PPG 220 4/11/85
A. Definition.
1. AMETATHETOS means unchangeable, immutable.
2. God is immutable, Ps 102:27; Mal 3:6; James 1:17.
3. Jesus Christ is immutable, Heb 13:8. 3. When man changes, God seems to change in certain passages of Scripture. But in reality, God is consistent with His own unchanging character. While God is immutable, He handles different things in different ways consistent with His immutable integrity.
4. Immutability means that God uses His power in a manner consistent with His person and integrity. God’s policies and acts are never arbitrary. They are never conditioned on human responses. They are totally compatible with His plan and His purpose.
5. “Repent” or METANOEO is sometimes used of God, meaning a change of mind, e.g., Ex 32:14; Gen 6:6; 1 Sam 15:35; Ps 90:13; Jer 15:6, 26:3. This seems to deny the immutability principle, but these are anthropopathisms which ascribe to God a human characteristic which He does not actually possess, but is used to explain divine policy in terms of human frame of reference. They describe divine judgment in terms of man’s frame of reference. Therefore, this is language of accommodation; it does not really describe who and what God is.
6. The immutability of God’s character means that God never loses His integrity or lets others down. “With God there is no variableness or shadow of turning,” James 1:17.
7. Therefore, God’s unchanging integrity and His word provide the basis for the function of the protocol plan of God. Num 23:19, “God is not a man that He should lie.” “Nor repent,” 1 Sam 15:29. Ps 33:11, “The counsel of the Lord stands forever, and the thoughts of His right lobe from generation to generation.”
8. The immutability of God is demonstrated by His person and His Word. Mt 24:35, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.”
B. The First Immutable Thing.
1. The first immutable thing is who and what God is, and what He did for us in eternity past.
2. In eternity past, God the Father deposited greater blessings in escrow for every believer. God the Father is the grantor; Jesus Christ is the depositary; believers are the grantees.
3. After this deposit was made, He programmed the computer of divine decrees.
a. The sovereignty of God programmed a read-only memory or rom chip with both election and predestination. The printout of election reads that the sovereignty of God wills the highest and best for you, previously deposited in escrow, and He provides equal privileges and opportunity for attainment of that highest and best. The conditions for conveyance of escrow blessings include the fulfillment of the protocol plan of God and the advance to gate 8 of the divine dynasphere.
b. God also programmed a prom (programmed read-only memory) chip with your name on it, formed by your own free will.
4. The first immutable thing is the first thing God ever did for us is that He deposited escrow blessings for us based on who and what He is.
C. The second immutable thing is what God says or communicates in time.
1. In the pre-Canon period, illustrated by Abraham, this was simply a promise given verbally and taken with a solemn oath.
2. In the post-Canon period, this is Bible doctrine contained in the Scriptures as per Eph 1:3-6.
3. What God says in time is the second immutable thing. Therefore, the second immutable thing is the revelation of the escrow-election rationale plus the doctrine of divine decrees.
ETERNITY PAST TIME Who and what God is; and what He What God reveals to us; a did for us - the escrow/election promise or Bible doctrine. rationale.
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R. B. Thieme, Jr. Bible Ministries 5139 West Alabama, Houston, Texas 77056 (713) 621-3740
© 1996, by R. B. Thieme, Jr. All rights reserved.
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