The young boy of close friends of ours recently asked my wife and me a classic question: “Can God make a rock so heavy that even He cannot lift it?” He didn’t ask it in a challenging way but because he had read it somewhere. This question dates back to at least the 10th century and has been answered in different ways. I think what makes the most sense is that the answer is “No” because it is logically impossible for God to create a rock so heavy that He cannot lift it; this is a kind of semantic–and only semantic–paradox, which is false.
This question caused me to think beyond semantics to this question: Are there things that God cannot do? I came up with three general things that God cannot do as well as ten specific things that He cannot do, based on the general. First, the three general:
1. God cannot do anything that is inconsistent with His character. We understand God’s character as revealed to us in the Bible.
2. God cannot break His promises. The Bible is very rich in God’s promises to His people.
3. God cannot sin. God is holy and righteous; therefore, He cannot sin.
Now let’s move on to ten specific things that God cannot do. Some of these I have seen or heard elsewhere; others, I haven’t.
1. God cannot flood the world again. After the flood recorded in Genesis that wiped out all land life except for Noah and his family (eight people) along with the animals on the ark, God said in the second part of Genesis 8:21: “And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.”
2. Jesus cannot die again. Hebrews 7:27 tells us, “Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.” Jesus (the Son of God) lived a perfect life and as a result, He was able to offer Himself on the cross to save all those who believe in Him.
3. God cannot overlook sin. As stated earlier, God cannot sin because He is holy and righteous. Therefore, He cannot overlook our sin; He must punish it. That’s why Jesus died for us! He took the punishment we deserved so that we can be saved.
4. God cannot forgive people who never repent. God is quick to forgive when people repent, but He cannot forgive those who never repent. In the Bible, repentance and forgiveness are always linked. For example, on the day of Pentecost, Peter said in Acts 2:38: “Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.’”
5. God cannot despise a broken, contrite heart. This one is closely linked with #4. In his great Psalm of repentance, King David says in Psalm 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” When a person repents, God forgives–although he or she may still have to experience devastating consequences of sin, as King David discovered.
6. God cannot forsake His children. For three horrible hours, God forsook Jesus on the cross; we know this because Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) However, God has promised His children in Hebrews 13:5, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'” How wonderful is that?!
7. God cannot send any of His children to hell. When the young boy I mentioned at the outset of this post asked whether there were things that God cannot do, I asked him, “Can God send any of His children to hell?” Revelation 3:5 says, “He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.”
8. God cannot lie. 1 Samuel 15:29 says, “He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind.” We’ll get to the second part of the verse in a moment, but the first part says that God does not lie, meaning that He cannot. There are several other verses which affirm this as well, including Titus 1:2. Thus, we can always trust God to keep His promises. Contrast God with Satan, who is the father of lies (John 8:44).
9. God cannot change. This is one I have researched quite a bit, but I have come to believe this is true; in theology, it is called God’s immutability. I just quoted 1 Samuel 15:29 in relation to God not changing His mind. Another verse that states more generally that God cannot change is Malachi 3:6, which says, “I the Lord do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.” Another verse that tells us this is James 1:17, which says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” There are times in the Bible where it appears that God has changed His mind, but the theological giant R.C. Sproul (now in heaven) has convinced me that is not the case. Sproul says, for example, that in Jonah 3:10, God removed the threat of judgment (Jonah 3:4) on the Ninevites when they repented, which is not the same as changing His mind. When people repent, God forgives!
10. God cannot save demons. Salvation is only for human beings. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that demons can repent. They certainly believe in God’s existence–and experienced His glory in heaven!–but chose to rebel. James 2:19 says, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that–and shudder.” Believing in God is not enough, and that applies to people as well. Demons will spend eternity in hell, along with people who never trusted in Jesus and demonstrated their love with lives of obedience, albeit imperfectly. Angels, on the other hand, don’t need to be saved, but they will spend eternity in heaven with all of God’s people.
One thing I should add is that most of these things God cannot do could be phrased as things God will not do. However, that doesn’t change the meaning. When the Bible says that God will not do something, it means He cannot because if He did, He would break a promise. Similarly, I suppose someone might quibble over “do not” versus “cannot.” For example, “I the Lord do not change” means that He will not change, which means He cannot change.
I’m sure that there are other things God cannot do. If you come up with any, I would love to read them!
To the Remnant 
Hi Keith, I’m not as familiar with theology as you are but I believe God cannot change the past, He can forgive our sins when we repent but what He can’t do is that He can’t make it as though the sin never happened (I phrased that rather awkwardly).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Tony, you’re right in terms of God not making it as though the sin never happened–unless you’re talking about justification, which I learned meant “just as if I’d never sinned.” I suppose, though, we could say there is a sense in which God can change the past–not as if it never happened, but in terms of redeeming it. A believer can look back and understand why the Lord allowed a certain set of circumstances to happen for his or her good–even though it didn’t seem good at the time. I can see that in how the Lord directed me after I got my Bachelor’s degree in astrophysics. Two years later, He showed me that He wanted me to go to China–and that’s what I wanted to do.
As always, Tony, I appreciate your comment!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I enjoyed the interesting post, Keith. We often think about or discuss what God can do, but as your lists display, there are many things God being God can’t/won’t do.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Tom! Before I wrote this, my wife commented that in Sunday school, we often teach our kids songs that can be misleading, such as “My God is so great, so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing my God cannot do!” While the focus in that song is on His creative handiwork, kids can still get the idea that there really is nothing God cannot do.
LikeLiked by 1 person
as I was reading this, I was thinking a lot about how your example shows God would not want to do something rather than God cannot do something. So I appreciated that in the end you noted that point. Very good post brother.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Brother! When it comes to God, I don’t think there’s any meaningful distinction between He cannot, He will not, and He does not. I was trying to think of an example of where the Bible says “God cannot.” Here’s one, in 2 Timothy 2:13: “If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” Most of the time, the Bible says either He will not or He does not.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good point
LikeLiked by 1 person
Here is another: “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone” ~ James 1:13
A temptation often is a lie. God does not and cannot tempt.
God instead promises. That is to say, He makes good on what He says, that He will do or give. He did not tempt Abraham with the promise of a son. No. God promised and made good on it.
The devil tempted Jesus with the world. However it was a lie, a false promise. Because he could not make good on it. Nor was the world his to give anyway.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you for another good example of something God cannot do!
LikeLike