God can do all that he wills, but he will not do all that he can. In short, he has absolute power over his own power. He cannot, for instance…
(a) Do logically nonsensical things such as making a shorter than a straight line between two points, make A be not-A, create a rock to large to lift, etc.
(b) Do immoral things
Titus 1:2—God…cannot lie.
Numbers 23:19—God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
(c) Act contrarily to his own will
Hebrews 2:17—He had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.
Matthew 26:39—My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.
Note: This is not to say that God is under any external compulsion to do these things. His actions are never necessary in this sense or he would cease to be free. All his acts are voluntary. Nonetheless he may, by an act of his own will, oblige himself to a certain course of action.
God’s omnipotence, like all his attributes, cannot be ceded in any sense to his creatures. Some suggest that God voluntarily ceded self-sovereignty to humans such that they have control over their own salvation. God is thus regarded not as omnipotent, but as “omnicompetent” and wholly impotent in the matter of redemption. This is summarily refuted by the witness of Scripture:
Election: Romans 9:21–23—Does not the potter have the power to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory.
Regeneration: John 1:12–13—To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
Faith: Matthew 19:16, 27—The disciples asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
d. Practical Values
(1) That which is impossible for us is possible with God (Matt 19:25–26).
(2) The events in our lives are not only within the scope of his knowledge and wisdom: God also has infinite power to effect his ends.
Stand Firm! 