The immutability of God is defined as God's never changing character. He never grows, adapts or changes. His divine attributes and wholesome decrees are subject to no change or revision. He is immutable - a perpetual Rock, an immovable Stronghold, an unshakable Pillar of might! Creatures are subject to mutations but the Creator is not! Nature is subject to alterations but the Nurturer is not! Puppets are controlled by the strings of the puppeteer, but no archangel, no force in the universe, no power in heaven or below will ever control the Lord. None shall and none can shove Him from His almighty position. He is immutable forever and ever!
God is immutable, foremost, in His nature. He is consistent - there is no conflict in Him. He is constant - subject to no modifications. Our understanding may grow, our characters may develop, but His disposition does not. All His divine excellencies, attributes and perfections are solid, unmoved, unchanged, influenced by nothing outside of Him. His nature is constant with no variability. He does not change like the seasons. He does not grow like the trees. He does not age. Ah, the Lord diminishes not! Nor does He gain anything in the centuries. He is at His peak and at His best. He is in need of no change and is subject to no alterations. He is eternally composed and He will never decay. He has always been the same God. He has always been the same King. He has always been and will always be the same Lord and Ruler. Constant is His love. Constant is His mercy. Constant is His sovereignty. Constant is His compassion. Constant is His glory. Constant is His justice. Constant is His wrath - lest it be dealt with on the cross!
God is also immutable in His power. Ah, God is not bothered by that which bothers us! He was not troubled when a third of His angels rebelled. He scoffs at the armies of men and laughs at those who think they can plunder His kingdom. He is never moved or shaken from His place of power. His power, in all essence, is absolute, concrete, unyielding, unrivalled and unchallenged. None can stay His hand (Dan 4:35) or force Him to give way. His power will never change, never wane or never increase.
Thirdly, God is immutable in His Word. His divine Word, spoken or written, does not change. If He swears to do something by His Name, He will do it. If something is written in Scripture, we can trust that it remains infallible for all time. He will not take His promises back or change His mind all of sudden as if He were a wearied old man pacing back and forth. "For God's gifts and his call are irrevocable" (Romans 11:29). Such is the hope of a praying believer - that God will never change His mind. He will never turn back from His word or give up. Even if there is no current evidence, we can be assured that He will complete His promises to those who avail of them by faith. The Lord will finish the work He began (Philippians 1:6)!
Ah, imagine for a moment if the Lord were a mind-changer? Imagine for a moment if the Lord, like man, changes His direction and decides to condemn the very ones He has chose to love eternally? A terrifying thought isn't it? What if God raised His hands in surrender, exclaiming, "You know what? I'm fed up with humanity. They have been constantly sinning against me, constantly rebelling against me with their lifestyle and constantly provoking me to anger with their ungodly thoughts. I give up. I'll send no help. I'll send mo more hard truth. Those whom I have elected, I will forget. The promises I gave, I will withdraw. I'll leave them to themselves until they wake up in hell."
Oh but the Lord is not as such! If He is such, then He is not "God". If He changes His mind and takes back His words which He has declared, then His foreknowledge is not eternal and He is but a slave to some unknown power. He would be like man, like us in thought and emotion - in need of learning and maturity. But the Lord is not! He is the immutable One.
Some of us would probably say, but what about those moments in the Holy Scriptures when the Lord "relented"? Does that mean He made a mistake? Does that mean He cannot fully anticipate the future and thus relented? More importantly, does it mean that He changes His mind? Does it mean that His immutability is only applicable to some divine aspect but not His entire character? To this I shall answer using the words of Arthur W. Pink,
"Perhaps some are ready to object that we ought to read the following: "And it repented the Lord that He had made man" (Gen 6:6). Our first reply is, Then do the Scriptures contradict themselves? No, that cannot be. Numbers 23:19 is plain enough: "God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent." So also in I Samuel 15:29, "The Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for He is not a man, that He should repent." The explanation is very simple. When speaking of Himself, God frequently accommodates His language to our limited capacities. He describes Himself as clothed with bodily members, as eyes, ears, hands, etc. He speaks of Himself as "waking" (Psalm 78:65), as "rising up early" (Jer 7:13); yet He neither slumbers nor sleeps. When He institutes a change in His dealings with men, He describes His course of conduct as "repenting". Yes, God is immutable in His counsel. "The gifts and calling of God are without repentance" (Rom 11:29). It must be so, for "He is in one mind, and who can turn from Him? and what His soul desires, even that He does" (Job 23:13)... God's purpose never alters. One of two things causes a man to change his mind and reverse his plans: lack of foresight to anticipate everything, or lack of power to execute them. But as God is both omniscient and omnipotent there is never any need for Him to revise His decrees. No, "the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations" (Psalm 33:11). Therefore do we read of "His unchangeable purpose" (Heb 6:17)."
The Lord does not "rest" or "wake up". Nor does He have hands or feet. Yet, the Bible describes Him as such to accommodate the language of men and teach us at our level. Hence, when the Bible says "God relents or repents" it does not mean that God made a mistake, changed His mind and is now "trying" to accomplish things in a "better" way. The Scriptures is clear on Numbers 23:19 and Hebrews 13:8. God is not like us. He does not change. His will is constant. His promises are eternal. Besides, if God were a changeling, its all over! Imagine how confusing that would be? All His attributes are now subject to change. All doctrines are now fallible. Worse of all, we have a God who is not really a "god". He has either no omniscient eye to anticipate everything (so is therefore capable of mistakes) or has no omnipotent hand to execute what He so desires. If God changes His mind due to a failure to see or a failure to execute His will, we have no hope in prayer, no hope in His promises and ultimately, no hope for redemption.
But, then again, the Lord is not like such! He is immutable primarily because He is omniscient and omnipotent. He is moved by no external force or philosophy. He does not make mistakes. He does not relent like an impulsive youth lacking in discernment. Nay, the Lord God is the same yesterday, today and forevermore.
What then is the effect of the doctrine of God's immutability?
1) It grants comfort and security to His children. There is a hope to look forward to. There are promises to claim by faith. There is a never changing God who will fulfill what He has declared. There is a God who will never give up on us. 2 Timothy 2:13 - If we are faithless, He is faithful. We can be assured and encouraged that the Lord's everlasting love for His people (Jeremiah 31:3) will remain everlasting despite our momentary lapses to carnality. God is the Refuge we surely can run to. He never changes and is the same forever!
2) It magnifies the glory of God. The fact that God is an unmovable Rock. The fact that God is an unchanging Being plus the fact that His attributes, power and dominion is unchallenged, uninfluenced and unrivalled by anything outside of Himself - all these facts summed up together causes the believer to fall prostrate before the immutable One. Any revealed attribute, perfection or excellency of God always creates worship in His body of believers.
3) It removes confusion and anarchy which Satan seeks to create. As we have previously elaborated, if God changes His mind, then there is no definite ground for our faith. There will be no absolute truth to uphold. The opposite is also true. When there is the hard preaching of an immutable God, there is order, there is sanity, there is wise counsel, there is hope, there is faith, there is truth - unbendable and unchangeable. There is unity and an absolute sense of divine monarchy.
4) It provides godly confidence and makes it easier for His people to trust in all His declared promises, especially the finished work of Christ. How blessed is the believer who finds confidence and assurance on the cross of Calvary? Eternal salvation for a damned sinner is an impossibility if God were mutable. But He isn't and so is His counsel. The Lord is not a chameleon. We can trust Him - really trust Him! "Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you (Isaiah 54:10). We can rely and claim His promises daily without fear and doubt. The people who admire us today may conspire against us tomorrow. But the Lord is not like such, hence, we can trust Him with all confidence.
May the Lord's immutability encourage us to trust and admire Him even more!
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