Episode 130 - Perfect in All His Ways: Understanding God's Immutability Across Scripture

Have you ever wondered what it means when the Bible says "God does not change"? Does this make God static and unresponsive to our world? Or is there a deeper truth that offers profound security in our chaotic lives?

The immutability of God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—serves as an unshakable foundation for Christian faith. Unlike philosophical abstractions that portray God as timeless and unmoved, Scripture presents a living God who acts dynamically throughout history while remaining perfectly consistent in character. This perfect consistency means the Trinity never deteriorates, never compromises morally, and never becomes less than absolutely trustworthy.

We explore Nebuchadnezzar's remarkable prayer in Daniel 4, where he recognizes that "no one can hold back God's hand." This sovereignty isn't cold determinism but the warm assurance that nothing in creation can diminish or corrupt divine perfection. From creation through redemption, everything the Trinity does manifests perfect wisdom, justice, and love.

Perhaps most powerfully, we consider how Christ's incarnation and crucifixion—far from compromising divine perfection—actually reveal it most clearly. When religious leaders saw Jesus as imperfect or sinful, they were exposing their own flawed judgment, not identifying any deficiency in him. Even at the darkest moment on the cross, God's ways remained perfect.

This biblical understanding offers tremendous pastoral comfort. In a world where even our best human leaders fail us, where institutions crumble, and where our own strength proves insufficient, the unchanging Trinity provides a rock to which we can flee. Jesus Christ is indeed "the same yesterday, today, and forever"—not as a philosophical abstraction, but as our living, faithful Savior.

Join us as we distinguish between philosophical speculations about divine changelessness and the Bible's life-giving portrait of a God whose perfect character never wavers, even as He acts dynamically to accomplish our salvation.

The theme music is "Wager with Angels" by Nathan Moore

Transcript

The Immutability of the Trinity

Speaker 1 0:30

Well, welcome to the next episode of the Christ-centered cosmic civilization. And we're still in this deep exploration of this wonderful truth of the immutability of the Father, son and Holy Spirit. The Lord does not change, the Lord is always faithful and reliable, this rock-solid certainty. In the storms of the nations and the complexities of history, and even the turmoils of our own life, there is this absolute, reliable foundation, the rock on which we can build. Jesus Christ is the same, unchanging yesterday, today and forever. So we began by thinking of there are three kind of ways in which we talk about the immutability of God. There's what scripture just straightforwardly teaches, that the living God is always the same, always hostile to evil, always rejoicing and defending goodness, and so on. Then we looked at the creeds and how the Trinity is the eternal Trinity. And then we've been looking at the philosophical speculations that some people try to base ideas about God not changing on certain kinds of speculative philosophical ideas or speculation is that because God is a perfect being or ultimate being, therefore there is no possibility of change, and some would say change of any kind, because any variation from absolute perfection must be a change for the worse, which would make God less than the ultimate being or the perfect being. So, and at first it's not either an obvious thing or not it was saying, as we've already seen, the Bible is saying God does not deteriorate or decay or become morally compromised or anything. So obviously, the perfection of the Father, son and Holy Spirit the Bible's already told us we don't need to worry about that that the Father, son and Spirit will never deteriorate or become morally compromised. They are together the one perfect Holy Trinity, forever and ever, from everlasting to everlasting. So there is a common sense in which this makes sense. So there is a common sense in which this makes sense.

Biblical vs Philosophical Immutability

Speaker 1 3:35

If the Trinity is perfect, why would the Trinity change or be changed to become imperfect or evil? And nobody can force such changes upon the living God, father, son and Holy Spirit. And that's, of course, in the background of a lot of this idea that there's a desire, a right desire, to make sure people don't think that the living God of the Bible say we might feel, oh, I, I peaked at age 30 or something, that's when I was at my my best, physically, mentally, socially, whatever. And then, uh, we might feel that, um, there is imperfections being put, being imposed upon us through the passage of time or through the actions of others. And so it is important for us to realize no, the Father, and with the Son and the Spirit, are not subject to invasions or a kind of imposition of outside forces so that the perfections are undermined or diminished or compromised. Obviously, the living God has no desire to become imperfect or evil and because of that there will be no imperfection or evil, because nobody can force it onto them and nobody can tempt the Father, son and Spirit to become imperfect or evil.

Speaker 1 6:00

James 1, verse 13, states absolutely simply God cannot be tempted by evil, and so that is hugely important in the discussion of the immutability of God. Like for us, we can be tempted by evil and imperfection, and we can look at things that we can't, even when sometimes we don't know how imperfect and evil these things really are. But even sometimes we know it's something that is bad for us, that will diminish us and harm us, and yet we still are tempted by it, still drawn to it, and sometimes those are the very things we're most drawn to. But there's nothing like that in the heart of the father or the son or the spirit. This living holy god, the holy trinity, cannot be tempted by evil, isn't that so? Therefore, evil has no way of getting into the eternal life of god. The bible constantly reminds us that the living god cannot be conquered by any human or angelic force, and certainly no mere like physical laws of the universe. No creature can force the Trinity to do or become anything at all against the will of the Father, son and Spirit.

Speaker 1 7:14

So I like that prayer of Nebuchadnezzar. That's in Daniel 4, verses 34 to 35. I, nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High, I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion. His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him what have you done?

Speaker 1 8:12

I love that prayer, partly because it's not just that this living God of the Bible endures from generation to generation, lives forever, cannot be killed, cannot be undermined, cannot be diminished in any way. But that is true of his kingdom also. His dominion is his eternal dominion. His kingdom endudures, so everything he does has this sort of solidity to it that cannot be defeated by any opponents. And he does whatever he pleases with the powers of heaven, so all even sort of the gods and the mightiest angelic powers and forces of the universe. He does as he pleases with them, so that there is no power that can impose change or diminishment or imperfection upon him. And it says I like that end bit. No one can hold back his hand or say to him what have you done? So no one can even question what he's done or have an inquiry and say well, we are an authority, we are like an off-com or something.

God Cannot Be Tempted by Evil

Speaker 1 9:27

We wish to investigate and call to account the father who reigns through the son by the power of the spirit. We want to pause the actions of the kingdom of God until we've investigated it properly. All of that is ridiculous. There is no outside force. The will of the father and the son rejoices to do the will of the father in the power of the spirit, and there is no. There is no force that can resist that or deny that and that no imperfection can be imposed upon the Holy Trinity. So if we think of the Trinity as perfect, then that includes the fact that the Trinity will not and cannot ever become imperfect, never sinful, never selfish, never broken or bad. Fair enough. However, that doesn't mean that there are no variations or actions or activities or interactions or conversations in the life and actions of the Trinity Right.

Speaker 1 11:23

So, before the foundation of the world, plans were made and then carried out. God the Son enjoyed glory with his eternal father before the universe began to be. I love that prayer, the high priestly prayer in John 17, when Jesus says glorify me now with the glory that I had with you before the world began. So there, he can recall a time when he enjoyed a kind of eternal glory before the universe began. And then he now is requesting that that glory, whatever that, however, that we understand that that takes us into deep things. How can the cross be the manifestation of this uncreated eternal glory of the Trinity? Yeah, I know, but that's, you know, that's for another podcast. But and then? But he recalls this time before the universe began, when he enjoyed this glory with his eternal father. And then the universe began to be such that the father, son and spirit engaged in well, the work of creation itself, judgment, then redemption, and all kinds of interactions, activities and relationships. But none of these actions, even the planning act.

Speaker 1 12:52

So, from the planning, actions and purposes, that which was purpose before the creation of the universe, the in the creation of the universe, the judgments upon sin, the handling of providence and overseeing all the decisions that the Trinity makes and does in relation to this kingdom, that endures throughout history, all of that, none of the actions of the living God are imperfect, imperfect. So, whatever actions, interactions, relationships, whatever actions are done by the Father, son and Spirit, these actions, these ways, these works are all perfect. None of the works and words of the Trinity are sinful or selfish, broken or bad and therefore, this way in which he does not change, he does not become imperfect. This living God of the Bible is always absolutely perfect in all his ways and works, and actually the bible asserts that. Deuteronomy 32, verse 4, speaking of this lord god who's redeemed his people from egypt and traveled with them through the wilderness and so on. Deuteronomy 32, verse 4 he is the rock, his works are perfect and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong. Upright and just is he.

Perfect in All His Ways

Speaker 1 14:39

So there it's an assertion that, yes, god is the perfect being. You know his absolute perfection, and that in all his ways this perfection is manifested. And this is a faithful God, reliable, dependable. His word can be trusted, his ways can't be doubted because he does no wrong. He is upright and righteous in everything that he does and is Similarly Psalm 18, verse 30, as for God, his way is perfect.

Speaker 1 15:22

The Lord's word is flawless. God's word is flawless, he shields all who take refuge in him. So, again, that idea that yeah, there is this perfection, he is the perfect one and therefore his word is perfect and is absolutely reliable, is perfect and is absolutely reliable. His ways are perfect and therefore the conclusion of psalm 18, 30 is he shields all who take refuge in him. So because there, he is unchanging, he is immutable in this, in in his word and ways. He doesn't. He doesn't deteriorate. He doesn't deteriorate, he doesn't become morally imperfect or unreliable in any way. So therefore, we can flee to Christ for refuge. He is the rock. That rock was Christ, and we flee to that rock for absolute security. He's the same yesterday, today, forever, rock for absolute security. He's the same yesterday, today, forever. His works are perfect, whatever he does is perfect. His word is flawless. There's nothing wrong or imperfect.

Speaker 1 16:37

So the Lord God is faithful, trustworthy, reliable, always the eternal Father, son and Spirit. And again, I'm just emphasising that everything that the Trinity does is inseparably done together. Everything is done from the Father through the Son, by the power of the Spirit, and everything that they do is perfect. When the Father begins the work of creation, when the Son carries out this work of creation by the power of the Spirit, when the Son is sent to make himself nothing and take the form of a servant, becoming obedient even to the point of dying a cursed death on the cross and then receiving a name above every name, sitting at the right hand of the Father, in all these different actions of the father through the son by the spirit, here there is absolute perfection, absolute. None of those things that they do are have any imperfection in them, and that is so. This is this important way of asserting the immutability of God, that there is never any descent into imperfection, whatever different things the Father, son and Spirit do.

Speaker 1 18:00

Um, now, um you? Why? That's kind of it might seem obvious, and I can imagine someone listening saying yeah, yeah, like, oh, this is all obvious. Why do you keep asserting it? I think it's important because we could say um, jesus can recall a time before the creation of the universe. When he says, look, glorify me now, in this moment, within the universe, with the glory that I had with you, father, before the world began. So he's recalling a time when there was no universe at all and the son was enjoying this divine glory with the father and the spirit, and that was perfection.

Perfection Through Incarnation and Cross

Speaker 1 18:50

But so is there's not a sense in which now the father, now, or after the creation of the universe, now the lord god, uh, it can't manage to be perfect anymore, that the Father isn't perfect because now there's a universe. And of course, obviously there is no compromise of the divine perfection. When the Father creates the universe through the Son and the power of the spirit, that doesn't. In fact, that work of creation is a manifestation of the perfection of the father, son and spirit, and we see the divine perfections manifested in the work of creation and even when there is the fall and there is sin, death, chaos, darkness, all of that, and then the father sends the son to judge sin and we see that in Genesis 3, and he comes to address Adam and Eve and impose a curse upon the earth and all that sort of that is not him. That is not an imperfect, is not him. That is not an imperfect, it's not the imperfections in the universe and in humanity, but the way in which the Father sends the Son and the power of the Spirit to deal with sin and judge and so on, is absolutely perfect. So, in all the ways from before the creation of the universe, in the ways from before the creation of the universe, in the creation of the universe, in everything that's done in and towards and for the universe, none of that causes the holy trinity to become imperfect or compromised.

Speaker 1 20:40

Or like we would say oh, politics is the art of the possible. You can't always get, you know you can't always do. Sometimes you have to negotiate and get the best you can and sometimes, you know, you have to just accept something that isn't ideal and things. It's not like that in the throne room of the father reigning through the son, they, they never do that. Everything is perfect in the rule of this divine kingdom.

Speaker 1 21:14

And and similarly, there is no imperfection or evil when the eternal son becomes flesh and becomes a true human being forever. God, the son is bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh, forever. It wasn't that he just, even temporarily, becomes a human being. No, he's permanently and forever and ever a human being, but there's no imperfection in that. That doesn't make any member of the Trinity imperfect at all. And there's no imperfection even when the Son is forsaken and dies the cursed death on the cross. Yes, even then, on the cross, he is the rock, his works are perfect and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he, and it's not hard for us to realize that, in fact, the very work that is going on on the cross is a manifestation of his sinless perfection, his uprightness, his justice. All of that is um guaranteed, manifested, proved by the cross. And this is deep, because human beings might accuse the living god of doing wrong things and it might look very much as if the Lord God has gone wrong, especially when God, the eternal son, is dying a cursed death in the agony of the cross, crying out that his father has forsaken him.

Speaker 1 22:56

And even before that, the Pharisees and religious leaders see Jesus, god, the son, the Holy One of Israel. They see him as a notorious sinner who hangs around with dodgy people, who seems to break the Sabbath, touches unclean people, all this kind of thing. He's a notoriously imperfect person in their eyes. And yet there's this like cry of holy faith from the church in all ages and from the scriptures themselves. No, he is perfect in all his ways, all his ways, and they are the ones that are judged, not him, those religious people who see in him imperfection. As soon as they say that and make such judgments, they are judged as being imperfect. Not him, he is perfect, perfect in all his ways.

Speaker 1 24:03

So even then, even on the cross, maybe especially then, everything was perfect in power, wisdom, goodness, justice and love. So even then we might say is. Then can we confess this immutability? Is the is the living god, even then, still perfect in all his ways. And we go in some ways I want to cry out, especially then, especially then. So these are all straightforward descriptions of the perfection of the father, son and spirit, perfect in all the ways and works.

Tension with Philosophical Timelessness

Speaker 1 24:43

Now, yeah, I remember there is a slight tension, though, because what we've been doing here is exploring the perfect ways and works and words of the Father through the Son, by the spirit, from before the creation of the world, in the creation of the world, then down through history, in including the incarnation, the cross ascension, looking ahead to the future day of god, and then on into the new creation, all of that. And we're asserting, as the Bible does, that in all these ways and works and words there is this unchanging perfection that we can absolutely rely upon and flee to Christ as our rock for refuge and security and stability and all of that. But I just want to flag up though there is a tiny uh or something of a conflict of tension between this and that first philosophical speculation that tried to suggest that there is no past, present or future for god the father, god the son and god the holy spirit. I mean, you may it's quite a few episodes ago, but in that first idea of timelessness that we explored, the idea was that the Father, son and Spirit in a way don't have ways and works. They just have one single work and will and word in one single eternal moment, with no before or after. So that there's not it.

Speaker 1 26:28

From that perspective, it's kind of hard to understand what jesus means when he says, uh, the glory that I had with you before the world began and all of that kind of thing. Because as soon as we get into the multiple works and ways of the father, son and spirit, spread out from before the universe began and then during the father, son and spirit spread out from before the universe began and then during the history of the universe, and that he has this enduring kingdom and the incarnation and the cross and the ascension, and looking ahead to future, all of that. Then it all gets like, oh, I don't know what's going on anymore, because if I'm supposed to have a God who has no before and after, and yet the entire Bible is based on this kind of a timeline that goes from before the creation, through creation and so on, it does become a bit muddled Anyway. So I think we've got to just forget the idea of a God who has no past, present and future. Uh, at least you know what, even if you um kind of like that idea. Um, I think we've got to just put it to one side at the moment so we can just deal with this, this idea that in all the ways and works of the father through the son, by the spirit, from before the creation of the world, through the creation of the father, through the son, by the spirit, from before the creation of the world, through the creation of the world, through providence, through history, all of those things are perfect in everything that it, that the father does through the son.

Speaker 1 27:55

There's a kind of a mutability in that sense that is very important to confess here. The living God does not change, in that the living God never becomes imperfect, never does anything wrong or questionable. And this truth fits very well with those first episodes in this series on immutability, because we found many Bible verses that strongly asserted this. In the bible the prophets warned people that the lord god will never compromise about good and evil, right and wrong, but always, always, always hates evil and loves good. The lord will never overlook evil as if it did not matter to him anymore, as if he had become compromised or careless.

Speaker 1 28:46

So this seems very simple and straightforward the Lord God does not change, meaning that the Lord God is always perfect, always good, always hating evil, always bothered about doing what's right and rejecting what is wrong. But the philosophical speculations of this third kind are not really so obviously tied to that kind of language of the Bible. There is this long philosophical tradition and we'll explore this in the next episode more that is called perfect being philosophy. So this is not really about the perfection of the ways and works and words of the Father through the Son, by the Spirit. It's rather humans, trying to imagine what the best possible being might be like and then using that idea of perfection to think about how God can't or does not change. Hopefully that will make sense when we open it up in the next episode.