Chapter 08: Weakening God’s Omnipotence

When we speak of God’s omnipotence, we’re talking about one of the most fundamental attributes of the divine nature. The Bible declares without hesitation that our God is almighty, that with Him all things are possible, and that nothing is too hard for the Lord. Yet Finis Jennings Dake, through his hyperliteral interpretation and theological innovations, has systematically undermined this essential doctrine. What emerges from his teaching is not the all-powerful God of Scripture, but a limited deity bound by restrictions that go far beyond the bounds of His moral character. This chapter will examine how Dake weakens God’s omnipotence, creating a God who cannot truly save, cannot fully forgive, and cannot accomplish His purposes without limitation.

Dake, Finis Jennings. God’s Plan for Man: Contained in Fifty-Two Lessons, One for Each Week of the Year. Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1949.

The Biblical Foundation of Divine Omnipotence

Before we can properly understand how Dake undermines God’s omnipotence, we must first establish what Scripture actually teaches about divine power. The Bible presents God as absolutely sovereign and unlimited in His ability to accomplish His will. This doesn’t mean God can do the logically contradictory (like creating a square circle) or act against His own nature (like lying or denying Himself), but it does mean that within the realm of logical possibility and moral consistency, God’s power knows no bounds.

The testimony of Scripture on this point is overwhelming. In Job 42:2, we read, “I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.” The psalmist declares in Psalm 115:3, “But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.” Jesus Himself stated categorically in Matthew 19:26, “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” These passages, and dozens more like them, establish beyond doubt that God’s power is unlimited within the bounds of His perfect nature.

The Hebrew word most often translated as “Almighty” is El Shaddai, which appears throughout the Old Testament as a fundamental name of God. When God revealed Himself to Abraham, He declared, “I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect” (Genesis 17:1). This wasn’t merely a title; it was a declaration of His essential nature. Similarly, in the New Testament, the Greek word pantokrator (meaning “ruler of all” or “almighty”) is used repeatedly to describe both the Father and the Son.

Orthodox Christianity has always affirmed that God’s omnipotence means He has the power to do all things that are consistent with His nature and perfections. This includes creating ex nihilo (out of nothing), sustaining all things by the word of His power, working miracles that supersede natural laws, raising the dead, transforming hearts of stone into hearts of flesh, and ultimately bringing about the consummation of all things according to His eternal purpose. There is no power in the universe that can thwart God’s will or prevent Him from accomplishing what He has determined to do.

Dake’s Systematic Reduction of Divine Power

Against this biblical backdrop, Dake’s teaching on divine power stands in stark contrast. Throughout his writings, particularly in his annotated Bible and his book “God’s Plan for Man,” Dake places restrictions on God’s power that go far beyond the traditional understanding of divine self-limitation. Let’s examine his exact words to understand the full scope of his departure from orthodoxy.

In his discussion of God’s omnipotence in his annotated reference Bible, Dake writes: “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.”² He then directs readers to see his fuller treatment titled “30 Limitations of God”³ where he elaborates on what he believes God cannot do. This statement alone should raise serious theological red flags. What spheres could possibly exist outside of God’s operational capability? Who or what established these spheres? If God cannot operate in certain spheres, then by definition He is not omnipotent.

Dake goes on to elaborate on what he believes God cannot do, and his list is troubling. Dake further clarifies his position by stating: “We must therefore be sensible when we consider omnipotence—unlimited and universal power and authority within a certain sphere, or of a certain kind. God is Almighty and omnipotent in His own right of creation and redemption, and in His plan for man and all creations; but He has limited Himself in His dealings with free moral agents.”¹⁰ According to Dake, God cannot:

• Lie (Hebrews 6:17-18)
• Deny Himself or act contrary to His own eternal truth (2 Timothy 2:13)
• Have respect of persons (Romans 2:11; Colossians 3:25; 1 Peter 1:17)
• Save a soul apart from faith and grace in Christ (Romans 3:25; John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8-9)
• Bless men contrary to faith in His Word (Hebrews 11:6; James 1:5-8)
• Save men who meet His conditions (Mark 1:15; 16:16; Luke 13:1-5; 1 John 1:9)
• Curse men who meet His conditions (Mark 1:15; 16:16; Luke 13:1-5; 1 John 1:9)
• Change His eternal plan (Acts 15:18; Ephesians 2:7; 3:11)
• Save rebels who persist in rebellion, refusing to meet His terms (Proverbs 1:22-33; 29:1)
• Be tempted to do evil or tempt man with evil (James 1:13-15)
• Forgive unconfessed sin (1 John 1:9)
• Keep one saved who turns back to sin and lives in rebellion (Genesis 2:17; Ezekiel 3:17-21; 18:4-24; 33:7-16; Mark 7:19-21; Romans 1:21-32; 6:16-23; 8:12-13; Galatians 5:19-21; 6:7-8; Colossians 3:5-10)

Now, the first few items on this list are relatively uncontroversial. Orthodox Christianity has always taught that God cannot lie or deny Himself because these would be contradictions of His perfect nature. These are not limitations on God’s power but expressions of His perfection. A God who could lie would not be perfectly holy; a God who could deny Himself would not be immutable. These “cannots” are actually affirmations of God’s absolute perfection.

However, as we move down Dake’s list, we encounter serious problems. Notice how Dake transitions from things God cannot do because of His perfect nature to things God supposedly cannot do because of human actions or conditions. This is where Dake’s theology becomes not just unorthodox but dangerous. Furthermore, in his Bible’s definition of omnipotence, he clarifies: “Perhaps, it is not so much a question of what He could possibly do, but what He morally allows Himself to do.”⁴ Yet this distinction is precisely what Dake himself fails to maintain consistently in his teaching.

The Problem of Conditional Salvation Power

One of the most troubling aspects of Dake’s teaching is his assertion that God “cannot save rebels who persist in rebellion.” While it’s true that God has ordained that salvation comes through faith and repentance, to say that God cannot save certain people is to place a limitation on His power that Scripture does not support. The Bible teaches that God is able to save to the uttermost (Hebrews 7:25), and that He is patient, “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

What Dake fails to distinguish is the difference between what God will not do according to His ordained plan and what God cannot do. God has chosen to save through faith, but this is His sovereign choice, not a limitation on His power. The same God who hardened Pharaoh’s heart and later softened it, who struck Saul down on the Damascus road and transformed him into Paul, who can turn hearts of stone into hearts of flesh – this God is not limited in His ability to save anyone He chooses to save.

Consider the biblical examples that contradict Dake’s limitation. The thief on the cross was a “rebel persisting in rebellion” until his final moments, yet Christ saved him with a word. Saul of Tarsus was actively persecuting the church, breathing out threats and murder against the disciples, when Christ appeared to him and saved him against his will. Nebuchadnezzar was a pagan king in active rebellion against God when the Lord humbled him and brought him to faith. In each case, God demonstrated His absolute power to save even the most hardened rebels.

Dake’s error here stems from his hyperliteral approach to Scripture and his failure to understand the nature of divine sovereignty. When the Bible speaks of conditions for salvation, it’s describing God’s ordained means, not limitations on His power. God has the power to change any heart, to grant repentance to anyone, to overcome any rebellion. That He chooses to work through certain means and according to certain patterns is a matter of His wisdom and sovereignty, not a limitation on His omnipotence.

The Dangerous Doctrine of Lost Salvation

Perhaps even more concerning is Dake’s assertion that God “cannot keep one saved who turns back to sin and lives in rebellion.” This teaching not only undermines God’s omnipotence but also strikes at the heart of the Gospel’s assurance. According to Dake, God’s power to keep His children is limited by their behavior. This makes salvation ultimately dependent on human performance rather than divine power. In Dake’s system, “Christ cannot and will not remain in the life where sin and rebellion dwell.”⁵

Yet Scripture paints a very different picture. Jesus declared in John 10:28-29, “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” The phrase “no man” would include the believer himself. If God cannot keep a believer saved, then Christ’s promise is meaningless.

Paul wrote with absolute confidence in Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” If God cannot keep saved those who fall back into sin, then Paul’s confidence was misplaced. But Paul knew the power of God to keep what was committed to Him. In 2 Timothy 1:12, he declared, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”

The issue here is not whether believers should live holy lives (they should) or whether sin has consequences (it does). The issue is whether God has the power to keep His children even when they stumble. Dake says He does not; Scripture says He does. This is not a minor theological disagreement but a fundamental contradiction regarding the nature of God’s power and the security of salvation.

The Unforgiving God of Dake’s System

Dake also claims that God “cannot forgive unconfessed sin,” citing 1 John 1:9. Dake expands on this limitation, teaching that “Grace cannot permit God to forgive unconfessed sins”¹¹ and that “Grace cannot free the saved from being separated from God when sin is committed.”¹² But this interpretation misunderstands both the nature of forgiveness and the power of God. While it’s true that God has ordained confession as the means by which believers experience and appropriate forgiveness, to say that God cannot forgive without confession is to limit His sovereignty and power.

Consider Christ’s words from the cross: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Those for whom Christ prayed had not confessed their sin; indeed, they were in the very act of crucifying the Son of God. Yet Christ asked the Father to forgive them. Was this a meaningless prayer? Was Christ asking the Father to do something He could not do?

Or consider the paralytic brought to Jesus in Mark 2. Before the man said a word, before any confession was made, Jesus declared, “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee” (Mark 2:5). The religious leaders were scandalized precisely because Jesus was demonstrating a divine prerogative – the power to forgive sins unilaterally.

The danger in Dake’s teaching here is that it makes God’s forgiveness contingent upon human action rather than divine grace. It suggests that there are sins God wants to forgive but cannot because the sinner hasn’t performed the proper ritual. This is not the God of the Bible, who while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

The Physical Limitations of Dake’s Corporeal God

To fully understand Dake’s weakening of God’s omnipotence, we must also consider his teaching about God having a physical body. This doctrine, which we examined in detail in Chapter 5, has direct implications for God’s power. A God with a physical body is necessarily limited in ways that a spiritual God is not.

Dake explicitly teaches that God has “bodily parts” and exists in a physical form similar to humans. He insists: “God can be like man in bodily form and still be as magnificent as we have always thought Him to be. He can have a spirit-substance body and still be like man in size and shape.”⁶ In his notes on John 4:24, where Jesus declares “God is a Spirit,” Dake performs interpretive gymnastics to argue that this doesn’t mean God is only spirit. He contends that God has a “spirit body” with actual parts, including hands, feet, eyes, ears, mouth, and so forth.

Dake makes this even more explicit when he writes: “He is a Spirit Being with a body (Dan. 7:9-14; 10:5-6, 9-19; Exodus 24:11; Gen. 18; 32:24-32; Ezek. 1:26-28; Acts 7:54-59; Rev. 4:2-4; 5:1, 5-7; 22:4-5); shape (John 5:37); form (Phil. 2:5-7, same Greek word as in Mark 16:12, which refers to bodily form); and an image and likeness of a man (Gen. 1:26; 9:6; Ezek. 1:26-28; 1 Cor. 11:7; Jas. 3:9; Dan. 7:9-14; 10:5-6).”¹³ He further states: “God is known in Scripture by over two hundred names. He is described as being like any other person as to having a body, soul, and spirit (Job 13:8; Heb. 1:3; Dan. 7:9-14; 10:5-7).”¹⁴

The problem with this teaching becomes evident when we consider what it means for omnipotence. A God with a physical body, no matter how glorified or powerful that body might be, is necessarily limited by physicality. He can only be in one place at a time (destroying omnipresence, as discussed in Chapter 6). He is subject to spatial limitations. He must move from place to place. Such a God cannot be truly omnipotent because He is bound by the constraints of physicality. Dake acknowledges this himself, writing: “God’s body is not omnipresent, for it is only at one place at one time like others.”⁷

Dake makes his position even clearer: “Spirit beings, including God, Himself, cannot be omnipresent in body, for their bodies are of ordinary size and must be at one place at a time, in the same way that bodies of men are always localized, being in one place at a time. God, angels, and other spirit beings go from place to place bodily as men do.”¹⁵ He adds: “God personally dwells in Heaven, not everywhere. Jesus addressed His Father and referred to Him as being in Heaven. Eighteen times He said, ‘Father which is in heaven’ (Matt. 5:16, 45, 48; 6:1, 9; 7:11, 21, etc.). Shall we conclude that Jesus did not know what He was talking about? Not one time does one Scripture refer to God as being bodily everywhere. God is omni-present but not omni-body, that is, His presence can be felt by moral agents who are everywhere, but His body cannot be seen by them every place at the same time. God has a body and goes from place to place like anybody else.”¹⁶

Consider the implications: If God has a physical body, can He simultaneously uphold all things by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3)? Can He work all things according to the counsel of His own will (Ephesians 1:11) if He must physically travel from place to place to act? Can He hear and answer the prayers of millions of believers simultaneously if He has physical ears limited by the laws of physics?

Dake tries to resolve these problems by suggesting that God’s body is a special “spirit body” that doesn’t have the limitations of human bodies. But this is special pleading. Either God has a real body with real parts, in which case He is limited by physicality, or He doesn’t, in which case Dake’s entire argument collapses.

The Realm Restrictions: Where God Cannot Operate

Let’s return to Dake’s stunning claim that there are “certain spheres in which He does not and cannot operate.” This statement deserves careful scrutiny because it represents a fundamental departure from biblical theism. In traditional Christian theology, there is no realm, sphere, or dimension where God cannot operate. He is the Creator and Sustainer of all reality.

What spheres might Dake have in mind? While he doesn’t explicitly enumerate them all, we can discern from his other teachings some areas where he believes God’s operation is limited:

1. The Human Will: Dake seems to believe that God cannot operate in the sphere of human free will without destroying it. This is why he claims God cannot save rebels who persist in rebellion. But this confuses respect for human agency with inability to act. The Bible shows repeatedly that God can and does work in human hearts to accomplish His purposes. He hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 9:12). He turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward Israel (Ezra 6:22). He opens hearts to receive the Gospel (Acts 16:14). God’s ability to work in and through human will without destroying human responsibility is not a limitation but a demonstration of His infinite wisdom and power.

2. The Realm of Evil: Dake teaches that God cannot tempt anyone with evil and cannot be tempted by evil. While this is true in the sense that God’s holy nature prevents Him from being the author of sin, Dake extends this to suggest that God cannot operate effectively in situations involving evil. Yet Scripture shows God sovereignly using even evil for His purposes. Joseph could say to his brothers, “Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good” (Genesis 50:20). God doesn’t commit evil, but He certainly can and does operate sovereign over it.

3. The Sphere of Unconfessed Sin: According to Dake, God cannot operate in the sphere of unconfessed sin to bring forgiveness. This creates a realm where God’s grace cannot penetrate without human cooperation. But this contradicts numerous biblical examples of God extending grace to those who haven’t yet confessed or even recognized their sin. The entire Old Testament sacrificial system was based on God providing atonement for sins, including sins of ignorance that might never be specifically confessed.

4. The Domain of Persistent Rebellion: Dake suggests there’s a sphere of persistent rebellion where God cannot operate salvifically. Once someone reaches a certain level of rebellion, according to Dake, God loses the ability to save them. This creates a realm where human will trumps divine power, where created beings can establish a sphere of existence that the Creator cannot penetrate.

The Anthropomorphic Reduction of Divine Power

A significant aspect of Dake’s weakening of God’s omnipotence stems from his radical anthropomorphism – his attribution of human characteristics and limitations to God. Throughout his writings, Dake consistently interprets biblical language about God in the most literal, physical sense possible, failing to recognize the accommodative nature of biblical language.

When the Bible speaks of God’s “hand,” Dake insists God has a literal, physical hand. When it mentions God’s “eyes,” Dake maintains God has physical organs of sight. This hyperliteralism leads him to a God who is essentially a glorified human being – more powerful than us, certainly, but operating within the same basic framework of physical existence. He insists that “God is a person who is Spirit, infinite, eternal, immutable, self-existent, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, invisible, perfect, impartial, immortal, absolutely holy and just, full of knowledge and wisdom, in whom all things have their source, support and end… He is a Spirit Being with a body.”⁸

This anthropomorphic God necessarily has limited power. Consider the logical implications:

• If God has physical eyes, His vision is limited to what those eyes can see
• If God has physical ears, His hearing is limited to what those ears can hear
• If God has a physical body, His presence is limited to where that body is located
• If God has physical hands, His action is limited to what those hands can reach

Dake tries to avoid these implications by claiming that God’s physical parts operate differently than ours, but this is incoherent. Either they are truly physical parts, with the limitations that physicality entails, or they are not physical at all, in which case his entire argument collapses.

The biblical writers used anthropomorphic language not because God actually has physical parts, but because human language requires such metaphors to communicate divine realities. When the Bible speaks of God’s “eyes” running to and fro throughout the whole earth (2 Chronicles 16:9), it’s describing God’s omniscience, not suggesting that God has physical eyeballs that must literally travel around the planet.

The Power to Do “Greater Works”

Ironically, while limiting God’s power in numerous ways, Dake simultaneously claims that believers can exercise “unlimited authority in all the fullness of God.” In his book “The Truth about Baptism in the Holy Spirit,” Dake makes extraordinary claims about what believers should be able to do.

Dake writes: “The truth is that John 14:12 states the divine limitations to every believer. Until a believer can do the works of Christ he is not a normal New Testament Christian in power. He may have many other blessings from God, but if he does not have power like that of Christ he is coming short of his privileges, and there is nothing to be gained by denying this fact.”¹⁷ He further states: “Anything short of this power proves a human limitation to the promises, and anything beyond this will be a divine limitation.”¹⁸

According to Dake, every Spirit-filled believer should have power to:

• Do the works of Christ and even greater works than He did
• Destroy the works of Satan
• Bind and loose anything
• Cast out all demons
• Be immune from poisons and control wild beasts
• Heal everyone prayed for
• Raise the dead
• Get an answer for everything prayed for in faith
• Exercise unlimited authority in all the fullness of God

Dake’s teaching on believers’ power is extensive. He writes: “Every Believer in Christ Should Have Power to: (1) Overcome all sin and bad habits… (2) Cast out demons… (3) Be immune from poisons and control wild beasts… (4) Heal everyone prayed for… (5) Raise the dead… (6) Bind and loose anything… (7) Destroy the works of Satan… (8) Get everything prayed for… (9) Control the elements and do all kinds of miracles… (10) Execute judgment… (11) Get abundant provision for life… (12) Exercise power over all the power of the devil…”¹⁹

Think about the theological incoherence here. Dake teaches that God Himself is limited in numerous ways – He cannot save persistent rebels, cannot forgive unconfessed sin, cannot keep the saved from falling away, cannot operate in certain spheres. Yet he simultaneously teaches that believers can exercise “unlimited authority” and do “greater works” than Christ did.

This teaching reveals a fundamental confusion in Dake’s theology about the nature of divine power and human participation in it. When Jesus spoke of believers doing “greater works” (John 14:12), He was referring to the broader scope of the Gospel ministry after His ascension, not to believers exceeding His power. The “greater works” are greater in extent (reaching the whole world) and number (millions of believers ministering), not greater in power or authority.

The Problem of Divine Limitations in Prayer

Dake’s teaching on prayer further reveals his weakened view of God’s omnipotence. While he claims believers should “get an answer for everything prayed for in faith,” he simultaneously teaches that God cannot answer certain prayers because of limitations on His power.

For example, according to Dake’s system:

• God cannot answer prayers for the salvation of persistent rebels
• God cannot answer prayers for forgiveness without confession
• God cannot answer prayers to keep believers from falling away if they choose to sin
• God cannot answer prayers that would violate human free will
• God cannot answer prayers that would require Him to operate in restricted spheres

This creates a prayer theology full of uncertainty and limitation. How can believers pray with confidence if God’s ability to answer is restricted by numerous conditions and limitations? How can we trust in God’s power to answer prayer if there are spheres where He cannot operate?

The Bible presents a very different picture. Jesus taught, “If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it” (John 14:14). He declared, “All things are possible to him that believeth” (Mark 9:23). He promised, “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:24). These promises assume a God of unlimited power who can answer any prayer that aligns with His will.

The limitations on answered prayer in Scripture are not based on God’s inability but on factors like asking with wrong motives (James 4:3), asking outside God’s will (1 John 5:14), or lacking faith (James 1:6-7). These are conditions God has established, not limitations on His power.

The Mechanical View of Spiritual Power

Another troubling aspect of Dake’s teaching on divine power is his mechanical understanding of how spiritual power operates. He writes:

“The law of nature and the law of mechanics prove that two persons or machines of equal power can do exactly the same things to the same degree. The stronger of two persons or machines will be able to do more than a weaker one; each can do exactly according to the degree of power possessed.”

Dake applies this mechanical principle to the spiritual realm, arguing that anyone who receives the same spiritual baptism as Jesus should be able to do exactly what Jesus did. He states: “It is likewise true in the spiritual realm. To the extent one is endued with power from God he will be able to do the works of God. This we have already proven in point VII, 5, in the case of Elijah, Elisha, and others who had different measures of the Spirit. Christ received the Spirit ‘without measure’ (Jn. 3:34) and was unlimited in His power to destroy the works of the Devil. So will it be with anyone who receives the same baptism in the same fulness with which Christ received it.”²⁰ This reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of both divine power and the nature of spiritual authority.

God’s power is not mechanical or quantifiable like horsepower in an engine. It’s personal, sovereign, and operates according to divine wisdom, not mechanical laws. The Holy Spirit distributes gifts “severally as he will” (1 Corinthians 12:11), not according to some mechanical formula. Paul had a thorn in the flesh that God chose not to remove despite Paul’s prayers (2 Corinthians 12:7-9). Timothy had stomach ailments despite Paul’s apostolic authority (1 Timothy 5:23). These weren’t failures of power but expressions of sovereign wisdom.

Dake’s mechanical view of spiritual power leads him to conclude that if believers aren’t doing the same works as Jesus, it’s because they haven’t received the same fullness of the Spirit. This places the blame for unanswered prayers and unhealed sicknesses on believers’ lack of spiritual power rather than on God’s sovereign purposes. It creates a works-based spirituality where the measure of one’s relationship with God is determined by miraculous manifestations rather than faith, hope, and love.

The Biblical Meaning of “All Things Are Possible”

When Jesus said, “With God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26), what did He mean? Dake’s interpretation seems to be that God can do anything that doesn’t fall within his list of restrictions. But this misses the point of Jesus’ statement entirely.

The context of Jesus’ statement was the disciples’ astonishment at His teaching about the difficulty of the rich entering the kingdom of heaven. They asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus’ response – “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” – was meant to assure them that God has the power to save anyone, even those whose hearts are captivated by wealth.

This is precisely the kind of situation where Dake would say God is limited. A rich person trusting in wealth would be, in Dake’s terminology, a “rebel persisting in rebellion.” According to Dake, God cannot save such a person unless they first stop rebelling. But Jesus says the opposite – with God, even the impossible salvation of the rich is possible.

Throughout Scripture, the phrase “all things are possible” or its equivalent is used to describe God’s unlimited power to accomplish His purposes:

• “Is any thing too hard for the LORD?” (Genesis 18:14) – spoken regarding Sarah bearing a child in old age
• “I know that thou canst do every thing” (Job 42:2) – Job’s recognition of God’s absolute sovereignty
• “For with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37) – the angel’s assurance to Mary about the virgin birth
• “All things are possible to him that believeth” (Mark 9:23) – Jesus’ encouragement to the father of a demon-possessed boy

In each case, the emphasis is on God’s unlimited ability to accomplish what seems impossible to humans. There’s no suggestion of spheres where God cannot operate or conditions that limit His power.

The Sovereignty-Destroying Implications

Perhaps the most serious consequence of Dake’s teaching on divine limitations is what it does to God’s sovereignty. If God cannot save persistent rebels, cannot forgive unconfessed sin, cannot keep believers from falling away, and cannot operate in certain spheres, then God is not truly sovereign.

Sovereignty means supreme power and authority. A sovereign God is one who “worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” (Ephesians 1:11). He is the one who declares, “My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure” (Isaiah 46:10). He is the one of whom Nebuchadnezzar testified, “He doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” (Daniel 4:35).

But Dake’s God is not sovereign in this biblical sense. His God’s will can be thwarted by human rebellion. His God’s purposes can be frustrated by unconfessed sin. His God’s plans can be derailed by believers who choose to fall away. This is not the sovereign God of Scripture but a limited deity who must work within constraints imposed by His creation.

The Confusion of Will and Ability

A fundamental error in Dake’s theology is his confusion of God’s will with God’s ability. When Scripture speaks of things God “cannot” do, it’s almost always referring to things God will not do because they contradict His nature or purposes, not things He lacks the power to do.

For example, when Scripture says God cannot lie (Titus 1:2), it’s not suggesting that God lacks the power to speak falsehood. Rather, it’s affirming that God’s perfectly truthful nature prevents Him from choosing to lie. The “cannot” is moral, not metaphysical. God has the power to lie (in the sense of the raw ability to speak false words) but not the will to lie (because it would contradict His perfect nature). Dake himself acknowledges this in his annotated Bible, writing: “For example, He cannot lie (Tit.1:2; Heb. 6:18), which means that He is absolutely truthful and can be depended upon as being above lying. We say then that it is morally impossible for Him to lie. As to being able to utter words which are the opposite of truth, such is within God’s power if He would Permit Himself to do so; but He will not and for that reason it is declared that He cannot lie.”⁹

Similarly, when we read that God cannot deny Himself (2 Timothy 2:13), it’s not a limitation on His power but an affirmation of His faithfulness. God has the metaphysical ability to deny Himself but not the moral capacity to do so because it would violate His perfect character.

Dake fails to make this crucial distinction. He treats God’s moral “cannots” as if they were power limitations, and then extends this to create additional limitations that Scripture never suggests. The result is a God who is not only morally constrained (which preserves His perfection) but also power-limited (which destroys His omnipotence).

The Problem of Evil and Limited Omnipotence

Dake’s limitation of God’s omnipotence creates serious problems for theodicy – the theological attempt to reconcile God’s goodness with the existence of evil. If God is all-good and all-powerful, why does evil exist? The traditional Christian answer involves human free will and God’s sovereign purposes that we cannot fully comprehend.

But in Dake’s system, the problem becomes more acute. If God cannot save persistent rebels, cannot prevent believers from falling away, and cannot operate in certain spheres, then evil exists not as part of God’s sovereign plan but because God lacks the power to eliminate it. This makes God a victim of evil rather than sovereign over it.

Consider the implications for evangelism and missions. If God cannot save those who persist in rebellion, then why should we pray for the lost? Why should we labor to reach those who seem hardened against the Gospel? According to Dake’s theology, once someone reaches a certain level of rebellion, God Himself cannot save them, so our efforts would certainly be futile.

But Scripture presents a different picture. Paul instructs Timothy to gently instruct those who oppose themselves, “if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth” (2 Timothy 2:25). Notice that repentance is something God gives, not something that limits His power. We pray and witness because God has the power to grant repentance to anyone, no matter how hardened they may seem.

The Practical Consequences of a Limited God

Dake’s teaching on divine limitations has serious practical consequences for Christian life and faith. If we believe in a God whose power is limited in the ways Dake suggests, it affects everything from our prayer life to our assurance of salvation.

Prayer: Why pray for the salvation of hardened sinners if God cannot save persistent rebels? Why pray for backslidden believers if God cannot keep them from falling away? Why confess our sins if God cannot forgive unconfessed ones? Dake’s theology undermines the very foundation of intercessory prayer.

Evangelism: If God cannot save those who persist in rebellion, evangelism becomes an exercise in finding those who are already inclined toward God rather than proclaiming the Gospel to all. The Gospel becomes less about God’s power to save and more about finding people in the right spiritual condition.

Assurance: If God cannot keep believers from falling away when they sin, then assurance of salvation becomes impossible. Every sin becomes a potential loss of salvation. Every struggle becomes a threat to our eternal security. This is not the confident faith of the New Testament but a constant anxiety about our spiritual status.

Worship: How can we worship a God who is limited in His ability to act on our behalf? How can we sing “nothing is impossible” when we believe there are many things impossible for God? How can we declare His mighty acts when we believe His might is constrained?

Trust: If God’s power is limited, how can we trust Him in trials? When facing impossible situations, how can we have confidence that God can deliver us if there are spheres where He cannot operate? Dake’s theology undermines the very foundation of faith – trust in God’s unlimited ability to act on behalf of His children.

The Scriptural Testimony to Unlimited Divine Power

Against Dake’s limitations, Scripture consistently testifies to God’s unlimited power. Let’s examine some key passages that directly contradict Dake’s teaching:

Jeremiah 32:17: “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.” Notice the absolute statement – “nothing too hard.” Not “nothing too hard except for saving persistent rebels” or “nothing too hard except for forgiving unconfessed sin.” Simply nothing.

Jeremiah 32:27: “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?” God Himself asks the rhetorical question, expecting the answer “No, nothing is too hard for you.” This is God’s own testimony about His power.

Ephesians 3:20: “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.” Paul describes God’s ability as exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think. This is not the language of limitation but of infinite capability.

Revelation 19:6: “And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.” The Greek word here is pantokrator – the ruler of all, the almighty. This is the celebration of God’s unlimited power and sovereign reign.

The Heresy of Making God Less Than God

What Dake has done, whether intentionally or not, is to create a God who is less than God. By imposing limitations on divine power that go beyond moral perfection, he has fashioned a deity who is powerful but not omnipotent, capable but not sovereign, mighty but not almighty.

This is not a minor theological error or a difference of interpretation on secondary matters. This strikes at the very heart of theism itself. A God who is limited in the ways Dake suggests is not the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is not the God whom Isaiah saw high and lifted up. He is not the God whom Paul proclaimed to the Athenians as the one who “giveth to all life, and breath, and all things” (Acts 17:25).

The early church fought vigorously against any teaching that diminished God’s power or sovereignty. The creeds affirm God as “Almighty” (Pantokrator), maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. They recognized that to diminish God’s power is to deny His deity.

Consider what the Westminster Confession of Faith says about God’s power: “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.”

This is the orthodox Christian understanding of divine omnipotence – God is all-sufficient, sovereign, and able to do whatsoever He pleases. There are no spheres where He cannot operate, no conditions that limit His power beyond His own perfect nature, no created beings who can establish realms outside His control.

The Connection to Other Errors

Dake’s weakening of God’s omnipotence is not an isolated error but connects to his other theological problems. His teaching that God has a body necessarily limits God’s power. His rejection of omnipresence means God cannot act everywhere simultaneously. His questioning of omniscience means God might lack the knowledge to exercise His power effectively.

Moreover, his teaching on the Trinity as three separate beings rather than one God in three persons means that the Father’s power is separate from the Son’s power and the Spirit’s power. Instead of one infinite divine power expressed through three persons, Dake gives us three separate powers that must somehow coordinate their activities.

All of these errors compound to create a theological system where God is not truly God in the biblical sense. He becomes merely the most powerful being among many beings, limited by His physicality, restricted in His operations, and unable to guarantee the accomplishment of His purposes.

The Appeal of a Limited God

Why would anyone be attracted to Dake’s teaching about divine limitations? Paradoxically, a limited God can seem more relatable and understandable to human minds. If God is limited like we are (though to a lesser degree), then we can better comprehend Him. If God must work within constraints, then we can better predict His actions. If God cannot violate human free will, then we feel more in control of our destiny.

Moreover, a limited God provides ready explanations for unanswered prayers and ongoing suffering. If someone isn’t healed, it’s because God couldn’t overcome their lack of faith. If someone isn’t saved, it’s because God couldn’t penetrate their rebellion. If someone falls away, it’s because God couldn’t keep them against their will. These explanations might seem to preserve God’s goodness by excusing His apparent inaction.

But this is a false comfort based on bad theology. A limited God cannot offer the hope, assurance, and peace that Scripture promises. Only an omnipotent God can guarantee that “all things work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28). Only an almighty God can ensure that His purposes will stand and that His kingdom will come.

The Danger to the Church

The danger of Dake’s teaching on divine omnipotence to the church cannot be overstated. When believers embrace the idea of a limited God, it affects every aspect of their spiritual life:

1. Weakened Faith: If God is limited, faith becomes more about finding the right conditions than trusting in God’s power. Believers become focused on their own performance rather than God’s ability.

2. Diminished Prayer: Prayer becomes less about appealing to an omnipotent God and more about hoping we’ve met all the conditions that allow God to act. The confidence of prayer is replaced by uncertainty about God’s ability to answer.

3. Reduced Worship: How can we worship with abandon a God who is constrained and limited? True worship flows from a recognition of God’s infinite perfections, including His unlimited power.

4. Lost Assurance: If God cannot keep us saved when we sin, if He cannot forgive without proper confession, if He cannot overcome our rebellion, then assurance of salvation becomes impossible. We’re left in constant fear of falling away.

5. Compromised Gospel: The Gospel is fundamentally about God’s power to save. If God’s saving power is limited, then the Gospel itself is compromised. It becomes less about God’s mighty acts and more about human cooperation with a limited deity.

The Biblical Response to Dake’s Limitations

How should Bible-believing Christians respond to Dake’s teaching about divine limitations? First and foremost, we must return to Scripture and let it speak for itself without imposing artificial limitations on what it says about God’s power.

When the Bible says God cannot lie, we understand this as an affirmation of His perfect truthfulness, not a limitation on His power. When it says God cannot deny Himself, we see this as a testament to His faithfulness, not a restriction on His ability. But when teachers like Dake extend these moral perfections into power limitations, we must firmly reject such teaching.

We must also recover a proper understanding of biblical anthropomorphism. When Scripture speaks of God’s hands, eyes, or other body parts, it’s using human language to communicate divine realities, not suggesting that God has a physical body with its inherent limitations. God is spirit (John 4:24), and as spirit, He is not limited by physicality.

Furthermore, we must maintain the crucial distinction between what God has ordained and what God can do. God has ordained that salvation comes through faith, but this doesn’t mean He lacks the power to save apart from faith. God has ordained that forgiveness comes through confession, but this doesn’t mean He cannot forgive apart from confession. These are the means God has chosen, not limitations on His power.

Recovering the Biblical Doctrine of Omnipotence

The biblical doctrine of omnipotence is not complicated, though it is profound. Simply stated, it means that God has unlimited power to do all things consistent with His perfect nature. This includes:

• Creating ex nihilo (out of nothing)
• Sustaining all things by His powerful word
• Working miracles that transcend natural laws
• Changing human hearts and granting repentance
• Raising the dead
• Forgiving sins
• Keeping His people eternally secure
• Accomplishing all His purposes without fail
• Bringing history to its appointed consummation

This is not a God who is limited by spheres, conditions, or human rebellion. This is the God who declares the end from the beginning, who works all things according to the counsel of His will, who does whatever pleases Him in heaven and on earth.

This doctrine brings tremendous comfort to believers. We can trust that God is able to keep what we’ve committed to Him. We can have confidence that He who began a good work in us will complete it. We can rest assured that nothing can separate us from His love. We can pray with boldness, knowing that we’re approaching a God who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think.

The Testimony of Church History

Throughout church history, orthodox Christians have consistently affirmed God’s unlimited omnipotence. From the early church fathers through the Protestant Reformers to faithful teachers today, the church has recognized that to limit God’s power is to deny His deity.

Augustine wrote, “God is called omnipotent on account of His doing what He wills, not on account of His suffering what He wills not.” This captures the essential truth – God’s omnipotence means He can do whatever He wills, not that He is forced to do things against His will.

Thomas Aquinas, in his systematic treatment of divine attributes, carefully distinguished between absolute impossibilities (logical contradictions) and things God cannot do because of His nature. He maintained that God’s inability to sin or lie doesn’t diminish His omnipotence but rather confirms it, since sin and falsehood are not exercises of power but defects of power.

The Protestant Reformers were especially insistent on God’s unlimited power. Luther declared, “God is He for whose will no cause or ground may be laid down as its rule and standard; for nothing is on a level with it or above it, but it is itself the rule for all things.” Calvin wrote extensively on God’s sovereignty and power, insisting that nothing happens apart from God’s will and that His power is unlimited in accomplishing His purposes.

The great Puritan theologians continued this emphasis. Stephen Charnock, in his masterful work on the attributes of God, devoted extensive space to God’s omnipotence, showing from Scripture that God’s power knows no bounds except those of His own perfect nature. John Owen, writing on the perseverance of the saints, grounded the security of believers in God’s omnipotent power to keep them.

This unanimous testimony of the church throughout the ages stands in stark contrast to Dake’s innovations. When a teacher departs so radically from what the church has always believed about something as fundamental as God’s omnipotence, it should raise serious red flags for any discerning Christian.

The Practical Application: Living in Light of God’s Omnipotence

Understanding and believing in God’s true omnipotence has profound practical implications for Christian living. When we know that our God is truly almighty, unlimited in power, and sovereign over all, it transforms how we approach every aspect of life.

In Trial and Suffering: When we face trials that seem insurmountable, we can rest in the knowledge that our God is able to deliver us. Even if He chooses not to deliver us from the trial, we know He is able to sustain us through it and to work it for our good and His glory. We’re not at the mercy of circumstances but in the hands of an omnipotent God who loves us.

In Prayer: We can approach God’s throne with confidence, knowing that we’re not coming to a God who might want to help but lacks the power. We’re coming to the One who spoke the universe into existence, who raises the dead, who does whatever He pleases. This doesn’t guarantee that God will give us everything we ask for (He’s too wise for that), but it does mean that when we pray according to His will, we can be certain He has the power to answer.

In Evangelism: We can proclaim the Gospel with confidence to anyone, no matter how hardened they seem, knowing that God has the power to save to the uttermost. We don’t have to pre-judge who might be saveable and who might be too far gone. God can save anyone He chooses to save. Our job is to proclaim; His job is to save, and He has unlimited power to do so.

In Sanctification: We can pursue holiness knowing that God has the power to transform us. We’re not left to our own strength to overcome sin and grow in godliness. The same power that raised Christ from the dead is at work in us. God is able to make all grace abound toward us, that we, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work (2 Corinthians 9:8).

In Service: We can serve God with confidence, knowing that He has the power to use our feeble efforts for His glory. We don’t have to be powerful in ourselves because we serve an omnipotent God who can work through earthen vessels. His strength is made perfect in our weakness.

The Final Analysis: Dake’s God vs. the Biblical God

When we step back and survey the full scope of Dake’s teaching on divine power, we’re confronted with a stark choice between two very different Gods. Dake’s God is powerful but limited, able but restricted, willing but often unable. The biblical God is omnipotent, sovereign, and able to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think.

Dake’s God cannot save persistent rebels. The biblical God saved Saul of Tarsus while he was actively persecuting the church.

Dake’s God cannot forgive unconfessed sin. The biblical God forgave those who crucified Christ while they were in the very act.

Dake’s God cannot keep believers from falling away if they choose to sin. The biblical God keeps His people by His power and promises that none can pluck them from His hand.

Dake’s God cannot operate in certain spheres. The biblical God fills heaven and earth, and there is nowhere His presence and power cannot reach.

Dake’s God is limited by human free will. The biblical God works in human hearts to will and to do of His good pleasure.

Dake’s God must work within constraints. The biblical God is constrained by nothing except His own perfect nature.

The choice is clear. We must reject Dake’s limited God and embrace the omnipotent God of Scripture. This is not merely an academic theological preference but a matter of spiritual life and death. A limited God cannot save utterly, cannot keep eternally, and cannot guarantee the triumph of His purposes. Only the omnipotent God of the Bible can offer the hope, peace, and assurance that our souls desperately need.

Conclusion: Standing for the Truth of God’s Unlimited Power

As we conclude this examination of how Dake weakens God’s omnipotence, we must recognize the seriousness of this error. This is not a peripheral issue or a minor disagreement among equally valid interpretations. Dake’s teaching strikes at the very heart of who God is and what He can do.

The church must stand firmly against any teaching that limits God’s power beyond what Scripture clearly states. We must reject the notion of spheres where God cannot operate, conditions that prevent Him from saving, or limitations that restrict His ability to keep His people. These are not biblical teachings but dangerous innovations that undermine the Gospel itself.

Parents and pastors, Sunday school teachers and seminary professors, all who handle God’s Word must be vigilant to preserve and proclaim the biblical truth of God’s omnipotence. We must teach our children and congregations that our God is able – able to save completely, able to keep eternally, able to answer prayer, able to transform lives, able to accomplish all His purposes without fail.

For those who have been influenced by Dake’s teaching on this subject, we encourage you to return to Scripture with fresh eyes. Read the passages about God’s power without imposing Dake’s limitations on them. Let the Word speak for itself about the unlimited might of our God. You’ll find that the biblical God is far greater, far more powerful, and far more worthy of trust than the limited deity of Dake’s system.

Remember, the issue is not whether God has chosen to work through certain means or according to certain patterns. The issue is whether God has the power to act beyond those chosen means if He so wills. The biblical answer is a resounding yes. Our God is omnipotent, and with Him, nothing – absolutely nothing that is consistent with His perfect nature – is impossible.

May we never diminish God’s power to accommodate human philosophy or to explain away difficult passages. May we never create a God in our own image, limited as we are limited, restricted as we are restricted. Instead, may we bow before the omnipotent God of Scripture, trusting in His unlimited power, resting in His sovereign control, and glorifying Him as the Almighty God who reigns forever and ever.

The comfort of the Christian faith rests on this foundation: we serve an omnipotent God. He is able to do what He has promised. He is powerful to save and to keep. He is mighty to accomplish all His purposes. This is not Dake’s limited God but the unlimited God of the Bible, and in Him alone we place our trust.

“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

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