Consistently Consistent
INTRODUCTION
When we think about the qualities or attributes of God, it's helpful to distinguish between those that are communicable - qualities that God shares with us to some degree, like love, mercy and wisdom - and those that are incommunicable, meaning they belong solely to God alone. The difference is similar to communicable diseases that can be spread from one person to another, versus non-communicable diseases that cannot. With that distinction, love is a communicable attribute because we can experience and share in God's love. But other qualities like eternal self-existence, omnipresence, and unchanging immutability are incommunicable - they are uniquely divine with no human analogy.
One of those distinctly divine, incommunicable attributes is God's unwavering consistency and constancy. This steadfast immutability is not just an abstract theological idea, but a profound reality that shapes our understanding of who God is and how we relate to Him as our heavenly Father. God's utter self-consistency has been a cornerstone doctrine through the history of the church, providing an unshakable foundation for His trustworthiness, the reliability of His promises, and our confident hope in Him.
SCRIPTURAL TESTIMONY:
GOD'S BEING IS CONSTANT
While creation undergoes perpetual flux, God's nature and being remain immovable and unchanging through the ages. The prophet Malachi declares this emphatically, "I the Lord do not change" (3:6). This is the foundational truth that is echoed throughout Scripture. God's essence and perfections are not subject to any alteration or evolution, but remain eternally constant. The psalmist rejoices, "But you are the same, and your years will have no end" (102:27). Like an immovable mountain towering above a shifting landscape, God's being never changes.
James affirms this defining truth: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change" (1:17). He would have us know that God does not evolve, there is no abating His infinite power, holiness, righteousness or any other attribute. God is a simple being, meaning that He is not comprised of divisible parts that can wear out or malfunction. All of His unchanging attributes proceed from His unchanging being, providing the bedrock for all His interactions with the world and the key for understanding all His other qualities.
This is why the classical Christian tradition has defended God's immutability so vigorously. The great medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas argued that God is pure actuality with no potentiality for change or growth. Reformers like John Calvin underscored God's perfect constancy in contrast to the mutability of created beings. The Puritans and Protestant scholastics produced volumes expounding divine immutability as the source of God's sheer self-existence and self-sufficiency. While contemporary theologians have nuanced this doctrine, God's ultimate self-consistency remains a lodestar truth for all believers.
God’s consistency is a truth of stunning profundity. As human we are so frail, inconsistent, our principles and emotions so fickle, our love and commitment so fleeting, that we can barely understand the perfection of consistency. But our Lord is infallibly changless. The unshakable "I AM" is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). And this is the very reason we can have hope. He does not fluctuate like we do . He does not go back on His promises as we have. He is our immutable Lord whose very existence is the ground of all stability. When He tells us He loves us, saves us, and will glorify us, He is speaking as a being who will not go back on His Word or will ever change His mind. What an unshakable foundation for our faith!
GOD'S ETERNAL PURPOSES STAND FIRM
Not only is God's existence itself unchanging, but His sovereign decrees and masterful eternal purposes stand immutable as well. The psalmist rejoices in this reality, "The counsel of the Lord stands forever" (33:11). There is no vacillation or course-correction needed for the Most High God, "who is not a man that He should change His mind" (1 Samuel 15:29, Numbers 23:19). From the dawning of creation's wonders, through every pivotal turn in the sweeping narrative of human history, God's predetermined plan and all-encompassing purposes hold unswervingly true to their predetermined ends (Job 23:13-14). What profound comfort and steadfastness this affords us! Our lives and this world's story are not unfolding haphazardly. No. Everything is unfolding according to the unchanging and holy intentions of our covenant Lord.
GOD'S WORD ABIDES UNFAILING
This same divine consistency that exists within God extends to His revealed Word. While human words and philosophies rise and fade like blades of grass, God's utterances abide forever, outlasting the sun, moon, and stars themselves. "The grass withers, the flower fades," Isaiah reminds us, "but the word of our God will stand forever" (40:8). Every syllable of Scripture is timelessly authoritative, gushing forth from the changeless fount of truth Himself. Christ the incarnate Word affirmed this, declaring - "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away" (Matthew 24:35). This is really good news. because if God is perfectly consistent, His Word will be perfectly consistent, meaning that we can stake our life on the truths contained within. Every jot and tittle bears the imprint of His holy consistency.
GOD'S COVENANT LOVE ENDURES
Astoundingly, not only are God's being, purposes and utterances unvarying, but His covenantal love and faithfulness toward His people burn with irrevocable constancy. The prophet Jeremiah rejoices in this, saying: "The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: 'Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love'" (31:3). What sweet comfort this brings! His love cannot change! Paul triumphantly declares that nothing can sever this immutable bond - no hardship, trial, or cosmic power "will be able to separate us from the "love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39). Human affections flicker and wane like a candle flame in a hurricane, but God's steadfast faithfulness to His covenant endures forever, His mercies never come to an end (Lamentations 3:22-23, Deuteronomy 7:9).
God's Justice Remains Perfect
Likewise, God's unchanging righteousness never lapses into caprice or injustices. Far from arbitrary whims, His judgments flow like a pure stream from the unfailing fountain of His own perfect character which "changes not" (Genesis 18:25, Deuteronomy 32:4). There is zero variability, not even the faintest shadow of inconsistency with Him (Romans 2:11). As the righteous Judge over all the earth, He will eternally, immutably do what is just and right. What a splendid and terrifying truth this is - our God's justice never bends or sways from the plumb line of His holiness. We can trust His rulings completely, for He is no flickering force, but a God of absolute integrity.
GOD'S REDEMPTIVE PLAN REMAINS SURE
Even God's plan of redemption, spanning millennia, exhibits this singular constancy from start to finish. From the first glimmer of the gospel in Eden's fall, to the top of Mount Carmel where Elijah took on the prophets of Baal, God's unfailing promises and purposes flowed consistently through every successive covenant, every story, every scene, all the way down to Jesus (who as the author and perfecter of our faith) has brought the consistencies of God’s love, mercy, holiness, atonement, and blessings down to us.
Conclusion:
What unspeakable comfort and unbinding hope flow from knowing our God is no fickle, capricious deity prone to inconsistent fancies and shallow whims! He is the Lord whose perfections and purposes never flicker or fade, but burn with unchanging permanency from eternity to eternity. While human love cools and our obedience wavers, He remains immovably true to His covenantal oath. Though our circumstances oscillate, God's steadfast purposes hold true to their unchanging culmination.
The Lord's absolute constancy provides an immovable foundation for our trust and an unshifting anchor for our restless souls. It summons us to a reciprocal stability - steadfast faith, unwavering devotion, and consistent obedience in response to His unfailing love. May our hearts find joyful refuge in the certainty of our unchanging Lord who casts no flickering shadow of inconsistency, but presides in perfect constancy over all! Eternal praise be to this God "with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change" (James 1:17)!
