God’s Unchanging Changeableness

               As we learned last week, there are two fundamental ideas that together form the basis of Calvinism. These are God’s sovereignty and God’s immutability (unchangeable nature). These two ideas, which have their roots in Greek philosophy, are really just opposite sides of the same coin; that is, since God is absolutely sovereign, man cannot affect his will, and therefore God never changes his mind in response to anything man does or doesn’t do. All of this leads to the basic tenets of Calvinism (the TULIP that we discussed two weeks ago). If the foundation falls, however, the whole building falls with it. With that in mind, let’s consider the foundational concept of the immutability of God. Does Yahweh God ever change?

                The Bible teaches on many occasions that God does indeed change his mind. The word “repent” (“to change your mind”) is often used of God. For example, in Gen 6.6-7 we learn that the Lord was sorry (“repented”) that he made man. In Ex 32.10-14 we see just the opposite, for here God was about to destroy the Israelites, but in response to Moses’ plea, “the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.” Again, in 1 Sam 15.11, the Lord says, “I regret that I have made Saul king.” We could multiply such statements about God changing his mind

It is not that God is capricious. On the contrary, in this very thing God is absolutely predictable. For example, in Jer 18.6-19, the Lord says that if he declares to destroy a nation because of its sin, and the nation repents, then he “will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it.” Here God changes his mind only because his original declaration was conditional (Jer 18.7-8; Jonah 3.10; 4.2). Thus, it was very predictable. On other occasions, however, God changes his mind simply in response to prayers of intercession, even when there is no repentance on the part of the sinners for which prayer is being offered (Ex 32; Amos 7.1-6). The latter, by the way, underscores the value and efficacy of prayer. If God’s mind cannot be changed, then what is the point of prayer? Yet James tells his readers that they do not have because they do not ask (Jas 4.2-3). Thus, when we fail to ask, God sometimes withholds that which he would give us if we did ask. Think of Hezekiah. The Lord declared he was about to die, then in response to Hezekiah’s prayer, the Lord changed his plans and added 15 years to his life (Isa 38.1-5).

In fact, it is God’s “immutability” that makes prayer so powerful. You see, God’s nature never changes. He is the same yesterday, today, and always (Heb 13.8). God is love, for example. And in his loving nature, he responds to man’s pleas, man’s cries, and to man’s repentance. It is his very faithfulness, in fact, that causes him to change his mind (2 Tim 2.12-13). Jonah refused to go to Nineveh because he knew God would relent of his plans to destroy Nineveh if they repented at the preaching of the word (Jon 4.1-2). God doesn’t change, but his plans sometimes do. Even then, however, it is his unchangeable nature that leads him to change.

God is not unfeeling and unmoved by man’s actions and responses. Our fates are not sealed by an eternal decree of an immutable God. Yahweh Lord is a God of love and compassion, which means he feels our pain and is moved by our responses. As my friend David Ford pointed out to me last week, it is this love that lead to a dramatic and permanent change in the very Godhead. When God chose to become a man, God was changed forever, not only in form (Phil 2.5-8), but in experience, for he learned obedience and was made perfect by the things that he suffered (Heb 5.8-9). And if God will make that kind of change to save his enemies, how much more will he do if we become his friends (Rom 5.8-10)?

© 2008 Randy Hohf