Online Articles
That's Impossible!
A little boy was crying at the bathroom sink. His mother, who had sent him in there to brush his teeth before bedtime, heard him complain in frustration, “I can’t do this.” She called out and encouraged him with the assurance that he could do anything he set his mind to do. “OK, mom,” he replied, “can you come show me how to put the toothpaste back in the tube?”
There are, in fact, things that are impossible. That may sound like it flies in the face of passages such as “all things are possible to him who believes (Mark 9:23) and “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). But those verses are not meant to be viewed as absolutes. Can you defy the law of gravity if you believe hard enough? Can you pick up a building through the strength of Christ? As with every passage of Scripture, context is key.
In the book of Hebrews, the word “impossible” occurs four times. The same Greek word (adunatos) is used in each instance, a word that literally means “without strength” or “incapable.” Don’t let that discourage you. It should only strengthen our faith in God and His plan for saving man.
“It is impossible to renew them again to repentance” (Heb. 6:6). By itself, that sounds Calvinistic, as if those who wanted to be saved were somehow prevented by God’s foreordination of the elect few. But the word “again” provides the key. Two verses earlier, the writer of Hebrews identifies these people as those who have “tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away” (6:4-6). They had experienced the power of forgiveness and the blessings that come with repentance. But they made the deliberate decision to return to the life of sin that nailed Jesus on the cross.
Salvation is available to all. God certainly wills that all come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9). But until you decide that you are going to live for the Lord, it is impossible for you to be forgiven.
“It is impossible for God to lie” (Heb. 6:18). Because of His divine nature, God is “incapable” of lying. Such would violate His holy and righteous character. Being in direct opposition to everything sinful, He cannot sin. As Paul wrote in 2 Tim. 2:13, “if we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself.” This should not be viewed as a weakness, but a powerful testimony of His righteousness.
When God speaks, it is truth. When God promises, it is kept. That’s why we can trust Him when He says, “I will never leave you, nor will I ever forsake you” (Heb. 13:5). That’s why we can anchor our soul in hope when “this is the promise that He Himself made to us: eternal life” (1 John 2:25). Wishful thinking? Not possible.
“It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin” (Heb. 10:4). The book of Hebrews is aptly referred to as the “Book of Better Things.” One of its purposes was to show the superiority of the New Covenant over the Law of Moses. The Old Law did what it was intended to do, but “it was only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things” (10:1). Innocent blood was offered for sin, but it was the blood of an animal. The yearly sacrifices were a reminder of sins but did nothing to change the heart of the sinner.
Enter the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). What the Law of Moses was without strength to do, God did, “sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin” (Rom. 8:3). Through the blood of the Son of Man, we can become the children of God. Inconceivable? Not with God.
“Without faith, it is impossible to please Him” (Heb. 11:6). Sixteen Bible characters are commended by name in this great chapter of Hebrews. The thread that ties all of them together is their faith. It’s what caused Abel to offer a better sacrifice and Enoch to walk with God. It’s what motivated Noah to build the ark and Abraham to offer up his only son, Isaac. Such a faith drew them closer to God and His will for them.
Men of every generation are incapable of pleasing God without faith. This involves not only believing in the existence of the unseen God but being diligent to seek Him out until the end. Bible faith looks up to the spiritual world and out to the world that is to come. It is the foundation of our relationship with the Lord. Without it, no man can see Him.
When questioned by His disciples about salvation, Jesus responded, “with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26). God said so, and He cannot lie.
