surfsouthoz

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“...with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26​

We have all heard this verse and believe God can do anything. Then we read other verses like Jeremiah 32:17 and it confirms our belief,
“17 Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:”​

But then... Some preacher shares some difficult questions people ask like,
“Can God make a rock so heavy that he can’t lift it?”, and it makes you think a little harder.

I have long believed there are some things God can’t do like interfere with the free will that he gave us. So I set out this afternoon to find biblical evidence of the things God can’t do and this is what I found.
(Please let me know if I missed something).

1: God cannot lie
Titus 1:2 (KJV)
2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

Hebrews 6:18 (KJV)
That by two immutable things, in which [it was] impossible for God to lie...

Psalm 89:35&37 (KJV)
“35 Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie ...37 It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.”

2: God cannot be tempted
James 1:13 (NKJV)
13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

3: God cannot temp man
James 1:13 (NKJV) - Again
13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
(This is one lesser example of my previously stated belief that God cannot cause us to go against the free will he gave us).

4: God cannot deny himself
2 Timothy 2:13 (KJV)
13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

5: God could not stay dead
Acts 2:24 (KJV)
Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. (Death)

6. God cannot fail
14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.
 
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Doug Melven

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2: God cannot be tempted
James 1:13 (NKJV)
13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
You should rephrase this point to say, "God cannot be tempted with evil".
If He couldn't be tempted, why these Scriptures?

Exodus 17:2 Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD?
Deuteronomy 6:16 Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.
Isaiah 7:12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD.
Matthew 4:7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Acts 5:9 Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.
 
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Dpca10112

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You should rephrase this point to say, "God cannot be tempted with evil".
If He couldn't be tempted, why these Scriptures?

Exodus 17:2 Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD?
Deuteronomy 6:16 Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.
Isaiah 7:12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD.
Matthew 4:7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Acts 5:9 Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.

It doesn’t say anywhere in any of these Bible verses that God was actually tempted. What these Bible verses say, is that people tried to tempt God and that people shouldn’t tempt God.
 
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surfsouthoz

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Thanks Doug for the verses you brought up, it’s been a good study and really highlighted a couple of scriptural gems for me.

Firstly, I will stick to my original wording.

The word evil is in my quote but I don’t believe God can be tempted with good either.

Now for the exegesis.

In Ex 17:2 & Deut 6:16.
The word ‘tempt’ H5254 (Nacah) is defined...
to test, try, prove, tempt, assay, put to the proof or test

This is not a word used to describe something enticing (really, what do we have that could entice God?), but rather something used as a test. This word was used because the Israelites did not believe God was with them. This is proven just 5 verses later

“7 And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?”


Isaiah 7:12
(I am so glad you posted this verse, it leads on to a beautiful promise about Jesus knowing and refusing evil but choosing good), any way...

Please read this chapter.
In summary Syria and Israel went to war against Ahaz in Jerusalem. Ahaz was distraught. God sent Isaiah to comfort him saying that “it shall not stand, it shall not come to pass”. On top of that, so that Ahaz would believe Isaiah, God himself spoke to Ahaz saying “11 Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God;”

Ahaz (in the verse you quote) then Refuses saying “I will not ask (enquire), neither will I tempt (test) the LORD.

So why did he refuse? I don’t know exactly, does it show faith in God’s promises? Maybe. But we do know how God took it. The very next verse basically says (my paraphrase) Do you really think you can weary God (with your enquiries)? (God didn’t think it was a temptation attempt)

14 (Because of this) “the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

In short, God asked Ahaz what he wanted, Ahaz said nothing, God said well I’ll give you something anyway! This is hardly Ahaz trying to tempt God.


Matthew 4:7 is Jesus talking to Satan in the desert and is referring back to the Deuteronomy verse. Again the word test is probably closer than how we understand the word tempt.


Acts 5:9 is the only verse you quote that uses the same Greek word as James 1:13

G3985 peirazō
A) to try whether a thing can be done
1 to attempt, endeavour
B) to try, make trial of, test: for the purpose of ascertaining his quality, or what he thinks, or how he will behave himself.

In fact the quote you singled out used the word Apeirazō which emphasizes the fact God is a- (not or without) peirazō

(This is actually really amazing evidence of the grace that God has for us. That he gave his life for us without putting us through trials to determine our quality).

Ananias and Sapphira tried to test the boundaries of the Holy Spirit through selfishness deceit and lies. This clearly was a ‘temptation with evil’. But what was the result? Did God change his mind?

It was Ananias and Sapphira’s qualities that were ultimately put to the test (by their own hand, not Gods).
 
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nonaeroterraqueous

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2: God cannot be tempted
James 1:13 (NKJV)
13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

The subject of this thread is about what God cannot do. The above statement is in passive sentence structure, which means that God is the object and not the subject. An unknown subject is unable to tempt God. This has nothing to do with what God cannot do.

13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
(This is one lesser example of my previously stated belief that God cannot cause us to go against the free will he gave us).

This verse does not state that God cannot tempt. It only states that he will not. Of course, it does beg the question as to whether there is any real difference between can't and won't when it comes to God. Temptation also has no bearing on free will. If I tempt you to sin, which even by your own doctrine I can do, then does than mean that you have no free will apart from me? No, you still choose to sin. I cannot predestine you. Nor does Calvinistic doctrine even hold that God predestines through the use of temptation. I don't think you really understand the debate on this one.

6. God cannot fail
14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.

This one actually goes against your free will argument. If God tries to win everyone over so that they shall not perish, then he cannot fail. If he does not win everyone over to himself, then we must conclude that he is not trying to do so, or he would have succeeded. Either way, he gets what he's after. You would be forced to choose among these three:

1) Either God does not love everyone, but he succeeds in winning those whom he loves, or

2) God loves everyone, but he fails to win most of them, or

3) God's love does not last (it fails), and he ultimately hates most of those whom he initially loves. He succeeds in getting what he aims for, but his aim changes.

The second and third options involve failure on God's part, and the first option is Calvinistic. Good luck.
 
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Doug Melven

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Firstly, I will stick to my original wording.
In spite of James 1:13.
That verse does not say "God cannot be tempted".
It does say, "God cannot be tempted with evil".
Jesus was tempted in the wilderness in Matthew 4.

God cannot be tempted to do evil, That is if someone tempts Him to commit evil, there is no chance of Him acting on that.
God responds the way He does because of who He is.
Being tempted and acting on the temptation are not the same thing.
Jesus, who is God, was tempted in all points, just as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 2:18

If you want to say that God won't act on any temptation He receives because of who He is, that is fine by me.
 
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“...with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26​

We have all heard this verse and believe God can do anything. Then we read other verses like Jeremiah 32:17 and it confirms our belief,
“17 Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:”​

But then... Some preacher shares some difficult questions people ask like,
“Can God make a rock so heavy that he can’t lift it?”, and it makes you think a little harder.

I have long believed there are some things God can’t do like interfere with the free will that he gave us. So I set out this afternoon to find biblical evidence of the things God can’t do and this is what I found.
(Please let me know if I missed something).

1: God cannot lie....

I think it can’t be said God can’t, more correct would be “God doesn’t want to…”.

And about the rock. I believe God could create that rock. And if He later would want to lift it, He could give more power to Him and be able to lift it again. :)
 
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