Tennis can be fun unless you’re playing against someone way better than you are. When you’re playing against someone quite a bit better, they can hit the ball in ways that have you running all over the court. They might hit the ball way to your right so you have to sprint to make the forehand shot. Meanwhile, since you’re all the way over to the right, they’ll hit it to your far left so you have to run to make the backhand shot. Your return barely makes it in, which he returns by barely bopping it over the net. So you have to run with all your might to the net, only for him to lob it over your head so you have to rush back. You get the picture.
You ever feel like that in life? Life has got you running every direction, playing with you, and wearing you out. Like someone struggling just to return the ball over the net, perhaps you’re just trying to keep your faith somehow. Maybe you’re doing all you can just to stay Christian in an unchristian world. You’re just trying to follow Jesus when life’s got you going all over the place. You’re trying to stay in the game and not quit, but this particular fear keeps hitting hard at your backhand. This recurring doubt keeps you sprinting to catch that forehand. This temptation you keep struggling with keeps slamming you at the net every time.
You’re just trying to keep your faith somehow, but it’s often hard to have much confidence in yourself.
“You’re just trying to keep your faith somehow, but it’s often hard to have much confidence in yourself.”
Coaches want their players to have confidence. Teachers want their students to have confidence. Parents want their kids to have confidence. That’s why coaches teach their players what they need to know, so that on game day, the coach can say, “Now, you can do this.” Teachers teach their students what they need to know, and then on test day, the teacher says, “Now, you can do this.” Parents teach their kids about life, and so on the day they leave the kid at college, the parent can say, “Now, you can do this.”
What’s the point of the “Now, you can do this”? The point is to give that person confidence. In other words, the way I give you confidence is by reminding you of what you are capable of.
That’s the way it works on the tennis court, in the classroom, and in the home. I remind you of what you’re capable of to give you confidence. That’s not the way it works in the book of Hebrews.
What we’re capable of
In the book of Hebrews, the author wants to give his audience confidence, but the way he goes about giving us confidence is not by reminding us of what we are capable of. He is going to tell us what we are capable of, but the point of him telling us what we’re capable of is not to give us confidence. Let’s get a picture, from Hebrews 6, of what we are capable of:
“Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.” (Hebrews 6:7-8, NIV)
What are we capable of? What the author is saying is that, typically, the rain comes down and falls on the soil, the plant comes up, and everything’s great. But sometimes the rain comes down, the soil soaks it up, and yet, the only thing that comes up out of the ground is thorns and thistles. In other words, all that rain comes down, and yet all that comes up is worthless. All of us are capable of being that kind of ground: hearing the Word of God week after week, soaking it up, and yet, over time, all we give back to God are worthless thorns and thistles. That’s what we are capable of.
“All of us are capable of being that kind of ground: hearing the Word of God week after week, soaking it up, and yet, over time, all we give back to God are worthless thorns and thistles.”
In fact, if we back up in the text, it gets worse. What are you and I capable of?
“It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.” (Hebrews 6:4-6, NIV)
What are we capable of? We can taste the heavenly gift, the word of God, and the age to come, and we can even be enlightened by the Holy Spirit, and then—after all that—we are capable of leaving Jesus.
We are capable of receiving God’s grace, experiencing God’s blessings, tasting God’s goodness, and then throwing it all away.
And knowing that we are capable of that does not give us confidence.
Consider how much Scripture can go into the mind of a Christian, how many sermons a Christian can listen to week after week, how many prayers can be said for a Christian, and then, somehow, after all that, that Christian can reject Jesus. That’s what we’re capable of. Thinking about what humans are capable of should give us more anxiety than confidence.
“Thinking about what humans are capable of should give us more anxiety than confidence.”
What God is incapable of
The author of Hebrews wants to give his audience confidence, but telling us what we’re capable of isn’t doing the trick. So, he goes on to explain what God is incapable of. Could that possibly give us confidence?
Now, we might have figured that thinking about what God is incapable of would give us a lot of anxiety (whereas thinking about what we are capable of would give us confidence). That sort of thing provokes anxious questions: “Are you saying there are some things God can’t do? That there are some things that an all-powerful God cannot do?” We might think that worshiping a God who can’t do everything would give us anxiety, but again we would be wrong.
First thing God is incapable of…
So, what is it that God is incapable of? Hebrews is going to tell us a couple things God can’t do. See if you can catch the first thing God was unable to do:
“When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, ‘I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.’” (Hebrews 6:13-14, NIV)
The NASB says, “He could swear an oath by no one greater.” Why couldn’t God swear by anyone greater? It’s because there is nobody greater.
You’ve never heard anybody say, “I swear it’s true, and I swear on my big toe.” No one ever swears on their big toe. Instead, you swear by something greater than yourself. So, someone says, “I swear on my grandma’s grave,” or, “I swear on a stack of Bibles.”
God can do anything? “Why couldn’t God swear by anyone greater? It’s because there is nobody greater.”
When God makes a promise to Abraham—and he wants Abraham to know for sure that God is going to keep his promise—he’s going to make an oath to back up his promise. The problem is, what’s bigger than God for God to swear by? Nothing, so he swears by himself.
Second thing God is incapable of…
We were talking about God’s promise to Abraham, and now, the author of Hebrews is going to transition to God’s promise to us. See if you can catch a second thing God is incapable of:
“Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged.” (Hebrews 6:17-18, NIV)
It says God can’t lie. God is incapable of lying.
What “I can’t” can mean
Let’s review: We looked at what humans are capable of, and what does that give us? A lot of anxiety. We are capable of receiving God’s grace, experiencing God’s blessings, tasting God’s goodness, and then throwing it all away. Then Hebrews takes us to what God is incapable of: First, God can’t swear by anyone greater than himself because there is no one greater. Second, God can’t lie.
Now, when someone says, “I can’t,” what do they mean? “I can’t” could mean that my abilities won’t let me go that high. I can’t touch the rim. I can’t pass the quiz. I can’t eat spicy food. But sometimes, “I can’t” means my character won’t let me go that low. I can’t cheat at work; my character won’t let me go that low. I can’t flirt with another woman; my character won’t let me go that low. I can’t get even with that person; my character won’t let me go that low.
This is Horton the elephant in the Dr. Seuss’s book Horton Hatches the Egg. It doesn’t matter what the weather does. It doesn’t matter how hard the rest of the jungle laughs at him. It doesn’t even matter that they threaten to capture him. He’s going to keep sitting on that egg, because, as Horton puts it, “I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant’s faithful, one hundred percent.” When others would have broken their promise, his character wouldn’t let him go that low.
God can do anything? “First, God can’t swear by anyone greater than himself because there is no one greater. Second, God can’t lie.”
This is Samwise Gamgee at the end of the Fellowship of the Ring, when Frodo has decided to leave and set out on his own. Frodo’s paddling his canoe, and Sam starts to wade out into the water, but Sam can’t swim, and he almost drowns. When Frodo finally gets Sam safely into the boat, Sam says, “I made a promise, Mr. Frodo, a promise. ‘Don’t you leave him, Samwise Gamgee.’ And I don’t mean to.” Leaving Frodo would have definitely been the easier choice, but Sam’s character wouldn’t let him go that low.
When God says, “I can’t,” it is not because his abilities won’t let him go that high. Rather, it’s because his character won’t let him go that low. He can’t swear by anyone greater, because there is no one greater. God can’t lie, because lying is a sin, and God’s character won’t let him go that low.
In fact, most of the time when people have a problem with God, it’s because they wish God could go lower. They wish God wouldn’t care so much about sin. They wish God could just ignore certain sins with a smile and a wink. But his character won’t let him go that low. And it’s because God’s character won’t let him go that low that we have confidence.
“God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” (Hebrews 6:18-19a, NIV)
God can do anything? “God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged.”
During the storms, what do you trust to get you through? Some will trust in having plenty of money, but money breaks its promises. Some will trust in being a success, but success breaks its promises. Some will trust in their political leaders, but political leaders break their promises. Some will trust in their own strength and willpower, but strength and willpower break their promises. What the author of Hebrews is trying to say is that we can trust in God, because God never breaks his promises.
“If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” (2 Timothy 2:13, NIV)
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39, NIV)
Whatever life sends your way, you can trust God. He is our hope. When we trust in him, our hope is anchored in what is real and trustworthy:
“God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf.” (Hebrews 6:18-20a, NIV)
God can do anything? “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”
Don’t try to get your confidence by thinking about what you are capable of. Instead, get your confidence by remembering what God is incapable of.
- He’s promised you who trust in him power over sin.
- He’s promised you who trust in him resurrection.
- He’s promised you who trust in him eternal life.
He’s promised all that, and God can’t lie. You can keep the faith. Why? Because he is faithful.
