Introduction
Since most of us, regardless of religious background, have been taught that God can do anything, an article about things God cannot do may surprise some. While the Lord God is in deed all-powerful -- even Jesus declared, "with God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26, Mark 10:27, Luke 1:37) -- when you get to know the Lord, you realize He cannot a few things. To understand God and develop a relationship with Him, you must understand this.
To start, let me simply list them, and then I will discuss it more...
God Cannot Lie
He is "...the Spirit of Truth..." (John 14:17, 15:26, 16:12, 1 John 4:6, 5:6).
"He who is the glory of Israel [the Lord God] does not lie or change his mind; for He is not a man, that He should change His mind" (1 Samuel 15:29).
Since God cannot lie...
"EVERY WORD of God is flawless" (Proverb 30:5).
"The word of the Lord is flawless" (2 Samuel 22:31, Psalm 12:6, 18:30).
God Cannot Fail
"God is love" (1 John 4:16) and "...love NEVER FAILS" (1 Corinthians 13:8).
God Cannot Be Pleased Without Faith
"...without faith, it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6)
"The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me" (Psalm 101:3).
"To the faithful you show yourself faithful" (2 Samuel 22:26).
"...everything that does not come from faith is sin" (Romans 14:23).
Know Him
What we are talking about here is character. The more you understand God's character, the easier it is for you to put your faith Him. For instance, since we know He cannot lie, we know we can trust His word, and if His word is truly "flawless," then we know it will never fail. Oftentimes our problem is, instead of listening to God, we listen to the "father of lies." We see something that looks or sounds right, not realizing or taking into account that "Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14). Of course, "when he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 4:44). Instead of taking time to consider what the Lord says, we go our own way and then blame God when things do not work out. Or instead of making up out mind that "God said it, so I believe it," we pay more attention to our circumstances, letting them dictate how we feel or what we think. The truth is, pleasing God requires us to "live by faith, and not by sight" (Corinthians 5:7).
Do you really want to see the Lord doing something in your life? Then believe God. Believe His Word, what He says. Believe and expect Him to fulfill His Word. Jesus died on a cross so that we might come to know the God, a God who loves us, but He also died that we who believe might receive blessings. Unfortunately, we often do not receive them, or His best because we do not really know Him well enough to walk in faith in Him. Paraphrasing Bob Cass, "we get just enough religion to inoculate us from real faith." Just like when you go to the doctor to get "inoculated," you get just enough of it so that you fight and resist it, keeping it from full effect.
On his teaching tape entitled, "Getting Somewhere with God," Bob Cass points out:
- Inactivity of [real] faith produces uselessness. We've all heard the saying, "if you don't use it, you use lose," and that is true. An example is that a limb that is bound up too long becomes completely useless.
- We often limit God through reason. Instead of faith, we make excuses.
- Pride keeps us from receiving from God in that we do not want to look "fanatical" or different.
Conclusion
By declaring what God cannot do, I am not declaring that God is limited and therefore weak. Instead, I hope to reassure you is that "the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength" (1 Corinthians 1:25). And when you truly know Him, understanding His limitations, you know that "with God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26, Mark 10:27, Luke 1:37). While it may seem as though His character limits Him, the truth is, His character is what makes Him strong, and worthy of faith, and worthy praise.
All scriptures NIV unless otherwise noted.