Unchanging God: His Essence, Attributes, & Counsel – Pink #7
A.W. Pink’s book The Attributes of God is a classic work on the being and essence of God. Each month we’ll explore one chapter, summarize the main ideas, and discuss our favorite passages. Today we examine chapter seven: The Immutability of God.
Summary
This chapter by A.W. Pink explores God’s immutability, that is His unchanging nature. This makes God unique compared to all of creation. Unlike humans and all other creatures, who are naturally mutable, changing and unstable, God is perpetually the same in His being, attributes, and counsel.
God is immutable in His being, because He is perfect. He cannot be less than perfect, and He cannot become more than perfect. So His being is unchanging.
God is immutable in His attributes. Nothing is added to Him at any time. He is as He always been. There is no new thing in God.
God’s will is immutable. His plan of Creation, Redemption, and Consummation is unchanging from eternity. His decrees, councils, and purposes never change. He doesn’t have to adjust His plans or accommodate other factors, because He knows the end from the beginning and orders all things according the immutable counsel of His will.
Humans are mutable. We undergo constant change. Learning, forgetting, growing stronger, and the weaker as we grow old. We are unstable in all our ways.
The immutability of God is a comfort to those who trust Him. His plan of salvation doesn’t change. His offer of forgiveness is never rescinded. His mercy and grace are unchanging. His love is everlasting and His promises are sure.
However, the immutability of God should be a terror to the wicked. His holiness is unimpeachable. His justice is unflagging. His wrath against sin is everlasting.
In summary, God’s unchanging nature is the believer’s rock in a world that is constantly in flux. His stable essence, attributes, and purposes inspire confidence, prayer, and worship, while assuring ultimate justice against sin.
Discussion
God’s Unchanging Essence
God’s essence is eternal and perfect.
He cannot change for the better, for He is already perfect; and being perfect, He cannot change for the worse.
Time doesn’t affect Him; He is the great “I AM,” unaltered and uninfluenced by outside forces.
We have being, and the potential to be other than we are. Physically, we grow larger from childhood to adulthood. We grow older. Our appearance changes as we age. We increase in our abilities and skills as we practice them. Then as our body ages, we loose some of those skills.
Intellectually we grow more knowledgable, wiser, until we begin to forget things and the process reverses itself.
Morally, we grow either more wicked, going from worse to worse, or we grow more holy, increasing in sanctification.
There is no unrealized potential in God. He is perfectly skillful in all that He does. He is omniscient, knowing all things. He is holy, holy, holy.
God is all actuality and no potential.
God’s Unchanging Attributes
All of God’s attributes—power, wisdom, holiness, love, and mercy—remain constant.
Whatever the attributes of God were before the universe was called into existence, they are precisely the same now, and will remain so for ever.
This is important because of recent efforts to suggest that God added to His own attributes by becoming a Creator, that He willingly changed Himself for the sake of becoming what He was not. But God does not, and cannot change. He is perfect as He is, in Himself eternally.
God’s Unchanging Counsel
God’s purposes and decrees are fixed and sure. Human repentance or change of mind comes from lack of foresight or power; God, being omniscient and omnipotent, never needs to adjust His plans.
When speaking of Himself, God frequently accommodates His language to our limited capacities.
Scriptural phrases like “God repented” are anthropomorphic expressions describing changes in His dealings with humanity, not changes in His will.
Contrast with Human Mutability
Humans are unstable, prone to change, and ultimately dependent on God for every breath.
If the creature was not mutable by nature, it would not be a creature; it would be God.
Trust in man is unreliable, but God’s unwavering character provides unshakable comfort and security for His people.
Practical Implications
God’s immutability is a source of comfort for the faithful and terror for the wicked. Believers can pray with confidence, knowing His promises are sure. Unrepentant sinners cannot expect God to change His just judgments. His immutability ensures both the fulfillment of His promises and the execution of His threats.
Coffee Talk: Brance and Lauren talk about decaf brewing temperatures.
Defining Theology
When discussing theology, defining your terms is important. Brance and Lauren take a look at the theological term Rule of Faith, define what it is, and discuss how it works in relation to other sources of authority.
Resources Mentioned: