We have come to the end of our study on the attributes of God. I hope these brief articles have been informative and instructive for you, and I hope they have drawn you deeper into the knowledge of the God—deeper into His word. For our final attribute, we revisit one of our groundwork statements from the beginning of our study—the immutability of God. God is unchanging.
Immutability means that one is immutable. The New American Oxford Dictionary defines immutable as “unchanging over time or unable to be changed.” God does not change. People change. People change constantly. We don’t have to look very far or expound the point to understand this. But if the fact that people change causes us to look at God and view him as changing, we have perverted God’s truth about himself. God doesn’t change.
In our March 26 study of the attributes of God, we learned, “The attributes God possesses are not intermittent; they are constant. God is always both who and what He says He is. In Malachi 3:6 the Lord says, “I do not change.” Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.“ And, James 1:17 says that there is “no variation or shadow due to change” with our God. Unlike us, God is always wholly both who and what He says He is. For example, God is love (1 John 4:16); therefore God is always love. His love does not come and go, nor does it burn hot one day and grow cold the next one. God is love. Another example: God is good (Psalm 100:5); He is not only good when I see Him as good. He is not sometimes good and sometimes not. God is good.” God does not change.
It is this humble pastor’s humble opinion that, though God is all of his attributes and every one of them makes up who he is, God being immutable may be the most comforting and astounding of the attributes. Consider the verse we have looked at so often, Exodus 34:6-7. These verses say that God is merciful and gracious, steadfast in love and faithfulness, slow to anger, just, forgiving. If God is mutable (able to change) in any of his attributes, then he isn’t any of the things he says he is and God would be undone as God. If God can change, then he can be loving and unloving, he can be good and bad, he can be righteous and unrighteous. But God does not change! God tells us himself that who and what he is, is who and what he has always been and who and what he will always be. God be praised!
Go Deeper:
What, personally, is the greatest of God’s attributes. Discuss with others.
Memorize Exodus 34:6-7.
Grace & Peace,
John
(You can reach Pastor John atjwhite@thevillagemi.com)