God's Immutability

​​In his prominent title, The Times they are a Changing, Bob Dylan, the famous folk singer/songwriter, writes, "Come gather 'round people Wherever you roam. And admit that the waters Around you have grown. And accept it that soon You'll be drenched to the bone. If your time to you is worth savin', then you better start swimmin' Or you'll sink like a stone for the times they are a-changin." On a similar note, J.R.R. Tolkein pens a riddle concerning "time," in which he states, "This thing all things devours: Birds, beasts, trees, flowers; Gnaws iron, bites steel; Grinds hard stones to meal; Slays king, ruins town, And beats high mountain down." Time and the changes that come with its passing are all part of the human experience. But God, being immutable, is not affected by time nor change. No attribute of God in His perfect essence can either be added unto or taken away. Thus, He changes not, for He is perfectly and absolutely blessed in His immutable nature. As the Westminster Shorter Catechism notes, "God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth" (Q. 4).

Concerning change and its necessity in human life, Joel Beeke notes, "For us, the prospect of never changing would be horrible, for it would trap us in our limited, imperfect lives, but God dwells in infinite, eternal, perfect fullness of life" (Beeke, Systematic Theology, Volume 1: Revelation and God, 526). Thus, as Moses declares, so must we declare, "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God" (Ps. 90:2). In defining God's immutable nature, Beeke states, "God's immutability is closely related to his eternity. His divine nature abides forever and, therefore, does not change. Change takes place over time, and God is not subject to time but is the Lord of time. What God was, he is now and always will be" (Beeke, Systematic Theology, Volume 1: Revelation and God, 526).


Meditation upon God's unchanging nature comforts the "afflicted" (see, Ps. 102). The earth, the heavens, yea all things the Psalmist says, "They shall perish, but ... [God] shalt endure" (Ps. 102:26, emphasis mine). Those things that seem fixed and stable, be sure dear reader, they "shall wax old like a garment" (Ps. 102:26-27). Yea, with time, those things most fixed, they shall all decay, shrivel, and pass like "withering grass" (Ps. 102:3). But be comforted, for God is "the same," and His years "have no end" (Ps. 102:21). In this Rock alone, can one seek true stability. In this Rock alone, can one rest and find the confidence to face the changes of an ever-changing world. God says to those who are weighed down with burdens of instability, "I am the LORD, I change not!" (Mal. 3:6). Even in His very name, He declares this truth, for He is the God who is. He is the great "I AM" (Ex. 3:14). 


Because God's immutability is linked with all His other glorious attributes, we have great hope and assurance in God's being. Because God is both eternal and immutable, his essence does not change. A. W. Pink writes, "God is immutable in His essence. His nature and being are infinite, and so, subject to no mutations. There never was a time when He was not; there never will come a time when He shall cease to be. God has neither evolved, grown, nor improved. All that He is today, He has ever been, and ever will be. "I am the LORD, I change not" (Mal 3:6) is His own unqualified affirmation. He cannot change for the better, for He is already perfect; and being perfect, He cannot change for the worse. Altogether unaffected by anything outside Himself, improvement or deterioration is impossible. He is perpetually the same. He only can say, "I AM THAT I AM" (Exo 3:14). He is altogether uninfluenced by the flight of time. There is no wrinkle upon the brow of eternity" (Pink, Attributes).


Because love and immutability are attributes of God's essence, His love and faithfulness are everlasting and unchanging. Twenty-Six times, the Psalmist calls for the people of Israel to "give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever" (Ps. 136:1). God says to His elect people, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love" (Jer 31:3). "Having loved His own," John says, "He loved them unto the end" (John 13:1).


Because God is omnipotent and immutable, His power and purpose are without change. Isaiah exhorts the people of Israel by speaking of God's immutable power when he states, "Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, [that] the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? [there is] no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to [them that have] no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew [their] strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; [and] they shall walk, and not faint" (Isa. 40:28-31). Pink notes, "God's purpose never alters. One of two things causes a man to change his mind and reverse his plans: want 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 counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations' (Psa 33:11). Therefore do we read of 'the immutability of His counsel' (Heb 6:17)"' (Pink, Attributes). 


Because God is both all-wise and immutable, His wisdom is unmatched. Thus, "Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or [being] his counsellor hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and [who] instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?" (Isa. 40:13-14). 


Because God is both Holy and immutable, God will not change His hatred of sin and His righteous judgment upon sinners. Concerning this fact, Pink notes, "Herein is terror for the wicked. Those who defy Him, who break His laws, who have no concern for His glory, but who live their lives as though He existed not, must not suppose that, when at the last they shall cry to Him for mercy, He will alter His will, revoke His word, and rescind His awful threatenings. No, He has declared, 'Therefore will I also deal in fury: Mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in Mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them' (Eze 8:18). God will not deny Himself to gratify their lusts. God is holy, unchangingly so. Therefore God hates sin, eternally hates it. Hence the eternality of the punishment of all who die in their sins" (Pink, Attributes). Thus, God's immutability is both hope and demise. It is hope for the saint, for God will not change in His promises. But it is demise for the sinner who will not repent and believe, for He will not change His decree concerning the unrighteous wicked.


By way of imagery, the Bible speaks of God's immutability in terms of being like unto both an immovable Rock (Deut. 32:4) and unchanging Light (James 1:7). As a Rock, God is a Rock greater than all other rocks (Deut.32:30-31), yea the only Rock (Ps. 18:31). God is a Rock that is a fortress and refuge for His people (Ps. 18:2). God is the personal Rock of our salvation (Ps. 62:2, 6-7). Pink writes, "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" (Pink, Attributes). Dear reader, rest upon this unchanging Rock! Find your constant in this steady Light. He alone is steadfast, immovable, unchanging, the same "yesterday, and to day, and for ever" (Heb 13:8).

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