 139:1-4). Due to His foreknowledge, nothing takes God by surprise.
- God cannot contradict His own nature! This blanket statement covers any other category. “The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works” (Ps. 145:17). To contradict His nature, He would have to change and cease to be God. God is higher than, greater than, different from, set apart from, above and beyond anything and anyone else. When God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham worried God might punish the righteous with the wicked. He questioned, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen. 18:25). Abraham should have known that even in judgment everything God does is righteous, fair, and just. To do otherwise would contradict His own impeccable character.
While there are a few things He can’t do, it is no secret what God can do. The Almighty is eager to intervene in our lives—“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him” (2 Chron. 16:9). He still saves, heals, delivers, forgives, redeems, and restores those who trust in Him.