IMMUTABILITY OF GOD The unchangeability of God. In biblical theology God is described as unchanging in His nature and in His character. This includes God’s being (essence), purposes, and promises.

Psalm 102:25–27 contrasts God’s unchanging nature with that of the created order. Numbers 23:19 and 1 Sam. 15:29 indicate that God changes neither His plans nor His actions, for these rest on His unchanging nature. James finds assurance of God’s future blessings in that there is in God “no variation or shadow cast by turning” (James 1:17 HCSB). After referring to His constant patience, long-suffering, and mercy, God concludes with a general statement of His immutability: “For I, the LORD, do not change” (Mal. 3:6 NASB).

Failure to allow the Bible to define precisely in what sense God changes, results in a distorted view of God. Being influenced more by Greek philosophy than by the Bible, some classical theologians have understood God’s immutability to mean that God is unable to act and that He is uncaring and unresponsive to the created order. Overreaction to this error of viewing God as static results in an equally distorted view of God. Some recent thinkers have rejected the biblical teaching concerning God’s immutability altogether. Being influenced more by process or existential thought, they understand God to be like the created order—experiencing change, maturing in knowledge and personal development, and having no certain knowledge of the future. Neither a static view of God nor a God in constant flux captures the biblical picture of God. Biblical theology portrays God as immutable, yet as acting, feeling emotions, and responding differently to various situations. In all such actions, feelings, and responses, God is constant and consistent.

On the surface it appears that some biblical passages represent God as changing. For example, He repents (Gen. 6:6; 1 Sam. 15:11; Joel 2:13; Amos 7:3, 6; Jon. 3:9; 4:2); changes His purpose (Exod. 32:9–14; Jon. 3:10); becomes angry (Num. 11:1, 10; Ps. 106:40; Zech. 10:3); and turns from His anger (Deut. 13:17; 2 Chron. 12:12; Jer. 18:8; 26:3). The apparent problem disappears upon close inspection of each text. These verses portray God changing in His relations and who sometimes appears to mere humans to alter His purposes but who never wavers or changes in His nature, purposes, or promises.

God’s immutability is a great source of comfort to the believer. Whereas God is constant in His wrath against sin, He is equally constant in His forgiveness in response to faith and repentance.

God’s immutability grants the assurance that “He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion” (Phil. 1:6 HCSB). In a world that is in constant change, the believer finds peace in a God who does not change, knowing that truth and values are grounded in the nature and character of an unchanging God.

Walter Johnson