What Does It Mean That God Is Unchanging?
God is Immutable
Mankind is constantly changing. Like the seasons. Our mood changes, our character changes, our appearance changes, and so on. Everything that has been created is constantly changing. But God, who is the Creator, does not change. He is constant. He is unchanging.
What does it mean that God is unchanging? When it is said that God is unchanging, or immutable, it does not mean that He can change but simply does not. It means that He cannot change. God was the same when He created the earth as He is today. He will always be exactly the same, in all His perfections and glory, for all eternity. There is no external action that can be imposed upon God that will cause Him to change. God expresses different emotions as He interacts with His creation in time. But He will always respond to everything according to His unchanging character. God is unchanging in His being, perfection, purposes, and promises. God can never get better and He can never get worse. His perfect being is incapable of changing, since such a capability would by itself imply imperfection.
Will you join me in further understanding the God who is unchanging? This truth should cause us to marvel at His greatness and praise Him, too!
The Same: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
Everything under the sun is constantly changing. Ever since the beginning of time, the created world has been aging. It has been decaying back to the substance of which it was created: dust. This is observed in the world by scientists. They have said in the second law of thermodynamics that all things over time will disintegrate, or return to dust.
This is true of creation, It is not true of the Creator. The eternal God is not subject to change. For in God, “there is no variation or shifting shadow” (James 1:17b).
Of old You founded the earth,
And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
Even they will perish, but You endure;
And all of them will wear out like a garment;
Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed.
But You are the same,
And Your years will not come to an end. (Psalm 102:25-27)
This is true of God the Father. It is true of God the Son.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)
God is not like man. Man is finite, God is infinite. Man is temporal, God is eternal. While every person who has ever existed began existing at some point in time, there was never a moment where God was not. Man cannot say that because we are not eternal. Yet, it is not enough to only say that God is eternal. He is also unchanging in His eternality. There was never a moment nor will there ever be a moment where the eternal God has not been the same. God is unchanging.
For more on the Eternal God see our articles:
The Unchanging Nature of God
Some incorrectly assert that God can do literally anything without qualification. Usually, claims like this are based off of a passage like Matthew 19:26 or Mark 14:36. As we understand the Bible in its entirety, we must take passages that say “all things are possible with God” in their context. Additionally, we must seek to understand the other passages that state the things that God cannot do. These truths are complementary, not contradictory.
Rightly understood, there is no issue with reconciling these statements. They only cause problems when our hidden presuppositions sabotage our willingness to understand the intended meaning of God’s Word.
The Bible explicitly teaches that there are some things that God cannot do.
God cannot lie (Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18; Numbers 23:19).
God cannot change His mind (Numbers 23:19).
God cannot sin or do wrong (Deuteronomy 32:4).
God cannot be tempted by evil nor does He Himself tempt anyone (James 1:13).
God cannot change (Malachi 3:6).
When it is said that God is unchanging, or immutable, it doesn’t mean that God can change but doesn’t. It means that God cannot change. He will always be the same. The revelation that we have in the Word of God is sufficient for knowing Him in the past, present, and future. Today and forever.
For God says of Himself,
“For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.” (Malachi 3:6)
This is difficult for us to grasp as finite humans. We are surrounded by change. We ourselves are constantly changing. However, God’s characteristics and divine nature will never change. It is not as if God will stop acting in kindness and patience. Or that God will become more loving and merciful. He can’t. He is forever perfect in every way. To change, in even the smallest degree, would cause Him to cease to be God.
There have been many who pervert this attribute of God. That say, “the God that exists today is different than the God of the Old Testament.” This is false and very dangerous. Don’t be fooled by the lies. God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. God is unchangeable. Those who claim God has changed don’t understand the ways of the unchanging God.
Learn more about God by reading our articles on the Names of God and the Attributes of God in Scripture.
God’s Unchanging Ways
It is not enough to say that God’s character is unchanging. We also must confess that His ways are unchanging.
For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.” And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 6:13-20, bold added)
God has promised to send the Savior into the world since the fall of mankind. He has purposed to save a people for Himself from every tribe, tongue, peoples, and nations (Revelation 5:9). Everything that God has done, is doing, and will do is to accomplish this purpose. It is unchangeable.
God cannot change His mind. He has made up His mind to do this great thing.
To establish a nation through Abraham, which He did.
To send the Savior, which He did.
To establish the Church, which He did.
To call all men to hope in Jesus the Savior, which He has done and still is doing.
God declares of His ways,
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth
And making it bear and sprout,
And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It will not return to Me empty,
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:8-11)
God’s Unchanging Nature Revealed in His Unchanging Word
We finite beings cannot know the character of God nor the ways of God apart from His Word. In the Holy Bible, God has declared who He is, what He has done, and what He is doing in the world. All of it is true because the unchanging God cannot lie or change His ways. Thus, every word written in the Bible is important for us to read and seek to understand.
God has sent His word into the world through His people, and to all who believe in Him through His Son. Christians must communicate to the world that God is unchanging in His nature and His ways. Urging the world to repentance and faith in Jesus who is the only Savior of the world.
For more on who this unchangeable God is and what He has done and will do, see our articles:
Related Questions
What are the attributes of God and their meaning? Attributes are essentially characteristics that are inseparable of someone or something. Regarding God, His attributes are who He is. God is: Eternal, Unchangeable, Independent, Unity, Spirit, Invisible, Omnipresent, Omniscient, Omnipotent, Creator, Sustainer, Holy, Righteous, Good, Truthful, Wise, Patient, Wrath, Jealous, and Love. (For even more, see our article: 21 Attributes)
What Does eternal God mean? God has no beginning or end or succession of moments in His own being. He sees all time equally vividly. Yet, God sees events in time and acts in time. (For more on God’s eternality see our article: What Does It Mean That God Is Eternal?)
Does God want any to perish? No! “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). God has been working ever since the fall to bring about the salvation of all men. He has been diligent in sending messengers into the world to call all men to repentance and faith in God through Jesus Christ. (For more on this see our articles: Why Did Jesus Die For Sins? and Why Did Jesus Die For Our Sins?)