Does God Change His Mind?

Does God Change His Mind?

 

Can God engage in Divine repentance? If God is immutable, if He does not change at all, does that mean He never changes His mind? The Scriptures seem to indicate He does and He doesn’t.

Let the Scripture speak…

(Exodus 32:11) And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?

(Exodus 32:12)  Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.

(Exodus 32:13)  Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.

(Exodus 32:14)  And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

God relented or repented. God changed His mind. These Scriptures seem to indicate that God can change His mind. Yet we have others that indicate God doesn’t change His mind.

(Numbers 23:19)  God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

(Numbers 23:20)  Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it.

(1 Samuel 15:29)  And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.

Is there a contradiction in Scripture?

The Bible uses human terms to describe God. The Bible speaks of Him becoming angry, having arms, hands, a face, and feet. God is not a man that He should relent [change His mind] 1 Sam. 15:29

In regard to Exodus 31:14 it would appear that God changed His mind because Moses showed God a better way. It is unthinkable that God can be corrected by infallible man.

Did God overlook the consequences of punishing His people? Without the help of Moses God would have made a hasty and foolish mistake?

This is blasphemy to talk in such terms. If we try to find too much theology in narrative passages we can easily go beyond the point of the narrative into serious errors.

These Biblical narratives in which God seems to repent, or change His mind, are almost always narratives that deal with His threats of judgment and punishment. These threats are followed by repentance of the people or by intercessory petitions of their leaders. God does not or can be talked into changing His mind. He does not punish sinners who repent and turn from their evil ways.

Who is ultimately repenting in Exodus 32: 11-14?  God never repents in the sense that He turns away from sin or from error. God is never corrected by man or given any insight by man.

Dr. John MacArthur says, “Moses' appeal for God to change His mind, to relent, succeeded because God had only threatened judgment not decreed it. A divine intention is not an unchangeable divine decree. Decrees or sworn declarations (cf. Gen. 22:16-18; Psa. 110:4) or categorical statements of not changing or relenting (cf. Jer. 4:28; Ezek. 24:14; Zech. 8:14-15) are unconditional and bind the speaker to the stated course of action regardless of the circumstances or reactions of the listeners. Intentions retain a conditional element and do not necessarily bind the speaker to a stated course of action (cf. Jer. 15:6; 18:8-10; 26:3, 13, 19; Joel 2:13; John 3:9-10; 4:2).

William McDonald in the Believer’s Bible Commentary says, “Moses recognized that the people had sinned so he did not seek to justify their actions. As a result God relented of His threatened course of judgment. The word “relented” does not mean that God changed His mind but that He embarked on another course of action. The Hebrew word nāḥam suggests relief or comfort from a planned, undesirable course of action.”

If God can change His mind, what is there to say that He will not change His mind about my salvation?

The Greatest Eternal Security Passage

John 17:12, “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.”

As we “let the Scripture speak,” what can we learn from this verse?

 1. God the Father has given to the Son a people before the foundation of the world to redeem and take to heaven [John 17:2, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 24; John 6:37, 65; Rev. 13:8; 17:8].

2. Christ has kept all the Father has given Him in time and will for eternity. None are lost that have been given to the Son [John 6:37-40; 10:25-30].

3. If it appears they lost it, it is really because they never had it and were not given to the Son by the Father “All the Father has given me.”

4. Judas was never given to the Son by the Father [John 6:70-71; Ps. 41:9; 109:8; Acts 1:20].

In case one would say that this applies only to the Apostles, please note John 17:20. We are included.

The Promise of Eternal Salvation

We are eternally secure and kept by God’s power if we are truly saved

John 3:16; 5:24; 6:37-40; 10:27-30

Romans 5:9-10; 8:1, 16, 29-30, 31-39

I Cor 1:4-8

Eph 1:13-14; 4:30

Phil 1:6

2 Tim 1:12

Heb 7:25; 10:14; 13:5

I Peter 1:4-5, 23-25

I John 5:11-13

Jude 1, 24

Eternal Security

Seven Reasons Why Those Who Are Truly Born Again Can’t Ever Be Lost

1. Nothing can separate you from the love of God (Rom. 8:38-39).

2. When you are saved, you are made perfect forever (Heb. 10:14).

3. Our Lord always finishes what He begins (Phil 1:6).

4. You are predestined to be like Jesus (Rom 8:28-30).

5. You are in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17).

6. You already have eternal life (John 5:24).

7. The Lord Jesus Christ is ever interceding for you (John 17:9, 15,

    20; Heb. 7:25; 1 John 2:1).

Why Are You Saved?

Ephesians 1:3-6, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved."

Who is The Israel of God?

Galatians 6:16, “And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

Some believe in replacement theology. The church is the new Israel and is now the recipient of all the promises made to Israel. They seem to reject the promises made to the Old Testament prophets and the very teaching of Jesus and the teachings in the New Testament.

(See Isa. 11:10-11; Zech. 8:1; Micah 4; Jer. 31:35-36; Acts 1:6-9; Rom. 9-11:25, 28; Rev. 20:4-6).

Israel of God means all Jewish believers in Christ who are both physical and spiritual descendants of Abraham.

(See Galatians 3:7, 18; Romans 2:28-29; 9:6-7).

While some believe that “Israel of God” is the church, the evidence does not support such a conclusion. First, the repetition of the preposition (“upon” or “to”) indicates two groups are in view. Second, all the 65 other occurrences of the term “Israel” in the New Testament refer to Jews. It would thus be strange for Paul to use “Israel” here to mean Gentile Christians. Third, Paul elsewhere referred to two kinds of Israelites - believing Jews and unbelieving Jews (cf. Romans 9:6). Lest it be thought that Paul is anti-Semitic, he demonstrated by means of this benediction his deep love and concern for true Israel, that is, Jews who had come to Christ. Fourth, the Israel of God refers to those Jews by natural births who receive the Lord Jesus as Messiah. There was neither peace nor mercy for those who walked under the law, but both are the portion of those in the new creation.

God has a plan for the church and for Israel with two distinct programs but both come to Jesus by grace through faith.

Sinners or Saints?

Q- Are saved people sinners or saints?

1. Sinners (Practice)

1 John 5:13, “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”

Turn to 1 John 1:5-10

Turn to Rom. 7:15-20

Summary: We are saved sinners who still sin because of that sin that remains in our flesh. We will not be freed from the presence of sin till our glorification at the resurrection or death.

2. Saints (position)

“Sanctify” is used 31 times in the NT and means “set apart,” or the state of being set apart. It speaks of position or relationship yet it is progressive as well.

“Holy” is used 12 times of believers in the NT and refers to the state of being set apart or being separated.

“Sanctify” does not mean:

1. Sinless perfection. The believers at Corinth were referred to as being saints yet they were carnal and fleshly.

1 Corinthians 1:2, “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:

2. Finality. We are called to higher degrees of holiness (Positional and progressive holiness).

Summary:

Sainthood is not subject to progression. Every believer is a saint at the moment of salvation. He is as much a saint the moment he is saved as he will ever be in time or eternity (Acts 20:32; 1 Cor. 1:2; 6:11; Heb. 10:10, 14; Jude 1).

The whole church which is His body is called out and holy. The Spirit chose to give us the title of “saints” more than any other. We are called “brethren” 184 times, “saints” 62 times, and “Christians” but 3 times.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (24) Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.”

We are saints by position and still sinners by practice till we shed these bodies of sin.