God's Immutability

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." (James 1: 17 NIV)

"For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." (Malachi 3: 6 KJV)

"God is perpetually the same: subject to no change in His being, attributes, or determinations. Therefore God is compared to a rock (Deut 32:4, etc.) which remains immovable, when the entire ocean surrounding it is continually in a fluctuating state; even so, though all creatures are subject to change, God is immutable. Because God has no beginning and no ending, He can know no change." (A. W. Pink)

Man is inconstant, but Lord God is constant. Man moves away, but Lord God remains. Man is unstable, but Lord God is stable. Man is fickle. He is "given to change." (Proverbs 24: 21 KJV)

The fact that God is immutable (unchangeable) is a great source of comfort and strength to faith. Lord God does not "change his mind." He does not learn things or become today something different than he was yesterday. We can know that if God loves us today, and is "for us" today, then so will he be forever. "Because I do not change," says Lord God, "you will forever be safe and secure."

"Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged." (Hebrews 6: 16-18 NIV)

The immutability of God's nature and of his word of promise afford great joy and peace of mind. To know that God is not capricious or fickle, like the gods of Greece and Rome, and like the idol gods of the Pagans, but a God who does not "repent" or change his plans, strengthens the mind of faith.

"He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind."" (I Samuel 15: 29 NIV)

"The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind..." (Psalm 110: 4; Hebrews 7: 21 NIV)

"The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations." (Psalm 33: 11 KJV)

"But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth." (Job 23: 13 KJV)

God's purposes are like his nature. They never change or fluctuate in the least degree. He is not of two minds, or "double minded," as are creatures.

"A double minded man is unstable in all his ways." (James 1: 8 KJV)

But, Lord God, unlike man, is "stable in all his ways." This is why he is "without passion" or "emotion," for he is ever the same. Paul intimated this when he said to Pagans, who thought the gods were fickle and mutable as themselves, being "emotional deities," and who thought that he and Barnabas, because of the miracles they performed, were "gods come down in the flesh," and were about to offer sacrifices to them and to worship them as "gods," -

"And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein: Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways." (Acts 14: 15, 16 KJV)

Lord God does not have "passions" as do men, and as the Greeks and Romans imagined their many "deities" to possess. No, God does not change in his thoughts nor does he have "feelings" as do creatures. If he loves or hates, it is only to express the state of his mind towards that thing or creature. God's passions, if we can call them that, are immutable.

So, God's nature and God's word are both without change. Every person who has trusted Christ to save him, and has been promised eternal life in doing so, can "count on" God to do exactly what he said he would do. God will not "let down" anyone who has put their faith in him.

"I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him." (Ecclesiastes 3: 14 KJV)

As God is eternal and unchangeable, so too are his works. What comfort are in these words! God and the things of God will last forever without addition or diminuation. When he saves sinners it is an everlasting work and it will last forever. Nothing of earth is sure, only the things of God and heaven are sure and steadfast.

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Hebrews 13: 8 NIV)

Thank God our Savior, Lord, and Mediator is also, like his Father, immutable and the same forever! He loves us today, he will love us tomorrow and forever.

"The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee." (Jeremiah 31: 3 KJV)

Eternal love! Without beginning and without end! Constant! Sure and certain! Unwavering! Stable! Enduring! Solid as a rock!

"Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end." (Psalm 102: 25-27; Hebrews 1: 12 KJV)

Friend, if you come to God, though Christ, "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14: 6), and put your hand into his hand, then you will be holding to "God's unchanging hand," and you will partake of his immutability, for he will, when he is finished performing his glorious work upon you, make you incapable of falling nor suffer you to be subject to any ignoble change. You will be too, as perfected beings, "the same, today and forever." Will you trust Christ today?