While the blanket statement “God can do anything He wants” is true, it is only true to a point – for, biblically, there is one thing God cannot do.
Once you discover the one thing God cannot do, it actually produces greater confidence, trust, and hope in Jesus Christ as we can build our lives upon His unchanging character and nature.
Join Nathan in this Deeper Christian episode and find out the one thing God cannot do.
It’s an amazing reality to discover that God cannot change. He cannot violate His nature or character.
When God reveals Who He is through the Bible, we find that He isn’t wishy-washy, He isn’t fickle, He isn’t hypercritical – rather, He is constant, unchanging, and therefore trustworthy.
Trust is built by consistency over time. So when we recognize that God cannot violate His nature and He cannot change (see Malachi 3:6, James 1:17, and Hebrews 13:8) then it produces a solid foundation for which we can place our hope, trust, and faith.
The writer of Hebrews reminds us that “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).
So if we desire to please God and draw near to Him, then our faith must be grounded upon a bedrock of truth – the fact that God cannot violate His nature (God is not a liar, God cannot sin, God doesn’t produce selfishness, etc) and that His nature does not change, for in Him “there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17).
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Show Notes / Additional Resources
God cannot lie or violate His nature … and He does not change.
- Numbers 23:19 – God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
- Psalm 102:27 – You are the same …
- Malachi 3:6 – For I am the LORD, I do not change …
- James 1:17 – [God], with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
- Hebrews 13:8 – Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
- See also: Psalm 33:11, 90:2, 102:25-27, 119:89-90; Isaiah 40:8, 40:28, 44:6; Jeremiah 10:10; 2 Timothy 2:13; Hebrews 6:13-19, 7:24; James 1:17; Revelation 22:13
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About NRJohnson & the Deeper Christian Podcast
NRJohnson (Nathan Johnson) is a Christian who has an overwhelming passion for Jesus, the Gospel, and Studying God’s Word. He is a writer, teacher, and communicator who helps other believers understand and apply the Bible as they grow and mature in their faith—desiring that they gain greater intimacy with Christ, experience the victorious Christian life, and transform the world through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Read more about him here.
The Deeper Christian Podcast is the podcast to help you study God’s Word, know Jesus intimately, and discover how you can build your life around Jesus Christ. This weekly audio program, hosted by NRJohnson, dives into Scripture and encourages Christians to keep their focus upon Jesus Christ—equipping believers in how to study the Bible and know God’s Word, grow in their spiritual lives, and change the world. Main discussion topics center around practical advice on Christian living, Bible study, prayer, the Gospel, freedom from sin, evangelism and how to share your faith, the Christian disciplines, and the lives and messages from the Christian heroes from yesteryear such as A.W. Tozer, Charles Spurgeon, Major Ian Thomas, Oswald Chambers, Hudson Taylor, Amy Carmichael, Corrie Ten Boom, C.T. Studd, George Müller, Andrew Murray, Leonard Ravenhill, E.M. Bounds, and others. Learn more about the deeper Christian life.