GOD’S IMMUTABILITY
I have a long e-mail from an accidental listener. He heard
me refer to a
The author of the e-mail writes concerning our Lord Jesus
Christ. "Jesus came to this earth to shed his blood to forgive us of
violating the Everlasting Covenant (Hebrews 13:20-21). Jesus Christ has become
our Passover Lamb; therefore we do not sacrifice animals. Yet we still keep the
feast as a memorial of his death. Read 1 Corinthians 5:6-8. Jesus Christ does
NOT change (Malachi 3:6 and Hebrews 13:8). We are to follow Christ's example
while He lived on earth." I shall return to the email in a few minutes,
but I must comment on what I have just read to you.
It certainly is true, as my correspondent argues, that
Jesus Christ came to this earth to shed his blood to forgive us for violating
the Everlasting Covenant (Heb. 13:20-21). It is also true that "Jesus
Christ became our Passover Lamb." The law that demanded sacrificing
animals has been abolished. But it is not true that we should keep the Passover
feast as a memorial to Christ's death. If we must keep any part of the Old
Testament, we must keep it all. All of the Jewish festivals and ordinances were
nailed to the cross (Col. 2:14-17). Christians are forbidden to judge anyone in
"meat, or in drink, or in respect to a holy day, or of the new moon, or of
the Sabbath days" (Col.
2: 16).
My e-mail correspondent strongly emphasizes: "Jesus
Christ does NOT change" (Malachi 3:6 and Hebrews 13:8). We must follow
Jesus' example while He lived on earth." It is impossible for Bible
believers to teach or even to infer that Jesus Christ does change. The passage
in Hebrews reads: "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and
forever" (Heb. 13:8). What conclusion does my e-mail correspondent desire
us to reach from that great passage? Does he want us to believe: "Jesus
Christ the same yesterday, today and forever," therefore the law of Christ
does not change? I know that is the argument that many sabbatarians make, but
not one of them actually believes it. The author of the e-mail does not believe
it. He affirms that "Jesus Christ has become our Passover Lamb; therefore
we do not sacrifice animals." That is a radical change from the Law of
Moses to the gospel of Christ. Of course, the laws of God change. You cannot
read the Bible with an open mind and not understand that truth.
Both Testaments emphasize the immutability or
unchangeableness of God. Please listen to these passages. "God is not a
man, that he should lie; neither the son of man that he should repent (or
change his mind): has he said, and shall not he do it? Or has he spoken, and
shall he not make it good" (Num. 23: 19)? "And also the Strength of
Israel will not lie or repent (or change his mind): for he is not a man that he
should change his mind" (1 Sam. 15:29). "They (that is, the heavens
and the earth) shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax
old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be
changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end" (Psa.
102:26-27). The author of Hebrews quotes these words from Psalm 102 and applies
them to Jesus Christ (Heb. 1:10-12). "For I am the Lord, I change not;
therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed" (Mal. 3:6). "Every good
gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of
lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (Jas. 1:
17).
A few minutes ago I used the word "immutability"
or "unchangeableness" of God. The King James Version of the Bible
uses the word "immutable" in this well-known passage. "For men
verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of
all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of
promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: that by two
immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a
strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope that is
set before us: which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and
steadfast, and which enters into that within the veil; whither our forerunner
is for us entered, even Jesus, made a high priest after the order of
Melchizedek" (Heb. 6:16-20).
From the scriptures I have read to you, we cannot escape
the conclusion that God is immutable or unchangeable. But does that mean God
has not changed his laws? Hebrews 7 teaches beyond dispute that God has changed
his laws. Please listen to these plain words. "If therefore perfection
were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,)
what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of
Melchizedek, and not be called after the order of Aaron? For the priesthood
being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law" (Heb.
7:11-12). Before I read the next few verses in this chapter, I must examine
what I have just read.
The late Dr. F. F. Bruce was one of evangelical's brightest
stars. His commentary on The Epistle to the Hebrews (Wm. B.
Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1964) makes these observations on Hebrews 7:12:
"That priesthood (that is, the Aaronic priesthood) was instituted under
the Mosaic law, and was so integral to it that a change in the priesthood
carried with it inevitably a change in the law." The author of Hebrews
reaches the same conclusion as does the apostle Paul. Paul calls the Law of
Moses "our tutor to bring us unto Christ.... But now that faith has come,
we are no longer under the tutor" (Gal. 3:24f.) (p. 145). Were the author
of Hebrews and the Apostle Paul speaking of the so-called "ceremonial
law?" They were speaking of the entire Mosaic covenant, including the Ten
Commandments. The change in the priesthood meant a change of the entire Mosaic
covenant. If you have the slightest doubt about it, I urge you to read 2
Corinthians 3.
The author of Hebrews explains why the change in the
priesthood meant a change in the law. "For he of whom these things were
spoken pertains to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar.
For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of
But if the Ten Commandments are not binding on Christians,
are we not free to commit adultery, to bear false witness and to murder? I had
never heard that argument until I was a junior at
My e-mail correspondent affirmed: "We are to follow
Christ's example when He lived one earth." All preachers probably have
discussed Jesus Christ as our great example. Do you remember what Christ told
his disciples after the foot-washing episode? "For I have given you an
example, that you do as I have done unto you" (John 13:15). Jesus told
some of his Jewish listeners: "I do always those things that please
him" (John 8:29). There is no doubt we must follow Christ's example in
many ways, but no one - not even the most committed sabbatarian - believes we
must follow Christ in every aspect of his life. The reason is very simple:
Jesus lived under a different covenant-the Law of Moses. We live in the gospel
age.
Luke the Greek physician says that "Jesus returned in
the power of the Spirit into
The Mosaic covenant required the offering of animal
sacrifices. Those who participated in the worship of the Jewish covenant ate
some of the meat of the sacrifices. Is there any doubt in your mind that Jesus
joined in the meals that were a part of the worship? If Christians are to
follow our Lord's example, we must also engage in animal sacrifices. But you
know that all of those offerings ceased when Jesus died on the cross. His
blood-not the blood of bulls and of goats-will take away our sins when he
believe and obey the gospel.
One of ancient
Did you take note of the little word "must" in
verse 6? The word means it is essential, it is necessary. Christ was telling
Saul what he had to do to be forgiven and become a member of the Lord's church.
The Holy Spirit sent Ananias to meet with Saul and tell him what he had to do.
Saul who later became the Apostle Paul tells us exactly what occurred. Ananias
asked Saul: "Why are you waiting?" He then commanded: "Arise, and
be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord"
(Acts 22:12, 16). When Saul was baptized, his sins were forgiven (Acts 2:38)
and he was added to the Lord's church (1 Cor. 12:13).
When Saul obeyed our Lord in baptism, did that not turn him
against the Jewish people? If you have read the book of Romans, you know the
answer to my question. Two passages from Romans show just how much Paul loved
the Jewish people and how desperately he wanted them to become Christians.
"I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me
witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in
my heart. For I could wish myself accursed from Christ for my brethren, my
kinsmen according to the flesh: who are Israelites; to whom pertains the
adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the
service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom as
concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever"
(Rom. 9:1-5). In the very next chapter, Paul again expressed his love for the
Jewish people and his burning desire for them to come to Christ.
"Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for
Paul's great love for the Jews led him to prove to them
that the Mosaic covenant had been abolished and the new covenant had been
established. He taught the Roman Christians: "I am debtor both to the
Greeks and to the Barbarians; both to the wise and to the unwise. So, as much as
in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in
According to the Holy Spirit, the gospel - not the Mosaic
covenant - is the power of God unto salvation. "For therein (that
is, in the gospel of Christ) is the righteousness of God revealed." The
expression, "righteousness of God," does not mean that God is
righteous. It refers to God's way of making men righteous. Many of the Jews
were "going about to establish their own righteousness" and had
"not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God" (Rom. 10:3).
There is only one way of making men righteous-the gospel of Jesus Christ. That
truth shows conclusively that God has changed his law.
I shall read one other passage from Romans before I read a
few words from Galatians. "Now we know that whatsoever things the law
says, it says to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped,
and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the
law shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge
of sin" (Rom. 3: 19-20). If no person can be justified by the deeds of the
law, how are we justified? We are justified by the new covenant - the gospel
of Christ.
Paul's letter to the Galatians was designed to show the
people of
Did you know that Paul called the false teachers at
I conclude our lesson today by stating emphatically that
God does not change. He is always the same. But even a cursory reading of the
Bible shows conclusively that God has changed his laws. But the author of
Hebrews specifically states that truth. "For the priesthood being changed,
there is made of necessity a change also in the law" (Heb.7: 12).
Winford Claiborne
The International Gospel Hour