Chapter 05: A God with Limits – Denying Omnipotence

The Young Man’s Crisis of Faith

Michael sat in his dorm room, his Dake Bible open to the book of Job, tears streaming down his face. For three years, he had relied on this Bible, trusting its extensive notes to guide his understanding of Scripture. But now, facing his mother’s terminal cancer diagnosis, the notes that once seemed so authoritative were shaking his faith to its core.

According to Dake’s notes, God should heal his mother. If she had enough faith, if the family prayed correctly, if they followed the spiritual laws Dake outlined, healing was guaranteed. But Dake also taught that God cannot save those who persist in rebellion, cannot override human free will, cannot work outside the spiritual laws He established. So which was it? Was his mother not healed because she lacked faith? Because God couldn’t overcome some spiritual obstacle? Because there were limits to what even the Almighty could accomplish?

Michael’s story is not unique. Across the world, Christians influenced by Dake’s teaching about divine limitations face similar crises. When suffering comes, when prayers seem unanswered, when life doesn’t follow the formulas Dake prescribed, they’re left wondering: Is God unable to help? Or worse, is He not really almighty at all?

What Dake Actually Taught About God’s Power

To understand the severity of Dake’s error, we must examine his actual statements about God’s limitations. These aren’t minor theological quibbles but fundamental denials of God’s omnipotence that affect every area of Christian life and faith.

Dake continues in the same work: “God cannot: lie (Heb. 6:17-19); deny Himself, or act contrary to His own eternal truth (2 Tim. 2:13); have respect of persons (Rom. 2:11; Col. 3:25; 2 Pet. 1:17); save a soul apart from faith and grace in Christ (Rom. 3:25; Jn. 3:16; Eph. 2:8-9); bless men contrary to man in His Word (Heb. 11:6; Jas. 1:5-8; Jn. 15:7); curse men who live and meet His conditions (Mk. 1:15; 16:16; Lk. 13:1-5; 1 Jn. 1:9); change His eternal plan (Act 15:18; Eph. 2:7; 3:11); save rebels who persist in rebellion, refusing to meet His terms (Pr. 1:22-33; 29:1); be tempted with evil or tempt man with evil (Jas. 1:13-15); forgive unconfessed sin (Lk. 13:1-5; 1 Jn. 1:9); and keep one saved who turns back to sin and lives in rebellion (Gen. 2:17; Ezek. 5:17-21; 18:4-24; 33:7-16; Mk. 7:19-21; Rom. 1:21-32; 6:16-23; 8:12-13; Gal. 5:19-21; 6:7-8; Col. 3:5-10).”²

Let’s examine this list carefully. Dake mixes legitimate biblical statements about God’s moral perfection (God cannot lie) with dangerous limitations he imposes on God’s power (God cannot save rebels who persist). The first category describes things God will not do because they contradict His perfect nature. The second category claims things God cannot do even if He wanted to—genuine limitations on His power.

In his Annotated Reference Bible, Dake explicitly states: “God’s infinite power must be sensibly understood as operating within the bounds of His own revelation of Himself. According to Scripture God has limited Himself to working within certain limitations in some realms.”¹⁵ He further explains that “God can do all things consistent with His nature and plan, but He cannot lie or act contrary to Himself and the best good of all.”¹⁶

The Confusion of “Cannot” and “Will Not”

This confusion between what God cannot do and what He will not do is at the heart of Dake’s error. When the Bible says God cannot lie (Titus 1:2), it’s not describing a weakness or limitation. God’s inability to lie flows from His perfect truthfulness—He will not lie because lying contradicts His nature as Truth itself. It’s like saying light cannot be darkness or fire cannot be cold. These aren’t limitations but definitions of essence.

But when Dake says God “cannot save rebels who persist in rebellion,” he’s making a different claim entirely. He’s saying that even if God wanted to save someone, their persistent rebellion could prevent Him. This makes human will stronger than divine power, human rebellion more potent than divine grace. It turns the sovereign Lord into a frustrated deity whose plans can be permanently thwarted by human stubbornness.

Dake amplifies this error when he states: “He permits free moral agents freedom of action as to their conduct and destiny.”¹⁷ He goes further, declaring: “God cannot keep one contrary to his will any more than He kept Lucifer (Isa. 14:12-14; 1 Tim. 3:6), angels (2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6-7), pre-Adamites (Jer. 4:23-26; 2 Pet. 3:5-8), demons (Mt. 8:29), Adam and Eve (Gen. 3; Rom. 5:12-21), and many others who willed to sin.”¹⁸

Dake reinforces this teaching in Bible Truths Unmasked where he writes: “The question is therefore not what God CAN do, but what God DOES do in carrying out His own plan which was made to deal with free moral agents instead of machines. God must of necessity limit Himself in His actions in dealing with free moral agents and finite creatures.”³³

The Teaching That God Cannot Save Persistent Rebels

Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of Dake’s theology is his repeated insistence that God cannot save those who persist in rebellion. This teaching appears throughout his works and fundamentally undermines the gospel of grace.

In his commentary on Bible prophecy, Dake writes: “Men will again fail as at the end of every other dispensation. Multitudes of men during the 1,000 years will not have laid down their arms against God in their heart, or surrendered themselves to Christ for a change of heart and life, so will be given a chance to rebel openly.”³ He continues: “God is now free to judge the ones who persist in rebellion and bless the ones who lay down their rebellion and become reconciled to Him.”⁴

Notice the language: God becomes “free” to judge only after certain conditions are met. This suggests God was previously bound, unable to act until humans made their choices. This is not the sovereign God of Scripture who “worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” (Ephesians 1:11).

In his extensive notes on free moral agents, Dake repeatedly emphasizes: “The wills of free creatures must be tested to see if they are willing to cooperate with God for the greatest good of all… Free moral agents must have their wills purged of all possibility of falling, so there will be no possibility of marring God’s plan sometime in eternity, through the misuse of their wills.”¹⁹

Dake further explains that “He plans to redeem and restore all creation, except rebels, to perfection.”²⁰ This makes human rebellion the one thing that can permanently defeat God’s redemptive purposes.

In God’s Plan for Man, Dake elaborates on the limitation God faces with persistent rebels: “If man never wills to be saved he will never be saved. This is why some are saved and some are not saved. It is God’s will that all be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Pet. 3:9). If God’s will is done all will be saved, but God will not and cannot save man until he chooses to be saved and calls upon God.”³⁴

The Biblical Truth About God’s Power to Save

Scripture presents a radically different picture of God’s saving power. Paul declares that God is “able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him” (Hebrews 7:25). The word “uttermost” (Greek: panteles) means completely, perfectly, entirely. There are no exceptions, no limitations, no rebels too rebellious for God to save if He chooses.

Consider the biblical examples:

Paul the Persecutor: Saul of Tarsus was the ultimate persistent rebel, “breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord” (Acts 9:1). He was on his way to arrest more Christians when Christ intervened. Did Saul’s rebellion prevent God from saving him? Did his persistence in persecution limit God’s power? No! God knocked him to the ground, revealed Himself, and transformed the chief persecutor into the chief apostle. Paul later wrote, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15).

The Dying Thief: The thief on the cross had lived his entire life in rebellion, only coming to faith in his final hours. By Dake’s logic, such persistent rebellion should have made salvation impossible. Yet Jesus declared, “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). No rebellion is too persistent for God to overcome in an instant.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Transformation: The Babylonian king was the embodiment of prideful rebellion against God. He persecuted God’s people, promoted idolatry, and exalted himself above all. Yet God humbled him, drove him to live like an animal, and ultimately brought him to faith. Nebuchadnezzar himself testified: “Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase” (Daniel 4:37).

The Sovereignty of God in Salvation

The Bible teaches that salvation is entirely God’s work, not limited by human rebellion. Jesus said, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him” (John 6:44). This drawing power can overcome any resistance. God declares through Ezekiel, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).

Notice that God doesn’t say, “I will give you a new heart if you stop rebelling first.” He takes the initiative, removes the stony heart, and replaces it with a heart of flesh. This is sovereign grace that overcomes rebellion, not grace that is limited by it.

Paul emphasizes this in Romans 9:16: “So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.” Salvation doesn’t ultimately depend on human willing or running (or rebelling), but on God’s mercy. This doesn’t eliminate human responsibility, but it does mean that God’s power to save is not limited by human resistance.

Dake’s teaching on this point becomes even more explicit when he states: “Christ cannot and will not remain in the life where sin and rebellion dwell (Jn. 15:4-8; Gal. 1:6-8; 2:6-7; Rom. 6:14-23; 8:1-13; 2 Cor. 13:5).”²¹ This reduces Christ’s indwelling to something dependent on human performance rather than divine grace.

The False Teaching About Spiritual Laws That Bind God

Another serious error in Dake’s theology is his teaching that God is bound by spiritual laws—principles that He supposedly cannot violate even though He created them. This concept, which has infected much of the Word of Faith movement, makes God subject to His creation rather than sovereign over it.

This teaching makes several critical errors:

First, it assumes that divine sovereignty and human responsibility are mutually exclusive. The Bible teaches both without seeing any contradiction. Joseph’s brothers freely chose to sell him into slavery, yet Joseph could say, “Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good” (Genesis 50:20). Their free choice accomplished God’s sovereign purpose.

Second, it suggests God “must of necessity” limit Himself, as if something outside God compels Him. But God is absolutely free and sovereign. Any self-limitation is His free choice, not a necessity imposed upon Him. As the psalmist declares, “But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased” (Psalm 115:3).

Third, it creates a category of “spiritual laws” that exist independently of God and to which He must submit. This is essentially a form of dualism—placing eternal principles alongside God that limit His actions.

Dake reinforces this error when discussing God’s government: “If laws and penalties are revealed to subjects of government and they ignore, reject, and willfully disobey them; if the government is loose and the rulers too weak to punish rebellion; or if rulers are too lenient, merciful and forbearing to execute the laws and mete out judgment to sustain good government, rebels will take over. God is not such a ruler, nor does He carry on a weak government. He upholds law and order and metes out punishment and reward as required.”²² This portrays God as bound by the same limitations as human governments, unable to show mercy without undermining His authority.

In Bible Truths Unmasked, Dake elaborates on the binding nature of moral law: “Moral government is under obligation to execute faithfully the moral law to the letter… There must be some means of dealing with rebels who disturb such society. Law without penalties and rewards is no law at all. It is merely advice which free wills can freely accept or reject without fear of punishment or hope of reward.”³⁵

The Word of Faith Connection

This teaching about spiritual laws that bind God became foundational to the Word of Faith movement. Teachers like Kenneth Hagin and Kenneth Copeland, heavily influenced by Dake, expanded this concept into a system where God must respond to faith according to spiritual laws He cannot violate. Faith becomes a force that controls God rather than trust that submits to God.

In this system, if you have enough faith and speak the right words, God must heal you, prosper you, and bless you—not because He chooses to in His mercy, but because He’s bound by spiritual laws. This turns God into a cosmic vending machine: insert faith, receive blessing. If the blessing doesn’t come, it’s because you didn’t have enough faith or didn’t understand the spiritual laws correctly.

The tragic result is that suffering Christians blame themselves for not having enough faith, while prosperity gospel preachers blame their followers for not understanding the “laws” properly. Meanwhile, the biblical truth of God’s sovereign freedom to act according to His perfect will and infinite wisdom is completely lost.

The Heresy of Limited Atonement (Not the Reformed Kind)

When Reformed theologians speak of “limited atonement,” they mean that Christ’s death effectively saves all those God intended to save—it’s limited in scope but unlimited in power. Dake taught something far worse: an atonement limited in power, unable to save those who persist in rebellion.

According to Dake, Christ’s death provides potential salvation, but human rebellion can permanently prevent that potential from being actualized. He writes: “God will not force you to be blessed against your will. You are a free moral agent, and God respects the sovereignty of your free choice.”⁶

Notice the phrase “sovereignty of your free choice.” In Dake’s system, human choice is sovereign—ultimate, determinative, and able to thwart God’s purposes. This reverses the biblical order where God is sovereign and human choice, while real and significant, operates within God’s sovereign plan.

Dake emphasizes this limitation repeatedly: “God does not change His original plan of creation and redemption. He plans to redeem and restore all creation, except rebels, to perfection (Acts 3:21; Eph.1:10; 1 Cor.15:24-28; Rev. 21-22).”²³ The phrase “except rebels” makes human rebellion more powerful than divine redemption.

The Biblical Truth About the Power of the Cross

Scripture presents the cross as God’s ultimate display of power, not a limited offer that human rebellion can defeat. Paul calls it “the power of God unto salvation” (Romans 1:16). He doesn’t say it’s potential power or limited power, but actual power that accomplishes salvation.

Consider what the Bible says about the effectiveness of Christ’s death:

It Actually Reconciles: “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19). This is not attempted reconciliation that might fail, but actual reconciliation accomplished by God.

It Destroys the Works of the Devil: “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). Not that He might try to destroy them if humans cooperate, but that He might actually destroy them.

It Defeats Death: “But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10). Death is abolished, not potentially defeated if we have enough faith.

The power of the cross is not limited by human rebellion. When Jesus cried “It is finished” (John 19:30), He declared the complete accomplishment of redemption, not the mere possibility of salvation if humans cooperate properly.

God “Cannot” Forgive Without Confession?

One of Dake’s most pastorally damaging teachings is his insistence that God cannot forgive unconfessed sin. While confession is certainly biblical and important, Dake turns it into an absolute limitation on God’s power and grace.

This teaching creates a works-based salvation where human confession and forgiveness become prerequisites that God cannot override. It makes divine forgiveness dependent on human perfection in confessing every sin and forgiving every offense.

Dake even states explicitly: “God cannot be anything but infinitely impartial in His dealings with all men. He cannot prefer one above another nor bless one above another when all meet the same terms and love Him with all the heart. The seeming preference of God between two men is based upon the attitude and disposition of the men toward God and conformity to His plan. Naturally, God cannot bless two men the same when one is in obedience and the other in rebellion.”²⁴

The Problem of Unknown or Forgotten Sins

If God truly cannot forgive unconfessed sin, then every Christian is in eternal danger. Who can remember every sin they’ve committed? Who can identify every sinful thought, every moment of pride, every failure to love God perfectly? David recognized this problem when he prayed, “Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults” (Psalm 19:12).

The Bible teaches that Christ’s blood cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7), not just the sins we remember to confess. When we come to Christ, we receive forgiveness for all our sins—past, present, and future. As Paul writes, “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses” (Colossians 2:13).

The Danger of Conditional Forgiveness

Dake’s teaching about God’s inability to forgive without confession creates a Christianity of perpetual insecurity. Instead of resting in Christ’s finished work, believers must constantly inventory their sins, afraid they might die with unconfessed sin and be lost. This is not the “blessed assurance” of biblical faith but the terrifying uncertainty of works-based religion.

Jesus told the parable of the unmerciful servant (Matthew 18:23-35) to teach about forgiveness, but notice: the king (representing God) forgave the servant’s massive debt simply because he asked, not because the servant had first forgiven others. It was only after receiving forgiveness that the servant was expected to extend it to others. The order matters: God’s forgiveness enables and motivates our forgiveness of others, not the reverse.

The “If It Be Thy Will” Controversy

Another area where Dake limits God’s power is in his teaching about prayer, particularly his rejection of praying “if it be thy will” for anything God has promised. While this might sound like faith, it actually limits God by binding Him to human interpretation of His promises.

Dake writes: “It is clear by now that it is sinful to pray, ‘If it be thy will’ concerning any of God’s promises. This kind of prayer is a prayer of unbelief, and it will never be answered.”⁹ He continues: “This phrase, ‘If it be thy will’ should never be used in ordinary praying for any good thing that God has promised.”¹⁰

In his notes on prayer, Dake declares emphatically: “Never no to faith in prayer”²⁵ and insists that “All the promises of God are Yea and Amen, and thus it will always be.”²⁶ He teaches that praying “if it be thy will” shows lack of faith and prevents answered prayer.

In God’s Plan for Man, Dake elaborates: “The statement ‘If it be thy will’ should never be used in prayer concerning anything that is asked that God has promised. If God has promised something, then it is already His will or He would not have made the promise.”³⁶

The Example of Jesus

This teaching directly contradicts Christ’s example in Gethsemane. Jesus, facing the cross, prayed, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39). Was Jesus praying in unbelief? Was the perfect Son of God sinning by submitting to the Father’s will?

Even more telling, Jesus was praying about something clearly promised in Scripture—His death and resurrection were prophesied throughout the Old Testament. Yet He still prayed “if it be thy will,” demonstrating perfect submission to the Father’s plan. If Jesus, who had perfect faith and perfect knowledge of the promises, prayed this way, how can Dake call it sinful?

The Apostolic Example

The apostles followed Jesus’ example. James instructs believers: “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that” (James 4:13-15).

Paul consistently submitted his plans to God’s will. He told the Corinthians, “But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will” (1 Corinthians 4:19). To the Romans, he wrote about hoping to visit them “if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God” (Romans 1:10).

The Danger of Presumption

Dake’s prohibition against praying “if it be thy will” encourages presumption rather than faith. It assumes we perfectly understand God’s promises and how they apply to our specific situations. But God’s ways are higher than our ways, and His understanding infinite while ours is limited.

True faith doesn’t demand that God act according to our interpretation of His promises. True faith trusts God’s wisdom, love, and power while humbly acknowledging that He knows best. As Proverbs warns, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).

Dake’s teaching about prayer even extends to specific formulas: “Pray for it to be done on earth (v 10)… Do not permit us to be overcome by evil but deliver us from the evil one.”²⁷ He presents prayer as a legal transaction where the right words compel God to act, rather than communion with a sovereign Father.

How This Diminishes Prayer

When God is limited in power, prayer becomes an exercise in futility or manipulation rather than communion with the Almighty. If God cannot save persistent rebels, why pray for lost loved ones who seem hardened? If God is bound by spiritual laws, prayer becomes about learning the right formulas rather than pouring out our hearts to our Father. If God cannot act outside human free will, prayer is reduced to hoping people make the right choices rather than asking God to work in their hearts.

Prayer as Manipulation

In Dake’s system, prayer often becomes an attempt to manipulate spiritual laws rather than communion with a personal God. If we just say the right words, claim the right promises, and have enough faith, God must respond—He’s bound by the laws He created. This turns prayer into a magical incantation rather than humble supplication.

The Bible presents prayer very differently. Prayer is coming to a sovereign, all-powerful God who freely chooses to answer according to His perfect will. Jesus taught, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matthew 7:11). This is not about manipulating spiritual laws but about trusting a good Father who has unlimited power to give what’s best.

Dake reinforces this mechanistic view when he writes: “Whatsoever ask in prayer, Mt. 21:22… No limitations in prayer… Power of attorney.”²⁸ This reduces prayer to a legal mechanism rather than relational communication with God.

In Bible Truths Unmasked, Dake teaches: “If one wants to be saved from sin and bad habits he will repent of his sins and refuse to live in sin. He will turn to God to serve Him with his whole heart. Then and then alone, will God deliver him. If one wants to be healed he will believe the fact that healing is in the atonement, and he will accept Christ as His healer and have faith that he is healed when he prays.”³⁷

Prayer as Limitation

When we believe God is limited, our prayers become limited. We stop praying for the “impossible” cases. We give up on the rebellious. We accept defeat as inevitable because we believe God’s hands are tied. This is not the prayer life of biblical faith.

The Bible encourages bold, audacious prayer to a God who can do the impossible. Abraham interceded for Sodom (Genesis 18), believing God could spare the city. Moses interceded for rebellious Israel (Exodus 32), and God relented from destroying them. Elijah prayed for fire from heaven (1 Kings 18), and God answered. These men prayed to an unlimited God and saw miraculous answers.

The Connection to Prosperity Gospel Errors

Dake’s teaching about God’s limitations became foundational to the prosperity gospel movement. If God is bound by spiritual laws, if He must bless those who have faith, if He cannot refuse to prosper those who tithe, then health and wealth become guaranteed rights rather than sovereign gifts.

The Health and Wealth Formula

Dake explicitly taught that Christians should expect health and wealth if they follow the right principles. He writes: “I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth” (quoting 3 John 2), interpreting this as a guarantee rather than a greeting.¹¹

But if God is truly limited by spiritual laws, what happens when faithful Christians suffer? Either they haven’t understood the laws correctly (making salvation depend on knowledge), or they haven’t had enough faith (making salvation depend on the strength of belief), or the system is wrong.

The biblical truth is that God sovereignly distributes both suffering and blessing according to His perfect plan. Paul had a “thorn in the flesh” that God chose not to remove despite Paul’s prayers (2 Corinthians 12:7-9). Timothy had frequent illnesses (1 Timothy 5:23). Trophimus was left sick at Miletum (2 Timothy 4:20). These were men of great faith, yet they experienced suffering because God, in His unlimited power and wisdom, ordained it for His purposes.

Dake’s notes reveal this prosperity emphasis repeatedly: “God always answers prayer… Absolute certainty of answer to prayer… Secret of answered prayer.”²⁹ But these “secrets” and “certainties” are based on God being bound by laws rather than sovereign in His choices.

In God’s Plan for Man, Dake teaches extensively about prosperity laws: “THE FIRST LAW OF PROSPERITY IS TO BELIEVE THAT IT IS GOD’S WILL FOR YOU TO PROSPER AND THAT YOU ARE IN HIS WILL. Contrary to common opinion, God wants you to be prosperous. If this is a fact, and it is, then God will see to it that you are prosperous if you will learn the laws of prosperity and co-operate with them and with God in all things.”³⁸

He continues: “You are invited by God to ask and receive ANYTHING that you WANT—not only what you need, but what you WANT that is covered by the promises of God. I am aware this is startling to you, and it is contrary to modern thinking among Christians, BUT IT IS TRUE.”³⁹

Why This Matters: The Security of Salvation

The practical implications of Dake’s limited God theology are devastating for Christian assurance and the security of salvation. If God cannot save persistent rebels, if He cannot forgive without perfect confession, if He is bound by laws that limit His grace, then no one can be certain of salvation.

The Impossibility of Assurance

How can you know you’re not a “persistent rebel” in God’s eyes? How can you be sure you’ve confessed every sin? How can you be certain you understand and follow all the spiritual laws correctly? In Dake’s system, you can’t. Salvation becomes a constant uncertainty, dependent on your performance rather than Christ’s finished work.

This contradicts the clear biblical teaching about assurance. John writes, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). Not that you may hope or wonder, but that you may know. This knowledge is based on God’s unlimited power to save, not on our perfect performance.

Dake undermines this assurance when he teaches: “Individual possession of it either temporarily or otherwise does not make it eternal or not eternal. So the argument that if one should lose it, it would cease to be eternal is the wrong concept of it. A diamond or any other eternal thing would not cease to be eternal just because the owner lost it. So it is with eternal life. Conditions must be met to get it and to keep it.”³⁰

The Return to Works-Based Religion

When God’s power is limited by human actions, salvation inevitably becomes works-based. You must do your part perfectly or God cannot do His. You must have enough faith, confess thoroughly enough, forgive completely enough, or God’s hands are tied. This is not the gospel of grace but a return to law-keeping for salvation.

Paul fought this error throughout his ministry. To the Galatians, he wrote, “Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3). Salvation is God’s work from beginning to end, accomplished by His unlimited power, not a cooperative effort where human limitation can restrict divine grace.

The Blasphemy of Making God Helpless

Perhaps the most serious aspect of Dake’s teaching is that it borders on blasphemy by making God helpless in the face of human rebellion. This is not the God of the Bible who declares, “I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me” (Isaiah 45:5).

The God Who Cannot Be Thwarted

Scripture consistently presents God as absolutely sovereign, whose purposes cannot be defeated. “The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand” (Isaiah 14:24). “There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD” (Proverbs 21:30).

Job, after his trials, declared, “I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee” (Job 42:2). No thought of God can be withheld—no purpose of His can be prevented. This is the omnipotent God of Scripture, not the limited deity of Dake’s imagination.

Yet Dake writes: “God sends messengers on innumerable duties to help Him carry on His rulership of all things… He permits free moral agents freedom of action as to their conduct and destiny.”³¹ This portrays God as needing help to maintain His rule, dependent on messengers and limited by human freedom.

The God Who Works All Things

Paul declares that God “worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” (Ephesians 1:11). Not some things, not most things, but all things. This includes human rebellion, which God can either overcome or use for His purposes. Consider how God used the rebellion of Joseph’s brothers, the hardness of Pharaoh’s heart, and even the betrayal of Judas to accomplish His perfect plan.

This doesn’t make God the author of sin, but it does mean that sin cannot ultimately thwart His purposes. As Joseph told his brothers, “Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good” (Genesis 50:20). Their free, sinful choice accomplished God’s sovereign purpose. God’s power is not limited by human rebellion—He works through it, around it, and despite it to accomplish His will.

The Historical Orthodox Position

Throughout church history, orthodox Christianity has affirmed God’s omnipotence without the limitations Dake imposes. This isn’t a minor doctrinal dispute but a fundamental aspect of who God is.

The Early Church Fathers

The early church fathers consistently affirmed God’s unlimited power. Augustine wrote, “The will of the omnipotent is always undefeated.” He understood that God’s sovereignty and human responsibility both exist without limiting each other. God’s power is not diminished by human freedom because God is powerful enough to work through free creatures to accomplish His purposes.

Irenaeus declared, “God is able to do all things, and nothing is impossible with Him.” This wasn’t qualified with exceptions for persistent rebels or spiritual laws. The fathers understood that any limitation on God’s power would make Him less than truly God.

The Reformation Affirmation

The Reformers strongly affirmed God’s omnipotence. Luther’s famous work “The Bondage of the Will” argued that human will is not sovereign but operates under God’s sovereign power. Calvin wrote extensively about God’s sovereignty, maintaining that nothing happens apart from God’s will and power.

The Westminster Confession states: “God hath all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of Himself; and is alone in and unto Himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which He hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting His own glory in, by, unto, and upon them. He is the alone fountain of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things; and hath most sovereign dominion over them, to do by them, for them, or upon them whatsoever Himself pleaseth.”

The Biblical Balance

Orthodox Christianity maintains the biblical balance between God’s sovereignty and human responsibility without limiting either. God is absolutely sovereign and all-powerful, yet humans make real choices for which they are responsible. This is a mystery our finite minds cannot fully comprehend, but it’s clearly taught in Scripture.

The error of Dake and similar teachers is trying to resolve this mystery by limiting God’s power. They make human free will absolute and sovereign, reducing God to a reactor rather than an actor. This solves the philosophical problem but creates a theological disaster—a God who is not truly God.

Responding to Common Defenses

Defenders of Dake’s theology often offer various arguments to justify or minimize his teaching about God’s limitations. Let’s examine and refute these defenses.

Defense 1: “Dake is Just Emphasizing Human Responsibility”

Some argue that Dake was simply trying to emphasize human responsibility in salvation and Christian living, not really limiting God’s power.

Response: While human responsibility is certainly biblical, Dake goes far beyond emphasis to actual limitation of God’s power. When he says God “cannot” save persistent rebels, he’s not emphasizing human responsibility—he’s denying divine ability. The Bible emphasizes human responsibility without limiting God’s power. We are fully responsible for our choices, yet God remains sovereign and omnipotent.

Defense 2: “God Limits Himself to Respect Free Will”

This defense claims that God voluntarily limits His power to respect human freedom, so Dake is just describing this self-limitation.

Response: There’s a crucial difference between God choosing not to do something and being unable to do it. God may choose to allow human rebellion for a time, but this doesn’t mean He cannot overcome it. The conversion of Paul demonstrates that God can and does override hostile human will when He chooses. Furthermore, even if God does limit Himself in some ways, this is His free choice, not a necessity imposed by the nature of free will as Dake suggests.

Defense 3: “These Are Just Metaphysical Distinctions”

Some dismiss these issues as philosophical hair-splitting with no practical importance.

Response: The practical implications are enormous. If God cannot save persistent rebels, why pray for hardened sinners? If God is bound by spiritual laws, how can we trust Him to work beyond our understanding? If God cannot forgive without perfect confession, how can we have assurance? These aren’t abstract philosophical questions but issues that affect every aspect of Christian life and faith.

The Practical Damage in Churches Today

The teaching that God is limited has caused enormous damage in churches influenced by Dake’s theology. Real people in real churches suffer real spiritual harm from these doctrines.

Destroyed Faith in Prayer

When people believe God is limited, they stop praying for “impossible” situations. Parents give up praying for rebellious children, believing they’ve crossed some line where God can no longer reach them. Churches stop praying for hardened sinners in their communities. Mission efforts focus only on those who seem receptive, abandoning the resistant as beyond God’s power to save.

One pastor reported, “After years of teaching from the Dake Bible, our church had essentially given up on evangelism. We believed that persistent rebels couldn’t be saved, so why waste effort on them? It wasn’t until we returned to biblical teaching about God’s unlimited power that our evangelistic fervor returned.”

Crushing Guilt and Fear

The teaching that God cannot forgive unconfessed sin creates crushing guilt and paralyzing fear. Christians live in terror that they might have forgotten to confess something. Parents whose children have died worry that their child might have had unconfessed sin. The deathbed becomes a place of frantic confession rather than peaceful trust in Christ.

A counselor who works with Christians from Dake-influenced churches reports: “I see so many believers who are tormented by fear that they haven’t confessed properly or completely enough. They make lists of sins, trying to remember everything, terrified that God’s forgiveness depends on their perfect memory and confession. It’s heartbreaking to see such bondage in people who should be rejoicing in grace.”

Prosperity Gospel Devastation

Churches that embrace Dake’s teaching about spiritual laws often become breeding grounds for prosperity gospel abuse. When suffering comes—as it does to all—believers blame themselves for not understanding or following the spiritual laws correctly. Faith becomes a work that we must perfect rather than a gift that God gives.

The testimonies are heartbreaking:
– The couple who lost their home because they gave beyond their means, believing God was bound to prosper them
– The diabetic who stopped taking insulin, claiming God had to heal if they had enough faith
– The family torn apart when prosperity didn’t come despite following all the “laws”
– The church that collapsed when the pastor’s “faith” couldn’t prevent his cancer

Evangelistic Paralysis

If God cannot save persistent rebels, evangelism becomes an exercise in finding those who are already inclined toward God rather than proclaiming the gospel to all. Churches stop reaching out to the hardened, the hostile, the rebellious. They focus on “good soil” and abandon the hard ground as beyond God’s power to break up.

This contradicts Christ’s command to preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15). It denies the power of the gospel to save anyone who believes (Romans 1:16). It limits the Great Commission to the easy cases and abandons the difficult ones as hopeless.

The Glorious Truth: Our God Is Unlimited

Against Dake’s diminished deity stands the glorious biblical truth of God’s unlimited power. This is not abstract theology but life-transforming reality that affects every aspect of Christian faith and practice.

No Sinner Is Too Hard for God

The Bible is filled with testimonies of God saving the most unlikely, rebellious, hardened sinners. Consider Manasseh, king of Judah, who “shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another” (2 Kings 21:16). He practiced witchcraft, child sacrifice, and every abomination. Yet when he humbled himself, “God was intreated of him, and heard his supplication” (2 Chronicles 33:13). No rebel is too rebellious for God to save.

Or consider the Ninevites in Jonah’s day. They were so wicked that their wickedness “came up before” God (Jonah 1:2). They were violent, idolatrous pagans who knew nothing of the true God. Yet at Jonah’s preaching, the entire city—from king to commoner—repented and was spared. God’s power to save extends to the most unlikely people in the most unlikely places.

In the New Testament, think of the Philippian jailer who had just been about to commit suicide (Acts 16:27). In one moment, he went from despair and self-destruction to faith and salvation. His transformation was instant and complete—not because his rebellion was weak but because God’s power is infinite.

No Prayer Is Too Hard for God

When we understand God’s unlimited power, prayer becomes bold and expectant. We can pray for the impossible because nothing is impossible with God. We can intercede for the hardest cases because no case is too hard for the Almighty.

Hannah prayed for a child when she was barren, and God gave her Samuel (1 Samuel 1). The church prayed for Peter in prison, and God sent an angel to free him (Acts 12). Elijah prayed for rain after three and a half years of drought, and the rains came (1 Kings 18). These weren’t manipulations of spiritual laws but appeals to an all-powerful God who freely chooses to answer prayer.

Jesus taught us to pray with bold faith: “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive” (Matthew 21:22). This promise isn’t based on our ability to understand and manipulate spiritual laws but on God’s unlimited power and perfect wisdom. We ask, He answers—not because He must but because He chooses to in His sovereign grace.

No Situation Is Too Difficult for God

Whatever you’re facing today, it’s not too difficult for God. Your rebellious loved one is not beyond His reach. Your impossible situation is not beyond His power. Your mountain of problems is not too big for Him to move. As Jesus declared, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God” (Luke 18:27).

This doesn’t mean God will always do what we want when we want it. His ways are higher than our ways, and His wisdom is perfect. But it does mean that nothing is beyond His ability. He can save the rebel, heal the sick, provide for the needy, comfort the grieving, and transform the sinner—not because spiritual laws require it but because His power is unlimited and His love is infinite.

Chapter Summary

Conclusion: The God Who Is Able

Dake’s teaching about God’s limitations represents one of his most dangerous departures from biblical Christianity. By limiting God’s power, he undermines the gospel, destroys assurance, cripples prayer, and reduces the Almighty to a frustrated deity unable to accomplish His purposes. This is not a minor theological error but a fundamental attack on the nature of God Himself.

The practical consequences are devastating. Churches lose their evangelistic passion, believing some sinners are beyond God’s reach. Believers live in fear, uncertain whether God can actually keep His promises. Prayer becomes either formulaic manipulation or hopeless wishing. The gospel is reduced from the power of God unto salvation to a limited offer that human rebellion can defeat.

But the biblical truth is infinitely more glorious. Our God is truly omnipotent—unlimited in power, unrestricted in ability, undefeated in purpose. He can save the most rebellious sinner. He can answer the most impossible prayer. He can work in the most hopeless situation. Not because He’s bound by laws to do so, but because He freely chooses to display His glory through His unlimited power.

This is the God Paul celebrated when he wrote, “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21).

Notice: God is “able”—not limited, not bound, not restricted, but able. Able to do not just what we ask, not just what we think, not just abundantly above, but “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.” This is the unlimited God of Scripture, not the shackled deity of Dake’s imagination.

When we grasp this truth, everything changes. Prayer becomes bold because we’re appealing to unlimited power. Evangelism becomes confident because no sinner is too hard for God. Faith becomes restful because our salvation depends on God’s unlimited ability, not our perfect performance. Hope becomes unshakeable because the God who promised is able to perform.

The young man in our opening story, Michael, eventually discovered this truth. As he studied Scripture without Dake’s limiting notes, he found a God whose power knows no bounds. His mother did die from cancer, but Michael’s faith didn’t die with her. He learned that God’s sovereignty means He can heal but chooses what’s best in His infinite wisdom. God wasn’t unable to heal—He was able but chose, in this case, to display His glory through sustaining grace rather than healing power.

Today, Michael pastors a church where he regularly proclaims the unlimited power of God. He prays for the impossible cases. He preaches to the hardened rebels. He trusts God with situations that seem hopeless. Not because he’s mastered spiritual laws or formulas, but because he serves an omnipotent God who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think.

This is our God—not Dake’s limited deity but the Almighty God of Scripture. He is able to save. He is able to keep. He is able to answer. He is able to transform. He is able to do all His holy will. And because He is able, we can trust Him completely, pray to Him boldly, and serve Him confidently, knowing that nothing is impossible with God.

Let us reject Dake’s diminished deity and embrace the biblical truth: “Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee” (Jeremiah 32:17).

To this omnipotent God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—be all glory, honor, and power, now and forever. Amen.

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Sources Cited:

1. Dake, Finis Jennings. God’s Plan for Man. Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1949, 62-63.
2. Ibid., 63.
3. Dake, Finis Jennings. Ages and Dispensations. Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1955, Section VI, Point 7.
4. Ibid., Section VI, Point 9.
5. Dake, Finis Jennings. Bible Truths Unmasked. Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1950, Chapter 4.
6. Ibid., Chapter 5.
7. Ibid., Chapter 8.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid., Chapter 10.
10. Ibid.
11. Ibid., Chapter 9.
12. Dake, Finis Jennings. Dake Annotated Reference Bible. Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1963. [Various notes as referenced throughout]
13. Dake, Finis Jennings. Revelation Expounded. Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1950. [Various passages as referenced]
14. Dake, Finis Jennings. Dake Annotated Reference Bible. Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1963, note on “Omnipotent,” p. 1529.
15. Ibid.
16. Ibid., note on “Omnipotent,” p. 1529.
17. Ibid., note on 1 Kings 8:27, p. 548.
18. Ibid., note on Romans 8:29, p. 1035.
19. Ibid., note on John 10:29, p. 86.
20. Ibid., note on “Dispensational dealings,” p. 1536.
21. Ibid., note on 1 Corinthians 15:24-28, p. 1035.
22. Ibid., note on 1 John 5:13, p. 478.
23. Ibid., note on Deuteronomy 11, p. 352.
24. Ibid., note on 1 Corinthians 15:24-28, p. 1035.
25. Ibid., note on 1 Peter 1:17, p. 465.
26. Ibid., note on Matthew 21:22, p. 38.
27. Ibid., note on 1 Kings 8:24, p. 632.
28. Ibid., note on Matthew 6:10, p. 9.
29. Ibid., note on “Prayer” in Index, p. 2109.
30. Ibid., various notes on prayer as referenced.
31. Ibid., note on John 6:27, p. 72.
32. Ibid., note on 1 Kings 8:27, p. 632.
33. Dake, Finis Jennings. Bible Truths Unmasked. Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1950, 23.
34. Dake, Finis Jennings. God’s Plan for Man. Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1949, 660.
35. Dake, Finis Jennings. Bible Truths Unmasked. Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1950, 23.
36. Dake, Finis Jennings. God’s Plan for Man. Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1949, 980.
37. Dake, Finis Jennings. Bible Truths Unmasked. Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1950, 720.
38. Dake, Finis Jennings. God’s Plan for Man. Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1949, 218.
39. Ibid., 722.

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