Condensed Theology, Lecture 9: Theology, Eternality and Immutability

8/14/2019 Condensed Theology, Lecture 9: Theology, Eternality and Immutability

1/61

Condensed Theology

A Primer in Systematic Theology


2/61

Theology Proper:

The Doctrine of God

What does the Bible teach about

God?


3/61

Where Were Going

Ten lectures covering four subjects:

The existence of God

The attributes of God God as Trinity

Gods works of creation & providence


4/61

The Attributes of God

What Is God Like?


5/61

General Categories of the

Attributes


6/61

General Categories

1. Communicable

The communicableattributes of God are

those characteristicsof God that arepeculiar to him butwhich he shares withhumanity

2. Incommunicable

The incommunicableattributes of God are

those characteristicsof God that arepeculiar to him butwhich he does notshare with humanity


7/61

General Categories

In addition, there are some attributes which fitboth classifications, attributes which are in onesense incommunicable and in another sense

communicable What matters is not how well we classify the

attributes, but that we biblically understand eachof them

Thus think of the categories as pedagogicalcategories only and not as essential to theattributes themselves


8/61

General Categories

3. All of Gods attributes are also in a senseanthropomorphic, communicable orincommunicable Anthropomorphism is God, in seeking to reveal

Himself to us, does so within the human frame ofreference.God lisping that we might hear andunderstand, lowering Himself to the level of baby talk(Heb. 1:1-2). Gods omnipotence becomes the arm ofthe Lord, his omniscience the eye of the Lord, Hismercy portrayed as God repenting.[1]

[1] Harvie M Conn, Evangelism: Doing Justice andPreaching Grace (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R, 1982), 13.


9/61

General Categories

When I say that the attributes of God,communicable and incommunicable, areanthropomorphic, I mean that they have all been

revealed to us within the human frame ofreference

This is true even if God is not given an arm,ears, eyes, and a mouth

For what we know about God comes to us inhuman language, and what we say about God isarticulated in human language


10/61

General Categories

Gods speech concerning what he is like, isprecisely that, what he is like

God is a spirit and dwells in unapproachable

light; he cannot be fully comprehended by finitebeingsPs 145:3: Great is the LORD, and highly to be

praised, And His greatness is unsearchable.

Ps 139:6, 17: Such knowledge is too wonderful forme; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.17Howprecious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! Howvast is the sum of them!


11/61

General Categories

And it is not simply that God himselfcannot be fully comprehended by finitehuman beings

But even that individual characteristics ofGod may not be fully comprehended byhuman beingsRom 11:33: Oh, the depth of the riches both

of the wisdom and knowledge of God! Howunsearchable are His judgments andunfathomable His ways!


12/61

General Categories

Indeed, the incomprehensibleness of Godis precisely the reason why he hasso

condescended to us Being creatures of the incomprehensible

and free Creator-God means that we aredependent upon God to lower himself to

our level in order to understand who heis


13/61

General Categories

In this sense, even the Bible is limited inwhat it communicates about God

It is not limited in the sense that what itcommunicates is untrue or distorted

It is limited in the sense that its veryexistence represents an act of divine

condescension whereby the Lord makeshimself known to us in a way we canunderstand


14/61

General Categories

All this is to say thateven if it werepossible to master

what the Bible saysabout the character ofGod, we would haveonly begun to

comprehend hisawesome nature

We are like bugs in ajar, hearing in buglanguage about the

nature of the boy whoput us there


15/61

The Incommunicable

Attributes of God

Qualities of God Peculiar to

Himself that He Does Not Sharewith Us


16/61

Eternality


17/61

The Incommunicable Attributes:

Eternality The eternality of God refers to his quality of

having no beginning or end

Sometimes this is called Gods infinity; thus God

is not limited by time Time has no effect on Gods being; for example,

when it comes to his knowledge He does not learn new things

Or forget old things He knows past, present, and future equally

vividly


18/61

The Eternality of God

Ps 90:2: Before the mountains were born Or You gavebirth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting toeverlasting, You are God.

Job 36:26: Behold, God is exalted, and we do not know

Him; The number of His years is unsearchable. Rev 1:8: "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord

God, "who is and who was and who is to come, theAlmighty."

Rev 4:8: And the four living creatures, each one of themhaving six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and

day and night they do not cease to say, "HOLY, HOLY,HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WASAND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME."


19/61


Gen 21:33: Abraham planted a tamarisk tree atBeersheba, and there he called on the name ofthe LORD, the Everlasting God.

Ps 29:10: The LORD sat as King at the flood;Yes, the LORD sits as King forever.

Ps 45:6: Your throne, O God, is forever andever; A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of

Your kingdom. Ps 48:14: For such is God, Our God forever andever; He will guide us until death.


20/61


Ps 102:25-27: Of old You founded theearth, And the heavens are the work ofYour hands. Even they will perish, but Youendure; And all of them will wear out like agarment; Like clothing You will changethem and they will be changed. But You

are the same, And Your years will notcome to an end.


21/61


Isa 40:28: Do you not know? Have younot heard? The Everlasting God, theLORD, the Creator of the ends of the earthDoes not become weary or tired. Hisunderstanding is inscrutable.

1 Tim 1:17: Now to the King eternal,

immortal, invisible, the only God, be honorand glory forever and ever. Amen.


22/61


Ps 90:4: For a thousand years in Yoursight Are like yesterday when it passes by,Or as a watch in the night.

This is not to say that 1,001 years occurand then God starts to forget, but thatGods being is such that all aspects of

time, past, present, and future are allequally clear and vivid to his eyes.


23/61


2 Pet 3:8: But do not let this one factescape your notice, beloved, that with theLord one day is like a thousand years, and

a thousand years like one day. This introduces something new to Ps 90:4;

namely, that one day for God is akin to365,250 days for us. That is, for God,each day is infinitely lengthy at the sametime that it is infinitely short


24/61


Isa 45:21: Declare and set forth your case; Indeed,let them consult together. Who has announced thisfrom of old? Who has long since declared it? Is it notI, the LORD? And there is no other God besides Me,A righteous God and a Savior; There is none exceptMe.

Isa 46:9-10: Remember the former things long past,For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and

there is no one like Me, Declaring the end from thebeginning, And from ancient times things whichhave not been done, Saying, My purpose will beestablished, And I will accomplish all My goodpleasure.


25/61


This does not mean that the Lord does notsee events in time or that he does not actin time, but simply that his experience oftime is qualitatively different from ours

He can say that he chose us in him beforethe foundation of the world; that is, he

says that he performed an action beforehe performed another action.


26/61


Gal 4:4-5: But when the fullness of the timecame, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman,born under the Law, so that He might redeemthose who were under the Law, that we might

receive the adoption as sons. Acts 17:30-31: Therefore having overlooked the

times of ignorance, God is now declaring to menthat all people everywhere should repent,because He has fixed a day in which He will

judge the world in righteousness through a Manwhom He has appointed, having furnished proofto all men by raising Him from the dead.


27/61


We have included this attribute under thosewhich are incommunicable

Some may say, But I thought that when we go

to heaven, we will cease to exist in time, andtherefore share this quality with God. Doesnt Rev 21 teach that there will no longer be

night because God himself will be our light?

And doesnt When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder say,

When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and timeshall be no more?

This is not true


28/61


In reality, being creatures with a beginningmeans that our eternity will be an endlesssuccession of moments

As long as we are finite we cannot escapeexperiencing events in succession (i.e. one afterthe other)

And apart from this more or less metaphysical

argument, Rev 22:2, for example, speaks of thetree of life yielding its fruit every month.


29/61


The point is that when we experience eternal lifewith God, we will not possess his quality ofeternality; instead, we will experience eternal life

with God for a never ending duration, andendless succession of moments of increasingjoy and bliss and knowledge

Rev 22:5: And there will no longer be any night;and they will not have need of the light of a lamp

nor the light of the sun, because the Lord Godwill illumine them; and they will reign forever andever.


30/61

Immutability


31/61

The Incommunicable Attributes:

Immutability The immutability of God refers to his not

being subject to change; he does not andhe cannot change

Put positively, to say that God isimmutable is to say that he always was,always is, and always will be the same

This is true of Gods being

And it is true of Gods decrees


32/61

The Immutability of God

Num 23:19: God is not a man, that Heshould lie, Nor a son of man, that Heshould repent; Has He said, and will Henot do it? Or has He spoken, and will Henot make it good?

1 Sam 15:29: Also the Glory of Israel will

not lie or change His mind; for He is not aman that He should change His mind.


33/61


Ps 102:26: Even they will perish, but Youendure; And all of them will wear out like agarment; Like clothing You will changethem and they will be changed.

Mal 3:6: For I, the LORD, do not change;therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not

consumed.


34/61


2 Tim 2:13: If we are faithless, He remainsfaithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

Jas 1:17: Every good thing given andevery perfect gift is from above, comingdown from the Father of lights, with whomthere is no variation or shifting shadow.


35/61


Heb 6:17-18: In the same way God,desiring even more to show to the heirs ofthe promise the unchangeableness of Hispurpose, interposed with an oath, so thatby two unchangeable things in which it isimpossible for God to lie, we who have

taken refuge would have strongencouragement to take hold of the hopeset before us.


36/61


Ps 33:11: The counsel of the LORD stands forever,The plans of His heart from generation togeneration.

Isa 46:9-11: Remember the former things long past,For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, andthere is no one like Me, Declaring the end from thebeginning, And from ancient times things whichhave not been done, Saying, My purpose will be

established, And I will accomplish all My goodpleasure; Calling a bird of prey from the east, Theman of My purpose from a far country. Truly I havespoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it,surely I will do it.


37/61


The changelessness of God is also inferred fromanother of his attributes; namely, his perfection

Since God is a perfect being he is incapable of

any ontological change (change in his being)since any change would be for the better or forthe worse

He cannot change for the better since he is

already perfect And he cannot change for the worse because

such change would make him imperfect


38/61


However, motion or activity is not thesame thing as change

Therefore, God can be immutable while atthe same time he can be sensitive, active,and responsive to humanity

Divine immutabilityis not divine immobility


39/61


At the same time that God is empathetic anddynamic in his immutability he is utterlyincapable of being inflicted with pain, suffering,

or distress against his willActs 2:23: this Man, delivered over by the

predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, younailed to a cross by the hands of godless men andput Him to death.

1 Pet 1:20: For [Jesus] was foreknown before thefoundation of the world, but has appeared in theselast times for the sake of you.


40/61


The Objection


41/61

The Objection to Immutability

If God is immutable in his character andtherefore always acts in accord with hiseternal decree, why does the Bible saythat God grieves and changes his mind?

If God changes his mind, then he cannotbe unchanging.


42/61

The Objection to Immutability:

The Texts Gen 6:5-7: Then the LORD saw that the

wickedness of man was great on the earth, andthat every intent of the thoughts of his heart was

only evil continually. The LORD was sorry thatHe had made man on the earth, and He wasgrieved in His heart. The LORD said, "I will blotout man whom I have created from the face of

the land, from man to animals to creeping thingsand to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I havemade them."


43/61

The Objection to Immutability:

The Texts Exod 32:9-10: The LORD said to Moses, "I

have seen this people, and behold, they are anobstinate people. Now then let Me alone, that

My anger may burn against them and that I maydestroy them; and I will make of you a greatnation."

1 Sam 15:11: "I regret that I have made Saulking, for he has turned back from following Me

and has not carried out My commands." AndSamuel was distressed and cried out to theLORD all night.


44/61

The Objection to Immutability

Jonah 3:3-5, 10: So Jonah arose and went toNineveh according to the word of the LORD. NowNineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days'walk. Then Jonah began to go through the city one

day's walk; and he cried out and said, "Yet fortydays and Nineveh will be overthrown. Then thepeople of Nineveh believed in God; and they calleda fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to theleast of them.10When God saw their deeds, thatthey turned from their wicked way, then Godrelented concerning the calamity which He haddeclared He would bring upon them. And He did notdo it.


45/61

Handling the Objection

Three Responses


46/61

Three Responses to the Objection

to Immutability1. Gods response to the behavior of men is his

immutably certain response based upon hischaracter

2. God is not only immutable, but good, kind, andcompassionate; therefore, his immutability willbe misunderstood if abstracted from his otherattributes

3. Gods immutability and his immanence arebiblically compatible; therefore, we must besatisfied with such compatibility


47/61

Solution 1: Gods Responses Are

Themselves Immutable Gods response to the behavior of men is

his immutably certainresponse basedupon his character

In other words, God always (= immutably)acts the same way towards moral evil andmoral good

How does he act? Notice the nextslides


48/61


Themselves Immutable Jer 18:7-10: "At one moment I might speak

concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom touproot, to pull down, or to destroy it; if that nation

against which I have spoken turns from its evil, Iwill relent concerning the calamity I planned tobring on it. Or at another moment I might speakconcerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to

build up or to plant it; if it does evil in My sight bynot obeying My voice, then I will think better ofthe good with which I had promised to bless it.


49/61


Themselves Immutable Ps 18:25-27: With the kind You show

Yourself kind; With the blameless Youshow Yourself blameless; With the pureYou show Yourself pure, And with thecrooked You show Yourself astute. ForYou save an afflicted people, But haughty

eyes You abase.


50/61

Solution 2: Gods Immutability MustNot Be Abstracted from His Other

Attributes God is not only immutable, but good, kind, and

compassionate; therefore, his immutability willbe misunderstood if abstracted from his otherattributes Gods immutability is the absolutely perfect

consistency of His character in His actualrelationships, throughout history, with His finitecreation. Does ever a sinner repent, there is always

joy in the presence of the angels (Luke 15:7, 10).Does ever a child of God, sealed by the Spirit, fallinto sin, the Holy Spirit is [always] grieved (Eph.4:30).

J Oliver Buswell, Jr., A Systematic Theology of the ChristianReligion(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1962), 1.57.


51/61

Solution 2: Gods Immutability MustNot Be Abstracted from His Other

Attributes Ezek 33:11: "Say to them, 'As I live!'

declares the Lord GOD, 'I take no pleasure

in the death of the wicked, but rather thatthe wicked turn from his way and live. Turnback, turn back from your evil ways! Whythen will you die, O house of Israel?

Hab 1:13a: Your eyes are too pure toapprove evil, And You can not look onwickedness with favor.


52/61

Solution 3: Be a Compatibilist!

Gods immutability and his immanenceare biblically compatible; therefore, wemust be satisfied with such compatibility

The Bible writers who assert Godsunchanging nature are the same writerswho assert his genuine interaction and

empathy with human beings


53/61


So, for example, when we read of Godchanging his mind, or regretting hehad done something, or otherwisechanging his plans we must resistfalling into two ditches:

1. The ditch that makes God immobile and

impersonal in his immutability2. The ditch that rejects immutability outright


54/61


If our doctrine of immutability teaches thatGod is impervious to human pain and/orincapable of empathizing with the pain andgrief of his creatures, we have becomeunbiblical and failed to keep immutabilityand immanence in tension


55/61


On the other hand, if our doctrine of immutabilitysays nothing more than that God is faithful tokeep his part of the bargain, provided that you

keep yours, or That he is contingent upon man in any way, that

Gods experiences of pain and grief areinvoluntary surprises forced upon him from

creatures, apart from his decision we have alsostrayed from the Bible and failed to keep Godsimmutability and his immanence in tension


56/61

Summary of the Solutions

1. Gods response to the behavior of men is hisimmutably certain response based upon hischaracter

2. God is not only immutable, but good, kind, andcompassionate; therefore, his immutability willbe misunderstood if abstracted from his otherattributes

3. Gods immutability and his immanence arebiblically compatible; therefore, we must besatisfied with such compatibility


57/61

Conclusion


58/61

Conclusion

For purposes of teaching, we havedivided the attributes of God into twocategories: communicable andincommunicable

We have begun this study with twoincommunicable attributes: Gods

eternality and Gods immutability


59/61

Conclusion

Gods eternality refers to his quality ofhaving neither beginning nor end

Gods immutability refers to his quality ofbeing unchanging


60/61

Glossary


61/61

Glossary

Anthropomorphism: God revealinghimself to us within a human frame ofreference

Immanence: Gods active and personalinvolvement in humanity

Documents

Condensed Theology, Lecture 9: Theology, Eternality and Immutability