Is God all-powerful (omnipotent)? Is it true, as it is written in Luke 1:37, that there is nothing He cannot do?
God as an omnipotent creator is what I was taught growing up. It is what the Bible does indeed seem to teach (the foundational axiom is that the Bible is good for teaching and establishing doctrine).
So why do we have a common teaching that suggests God is not all-powerful?
Likewise, we know that God is not a man that He should lie.
God is not a man, that he should lie,
Numbers 23:19, NET
nor a human being, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen?
I assume that so far, you fully agree with me. These are basic tenets of the faith. It would seem that in answer to my question “is God all-powerful” the answer is, yes.
Is God a liar, then? We just answered that – no He is not a liar.
One more basic Christian teaching, those that do not confess Jesus as Lord are going to hell forever. So what do we do with 2 Peter 3:9 where it is written that God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to know salvation?
Either God is willing that some should perish (and the Bible is untrustworthy), God is not all-powerful (and cannot save), or God is a liar (and untrustworthy)?
1 Timothy 2:1-4 says to offer prayers for all mankind. It says that God wishes for all to come to salvation. It certainly sounds like it is God’s will to save everyone. Do you believe He can and will or do you believe that He has misled us?
Habakkuk 2:3 seems to suggest that Gods will is something that will be worked out in the fullness of time. We know so little about the life to come that it is impossible to say what God might do in that age.
So I ask you again, is God all-powerful and able to do save all mankind, or is he a liar and unwilling to do so? On the other hand, could the unknowable will of God enable – in some way we cannot fathom – that all will (eventually) be saved?