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 What does it mean when the Bible says that ³with God all things are possible?´

This question refers to a statement made by Jesus in Matthew 19:26 and its counterpart Mark
10:27. The totality of His statement was, ³With people this is impossible, but with God all
things are possible.´ The question is best answered by looking at the context of the statement,
which, beginning in Matthew 19:16, consists of a conversation between Jesus and a young rich
ruler. The keys to purely understanding the statement hinge first on what Jesus meant by ³this,´
and second, what He meant by ³all.´ Whatever ³this´ was is impossible with man, but with God,
³all´ is possible.

The scene opens up with a rich young man coming to Jesus asking Him ³what good things he
should do to inherit eternal life´ (Matthew 19:16). Jesus¶ response is important because He
begins to attack the young man¶s understanding of ³goodness.´ Jesus declares that only the
Father in heaven is good. This of course was not a disclaimer of His own deity, but a lesson to
His special audience that no one is good except for God. Continuing His discourse with the
young man, Jesus then said, ³but if you wish to enter eternal life, keep the commandments´
(Matthew 19:17).

Because he still did not understand, the young man¶s response to Jesus was to receive a ³laundry
list´ of commandments that he needed to follow in order to receive eternal life. Jesus replied by
listing five commandments that all deal with human relationships (Matthew 19:18-19). This is
important because He was making a distinction between having faith in the law (or in his own
abilities) and having faith in God; that is, the difference between the law and grace. The young
man thought that the law could save him, but Jesus knew that that was impossible. As John
MacArthur has written, ³Jesus was trying to impress on the young man both the high standard
required by God and the absolute futility of seeking salvation by his own merit. This should
have elicited a response about the impossibility of keeping the law perfectly but instead the
young man confidently declared that he qualified for heaven under those terms.´ ³All these
things I have kept,´ said the young ruler (Matthew 19:20).

Even after the young man failed twice to acknowledge his self-righteousness, Jesus continued to
try to expose the sin in his heart. The young man asked, ³What am I still lacking?´ (Matthew
19:20) Jesus replied, ³If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the
poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me´ (Matthew 19:21). At this, the
young man ³went away grieving for he was one who owned much property´ (Matthew 19:22).

At least two sins were revealed here: First, the young man was not as blameless as he thought he
was because he was guilty of loving himself and his possessions more than his neighbor, (which
was a broken commandment according to v.19), and second, he lacked true faith which requires
an unparalleled devotion to Jesus. This is when Jesus called over His disciples to teach them a
lesson. He said, ³it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to
enter the kingdom of God´ (Matthew 19:24). The disciple¶s response was, ³Then who can be
saved?´ or, ³Then how is it possible for anyone to be qualified to enter the kingdom of God?´
(Matthew 19:25)
This is where the famous and oft quoted verse comes in, which is the inspiration for our
question. Jesus replied, ³With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible´
(Matthew 19:26). This answers our first contextual issue, for we can now see that the ³this´
concerns salvation. It is impossible for man to save himself by his own merits, or for the law to
grant eternal life. The grace offered only by Jesus Christ is necessary. The question now is,
³What did Jesus mean by µall things?¶´

This part of the question concerns God¶s omnipotence, or, His m
. It is important to
understand that omnipotence doesn¶t necessarily mean that God is capable of doing anything that
He wants. There are things that God is incapable of doing, such as lying or denying Himself
(Hebrews 6:18; 2 Timothy 2:13; Titus 1:2). Because God cannot do certain things, however,
does not mean that He is less God because the things that He cannot do would actually take away
from His perfect nature. Instead, omnipotence refers to God¶s m
, which is unlimited (Job
11:7-11, 37:23; Revelation 4:8). That is, God can take the things that are impossible to man, and
make them possible because His power is unlimited, while ours is limited. The context of Jesus¶
statement in Matthew 19:26 is a perfect example of His unlimited power because while it is
possible for man to be saved, it is impossible for man to accomplish the goal on his own. God¶s
unlimited power is needed to make the possibly impossible, possible.

Scripture is full of verses that portray God making the possibly impossible possible. When
Abraham and Sarah were awaiting the promise of a son, even after they were well past child
bearing years, God told them, ³Is anything too difficult for the Lord?´ (Genesis 18:14) In the
book of Numbers when the Israelites were complaining to Moses about food, the Lord told
Moses that he was going to feed over 600,000 people for an entire month. Moses was skeptical,
but God said, ³Is the Lord¶s power limited? Now you shall see whether My word will come true
for you or not´ (Numbers 11:23). In the book of Job, after forty-two chapters of trials, Job was
able to answer God and say, ³I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours
can be thwarted´ (Job 42:2). The prophet Isaiah wrote, ³Behold, the Lord¶s hand is not so short
that it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear´ (Isaiah 59:1). Jeremiah said, ³Ah
Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by your
outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You´ (Jeremiah 32:17). Finally, in Luke 1:37, in
foretelling the birth of Jesus, the angel Gabriel told Mary, ³For nothing will be impossible with
God.´

It is easy to get hung up on the word ³all,´ but it is best to remember that the context of this
statement is in reference to salvation. God made a way when the way was impossible for us.
This is what it means that ³with God all things are possible.´

Jared C. Wellman