Attributes of God

¶ … Immutability

Attributes of God

The study of God is a vast and broad subject. When one reads the Bible's descriptions of God, those descriptions may seem different than descriptions, which are described in systematic theologies concerning God. Many people, in fact, have different perceptions of God and take different meanings from not only the Bible, but how they are expected to honor their God. In discussing God, there are also many attributes of God, which people study. Some people list 10 or 12 attributes of God, whereas others list as many as 20 or 30. The most common attributes of God that are talked about are:

Eternal

Faithfulness

Immutable

Infinite

Love

In this essay, we'll discuss the attribute of immutability and what it means. We'll also discuss whether or not immutability is speaking the truth. Immutability refers to the idea that God will never change, is invariable in His nature and His character; God is absolutely without change. Kuiper said, "to deny the immutability of God is to deny that He is God." In contrast to that, Tozer says, "The immutability of God appears in its most perfect beauty when viewed against the mutability of men. In God, no change is possible; in men, change is impossible to escape."

This attribute is easily argued and questioned. The assumption that God is perfect isn't entirely realistic, because the world we live in is not perfect and either are we, as humans, perfect. If God molded humans after himself, it stands to reason that He Himself is also imperfect. The idea that the world exists at some point in time if, and only if, God chooses or wills it to, is hard for most people to grasp. It is hard for people to imagine a time when the world did not exist or the idea that God would have created the world, because it is all we know. Since the world we know and live in is ever-changing and morphing into something new, it is hard to believe that God is remaining unchanged. On that same note, some people find comfort in the idea that God doesn't change in a world that is always changing. Either point can be argued equally well.

"Unchanging in his love" seems to relate to the attribute of immutability. Again, it also explains that God does not change. Most people, who think of an immutable God, think of someone who cannot change in His essential being. Some people hold onto the belief that when we worship God, we are not worshiping a God that is a little better today than He was yesterday. The concept of God being immutable is that He is the same in His being as He is in His attributes.