Issue 1276 – Unchanging – October 19, 2023
I mentioned a recent survey of American evangelical Christians in yesterday’s Gleanings. I don’t have the survey in front of me, but to the best of my recollection, half or more of the evangelicals surveyed believed God can change or that His knowledge is imperfect or incomplete somehow. I wanted to dig into that a bit more deeply this morning.
Can God change, or is that something theologians just made up? Let’s look at some of the biblical evidence.
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? Numbers 23:19
“O my God,” I say, “take me not away in the midst of my days— you whose years endure throughout all generations!” Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end. Psalm 102:24-27
For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. Malachi 3:6
So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. Hebrews 6:17-18
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:7
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17
I could go on and quote more passages, but the Scripture explicitly declares that God is immutable, that is, unchanging.
God never changes; there is no indication of God’s learning more or changing.
God is already omniscient (all-knowing), omnipresent (present everywhere), omnipotent (all-powerful) and perfect. If He is already perfect, any change would render Him less than perfect. If he is less than perfect, he might be mighty indeed, but is not by nature, God. Ergo, God cannot change.
As A.W. Tozer once wrote, “Immutability is an attribute of God; therefore, God at all times and in all of history must act like Himself!”
To worship a God who changes or reacts out of learning something He doesn’t already know is to worship some less-than-perfect “god.” Such a being is not the God revealed in the Scriptures.
If the “god” we worship can change, we are worshiping a false god. We cannot trust Him to deliver on His promises, and our eternal future is, at best, doubtful. We are not only to be pitied then for our empty hope but guilty of the sin of idolatry for worshipping wrongly.
May your hope be grounded in the one true immutable (unchangeable) Creator of heaven and earth as laid out in Scripture. May your faith be in the true Christ.
Be blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word
Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone)
__________________________________________
Please like and share this post with friends and your circle of influence. Also, feel free to comment.
Did you know that we have an email version? It has the same great content but in a different format. Subscribe today https://mailchi.mp/f27bbeb09c22/gleanings-1
_____________
All contents, “Gleanings From The Word” and “Experience an Extraordinary God in Ordinary Life,” are © 2001, 2023 KF “Kevin” Corbin Gleanings From The Word.
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is from the English Standard Version (ESV).
___________________________________________
#love #peace #hope #Gleanings #theWord #devotional #gospel#Christian #hope #encouragement #Biblestudy #faith #dailyBible #verseoftheday #grace #KevinCorbin #god #life #Jesus #father #son #HolySpirit #grace #mercy #hope #doctrine #theology #immutable #unchanging #attributesOfGod