When we try to describe who God is we use titles such as “Creator”, “Giver of Life”, “Judge” and “Sustainer”. When we list His attributes we think of words like “eternal”, “infinite”, “great”, “all-seeing”, “loving”, “omnipresent” and “gracious”. Perhaps one of the attributes we ascribe to God most frequently is “almighty” or “all-powerful”. By this we mean that there is no power that is greater than God. There is nothing or no one which can prevent Him from doing whatever He wants. But did you realize that there are some things which God cannot do?
The idea that God has any limitations will, no doubt, strike many as being almost blasphemous. If God really is infinite, all-seeing, omnipresent and all-powerful then how can He have any limitations? But He does. The attributes of God, by their very nature, exclude their opposites. For example, God is holy and righteous. Because He is holy and righteous the Bible says, “…God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;” (James 1:13 NIV)
The Bible also assures us that Christ, “…will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” (2 Timothy 2:13 NIV) Since Christ is “…the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being…” (Hebrews 1:3 NIV), we know that God cannot disown Himself either. What this means is that God cannot deny or repudiate His own character. To do so would be to renounce His position as God. He will never conform to our concepts or ideas of what He should be like or what He should do. On the contrary, we must change our ideas to conform to the reality of who He is.
Another thing the Bible tells us is, “…it is impossible for God to lie…” (Hebrews 6:18 NIV) This is a consequence of the fact that God’s word is truth (John 17:17).
The things God cannot do should give us great comfort and reassurance. Evil things happen. But because God cannot be tempted with evil, we know that He is not the One who causes them or brings evil upon us. We also know that God will never tempt us to do what is wrong. Because God cannot lie, we know that He will always tell us the truth. We can depend on what He has said in His word. He will keep the promises He has made to us. Because God cannot disown Himself, we know that His character will never change. He will continue to love us with the same love which caused Him to send Christ to the cross to pay the penalty for our wrongdoing.