Is there anything God cannot do?

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

The Bible says that God cannot deny Himself, which means that He cannot do anything that contradicts His nature. As Creator, God is the definition of reality. If God did something that contradicted His nature—for example, lying—He would be contradicting reality! Generally, when someone proposes something that God cannot do, such as create something so large that He can’t lift it, they are proposing something illogical. Such illogical fallacies must be rejected because people are not proposing them out of a desire to please or to know God better. Instead, they are proposing them as an act of rebellion against the reality of who God is and His future wrath against all unrepentant sinners. God will not be mocked, and every man and woman will get what they deserve, regardless of the excuse they make for not believing Him. So, yes, God cannot do anything that contradicts His nature. However, that does not limit His power. Instead, it shows that He is the unchangeable, infinitely powerful God that He claims to be!

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

• Jeremiah 32:17 talks about God’s power being unlimited. He is all powerful and there is nothing logical that God cannot do.
• Fallacies permeate the list of skeptics. In each case, they are proposing tests that are contrary to who God is. Because God is the source of reality, they are tests that contradict reality. For example, though God is all-powerful, He is also perfectly holy (Exodus 15:11). Being perfectly holy means that He cannot sin—doing so would contradict His nature (Numbers 23:19). It is illogical to conclude that His inability to lie proves a limit to His power. Rather, it proves that He is unchangeable and is always perfectly holy. Such a proposal is a fallacy because it demands an answer that requires a change in reality in order to be satisfied.
• What follows are specifics that God cannot do because doing so would contradict His nature.
• God Cannot Lie: “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?” (Numbers 23:19). As previously said, God cannot lie because that would contradict His nature. He is perfectly holy. In addition, He perfectly keeps all of His promises. To lie would be to deny who He is, that is, to deny reality.
• God Cannot Change: “For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed” (Malachi 3:6). Israel deserved to be completely obliterated from earth because of her repeated sin. However, God does not change. He promised to save a remnant, and it would be contrary to His nature for Him to go back on His word.
• God Cannot Approve Wickedness: “Therefore, hear me, you men of understanding: far be it from God that he should do wickedness, and from the Almighty that he should do wrong… Of a truth, God will not do wickedly, and the Almighty will not pervert justice” (Job 34:10, 12). Job was sinfully complaining that God had done wrong by allowing him to suffer, though he was “righteous in his own eyes” (Job 32:1). His friend rightly rebukes him, reminding him that, by nature, the all-powerful (“Almighty”) God is unable to do anything wicked. To do so would be to contradict who He is and contradict reality.
• God Cannot Grow Weary: “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable” (Isaiah 40:28). God is self-existent, meaning He needs nothing outside of Himself to exist. Because is in infinitely powerful, He has an inexhaustible supply of energy. Therefore, He cannot become tired because that would contradict His nature.

FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT

• In the Old Testament section, we learned that any proposal, suggesting that God do something that contradicts who He is, is a logical fallacy. What follows are verses from the New Testament noting what God cannot do that would otherwise contradict His nature.
• God Cannot Lie: “So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us” (Hebrews 6:17–18). It is “impossible for God to lie” because that would contradict His nature and reality. It is for this reason that the author of Hebrews can say that believers have a great hope, since God will fulfill all of His promises.
• God Cannot Change: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17). In context, James is taking about how evil does not come from God, only that which is perfectly good. We can trust it is always perfectly good because God doesn’t vary, even in the slightest. By nature, He is perfect, always.
• God Cannot Deny Himself: “if we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:13). Though our nature is fickle, God is not like us. In context, Paul is talking about a sure salvation because God cannot deny Himself. To deny Himself would be to contradict Himself. In other words, God cannot contradict reality.
• God Cannot Be Tempted with Evil: “Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one” (James 1:13). Because God is Holy, He is unable to lie and, therefore, unable to be tempted. To be susceptible to temptation would mean that God is not really perfect, holy, and unchangeable. But, by His nature, God is all of those things.
• In summary, the New Testament gives several things that God cannot do. However, in each case, they would be things that contradict the reality of God and, therefore, illogical for Him to do.

IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

Some claim God isn’t all-powerful by proposing illogical scenarios—like asking if He can create a rock so heavy He can’t lift it—but these “tests” ignore that God’s nature is more than just power and must be consistent with reality. Because His attributes are infinite and unchanging, He cannot do what is logically absurd—not due to weakness, but because nonsense is not a measure of true power. The main reason why skeptics propose a list of things that God can't do is to find a way the escape from His wrath. After all, if God is not all-powerful, then maybe He won’t be able to judge them for their sin. In other words, the tests aren’t really designed to know God better but to foolishly convince oneself that God does not exist.

However, all they prove is that the infinite, all-powerful, holy, and just God does not change and will not deny His nature to satisfy sinful creatures' whims. He hates sin now as much as He always has and will destroy it. Ironically, the one thing that would prove that God is not real would be if He could not judge sin. However, the Bible is clear that He is more than capable of doing that. Since He will do that in the future, He has provided a short time to escape that coming wrath. Denying God exists is not a permanent solution, it is a denial of reality (Romans 1:18–20), and it only increases His wrath against you (Romans 2:5)!

Instead, knowing that God is all-powerful in a way that is consistent with His nature, we are to be quick to repent of our sin and quick to cling to His one way of salvation. The Father sent His Son, Jesus, to do what we cannot do: be perfectly righteous. Only sinners are supposed to die (Romans 6:23), but Jesus willingly died in the place of sinners, accepting the Father’s wrath as if He had sinned. Take hold of that free gift (Romans 6:23b) and repent of your sins, confessing that His Son is Lord, and you will be saved (Romans 10:9–10).

UNDERSTAND

• God cannot do anything that contradicts His nature.
• Scenarios like “creating a rock so heavy He can’t lift it” are illogical and self-contradictory, not real limitations of God’s power.
• What God cannot do actually confirms His holiness, justice, and unchanging reality; these “inabilities” are not weaknesses but demonstrations of His divine perfection.

REFLECT

• How do you respond when God's nature doesn't fit your expectations—do you try to redefine Him, or do you let Him redefine you?
• In what areas of your life are you tempted to question God’s power or fairness, and what does that reveal about your understanding of His nature?
• How does knowing that God cannot lie or change affect the way you trust His promises in Scripture?

ENGAGE

• Why do you think people are drawn to asking trick questions about God’s power, like “Can God create a rock so heavy He can’t lift it?”
• How can a better understanding of God’s unchanging nature help us face moral and cultural confusion in today’s world?
• What are the dangers of trying to define God based on human logic or limitations, and how can we encourage each other to stay rooted in biblical truth?