Five Things God Cannot Do: #1

[The following post is based on a sermon series presented in January-February 2006 while I served as pastor at Exeter Area Christian Fellowship in Newfields, NH.]

Perhaps you have heard this philosophical question: ‘Can God make a rock so big that He cannot move it?’

This question is often asked by skeptics and unbelievers with the aim of tripping up Christians.  I will freely admit that the question is intriguing and puzzling…but I will also tell you that this question is a logical absurdity; and for the following key reason.

God is infinite.  If such a rock were to exist, God would cease to be God.  No matter how large the rock was to become, God would always dwarf it.  Additionally God is Spirit.  While God entered into this ‘dimension’ by taking on flesh through Jesus Christ, He does not primarily operate on the same plane that such a rock would inhabit.  For a rock to be too big for God, it would need to have the same qualities as God, causing God to cease to be God.

So the answer to the question must necessarily be, ‘no, God cannot make a rock so big that He cannot move it’.  Does this ‘limit’ God?  Is it problematic a Christian to say that there are some things God cannot do?  Not at all.

Over the next few posts I want to share with you five things that God cannot do.

First out of the gate: God Cannot Lie.

As fallen people, we are very good at bending the truth to suit our purposes.  But God cannot lie.  Untruthfulness is sin, and sin is impossible for a perfectly holy God.  If God were to sin, He would cease to be God.

Numbers 23:19 sets God apart from man in that He does not lie [Hebrew kazab].  Titus 1:2 reveals that God is ‘anti-falsehood’ [Greek apseudes].  Hebrews 6:18 tells that God does not have the capacity [Greek adunatos] to lie. 

Of Christ we read that “He committed no sin, and no deceit [Greek dolos- guile, deviousness] was found in his mouth.” (1 Peter 2:22 NIV cf. Isaiah 53:9).  Fifty one times in Matthew, Mark & Luke, Jesus declares, “truly I say”; the word for ‘truly’ is amen and it means, ‘let these things be proven true and come to pass.’  So important is the truthfulness of Jesus’ words that twenty five times in his Gospel account, John records a double emphasis, “truly, truly I say to you.”

Multiple times in the Gospel of John the Holy Spirit is called the “Spirit of truth” [Greek alethia] (see John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13)

This truthfulness is also a quality of the Word of God.  “…Your law is truth [Hebrew emeth- ‘trustworthy’] (Psalm 119:142 NAS); “Sanctify them in the truth; Your Word is truth” [Greek alethia] (John 17:17 NAS).  In the final verses of the Bible we find the word amen as a seal of the veracity of God (Revelation 22:20).

God cannot lie.

Does it bother you that God cannot do this?  Do you feel that somehow God is less?  I would surmise the answer is ‘of course not’.  I would hope the opposite is your response; that you are glad God cannot lie; and that He is all the more worthy because of His absolute truthfulness.

So what does this mean for Christians?

Followers of Jesus should striving to be people of the truth as the God we follow is the God of truth.

Sometimes, lies sound like a good idea.  We imagine that a well crafted lie can keep us out of trouble.  Sooner or later we find that the lie has gotten the best of us and we end up in worse trouble than at first.  Why do lies do this?  Simply this: Lies and deceit are tools of the enemy (see John 8:44).  Satan loves to see Christians tell lies, because once we get into a lie, we get away from emulating the character of God.  But he is not content just to see us lie.  He then watches with glee as we try to justify our lying.  We tell ourselves that it is okay, that our situation supersedes the call to be truthful.

When we do that, we doubt the truthfulness of God’s Word.  Isn’t that the path he led Eve down? (See Genesis 3:1-5).  Satan did not challenge the reality of God; he did not challenge the authority of God.  He challenged the truthfulness of God.  Satan would have us believe that God is dishonest.  It is a dangerous thing to call God a liar.

I do not understand how people can claim to be believers in Jesus and yet deny that the words He spoke have any weight or bearing; that they are good ideas, but not authoritative.  That is calling God a liar.  Or those who in one breath believe that God inspired the Bible, and yet in the next breath declare that the Bible is flawed.  That is calling God a liar.

God cannot lie; and because God cannot lie, everything He says is worthy to be believed.

So when He says people are sinners, we’d better believe Him (cf. 1 Kings 8:46; Romans 3:12, 23; 5:12).  When He says there is judgment coming, we’d better believe Him (cf. Romans 2:12; 14:12; 2 Thessalonians 2:12).  When He promises salvation through Christ, we should have no problem believing Him (cf. Acts 4:12; 1 Timothy 2:5; 1 John 5:11-12).

God cannot lie.  As His people, let us make truthfulness an integral part of our lives.