SALVATION

MAIN VERSE

• But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26, NKJV)

DO YOU BELIEVE?

• The Bible teaches that God is omnipotent, meaning that He is all-powerful.

• So that means He can do everything, right?

GOD CAN’T

• Since “all things are possible” with God, then He must be able to do anything, right?

• But how can He do all things, if it is impossible for Him to lie (“in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began…” Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18)?

• So is this a contradiction? Absolutely not.

WHO CAN BE SAVED?

• The problem is that we have not checked the context of Matthew 19:26.

• Jesus had just told His disciples that it would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it would be for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

• His disciples were amazed by this, and asked, “Who then can be saved?” (Matthew 19:23–25, NKJV).

WE ARE NOTHING WITHOUT GOD

• Jesus was talking about salvation when He said, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

• And that’s true.• Apart from God, no one can be saved. • We cannot save ourselves because we are

sinful, and we need Christ to save us.

GOD CANNOT SIN

• But Jesus was not teaching that God can do everything.

• We know there are many things that God cannot do. He cannot cease to exist.

• He cannot sin. “He cannot deny Himself” (2 Timothy 2:13).

• Nor can He do the logically absurd. • He cannot make a square circle or create an

uncreated being (since any created being is, by definition, not uncreated).

THE TRUTH

• The truth is that God can do all things that are consistent with His nature, and it is very important to understand this distinction.

• Too many Christians have fallen for the trap laid by skeptics and atheists.

LET THE DEBATE BEGIN

ATHEISTS ASKED:

• “Do you believe God is all powerful?”

AGAIN THEY ASK

• “Do you believe God can do anything?”

SKEPTIC MOVE

• “So can God make a rock so big that He cannot move it?”

END OF DEBATE

• The score: • Skeptic – 1 • Christian – 0

READ THE BIBLE

• The Christian loses as soon as He falls for the trap of agreeing that God can do anything.

• If believers would take the time to study their Bibles, they should know that there are many things that God cannot do.

GOD CAN’T DO EVIL THINGS• Making a rock so big that He cannot lift it

is another example of the logically absurd.

• If Christians would learn to simply say, “No, God cannot do all things,” we would be a lot better off.

• Not only would it probably take the skeptic by surprise to hear the biblical answer (which they probably haven’t heard before), but it would give you an opportunity to share the truth with them.

WORLDLY THINGS

• Finally, Jesus was not just selecting out the rich man in this passage.

• He had just finished speaking to a young rich man who had done a pretty good job in keeping the Old Testament law.

• However, when Jesus told him to sell everything and give to the poor, the man went away sad.

LOVE TO WORDLINESS

• Apparently, Jesus knew that the man would stick to his wealth, so it seems that His point was that the rich are often distracted because of their wealth.

• They don’t often think about their need for salvation, because their wealth affords them the ability to buy enough stuff or to be continually entertained, so that they do not stop to think about what is truly important.

WE ARE ALL EQUAL

• But Jesus did not let the poor or the middle class exempted.

• We are all guilty of sinning against the infinitely holy God, and without Christ, it is impossible for any of us to enter heaven.

• Praise God that He has saved all who call upon the name of the Lord, both poor and rich.