God Won’t Change His Mind
Jan 29, 2023 1786
Is there something about which God won’t change his mind? I was once walking beside the beach with Dr Desmond Ford. He was quite elderly, though still strong, and his mind was as “sharp as a tack.”
I asked him why he had changed his mind on a certain issue. He stopped, turned to look at me, and gently slapping my shoulder he said emphatically,
“Eli, to not change in 30 years would mean that I was either stupid or a rock, and I am neither!”
As I look back over the years, I have changed my mind on quite a few things, including really important things. Why? Because I’m not a rock and I’m not stupid. While I live, I learn and grow.
This points to a fundamental difference between me and God. The psalmist David wrote,
The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind (Psalm 110:4, NIV).
God is eternal and omniscient (which means that he knows everything) and we are not. God doesn’t need to change his mind in the sense that he is never wrong, while I often am.
If you look at the context of Psalm 110 it is ultimately talking about salvation. The Lord won’t change his mind because he loves you and it is his purpose to do good to you and to save you.
There is a sense in which the God does change his mind.
However, there is a sense in which the Lord does change his mind. We have the example of Nineveh. God had sent the prophet Jonah to that city to announce that it would be destroyed in forty days. However, the people repented, and so,
When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened (Jonah 3:10.)
The principle at work here, which applies to what we call “classical prophecy” is explained clearly by God himself in the book of Jeremiah. There, he says,
If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, 10 and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it (Jer. 18:8–10.)
We can see that there is another very real sense that God’s actions in the world depend on our own choices. Nineveh is an example. The people repented, and he spared it, which, by the way, made Jonah very upset, by the way! Jonah was upset because he thought that God shouldn’t change his mind.
God won’t change his mind about loving you?
So, what are the things about which God won’t change his mind? There is something about which the Bible tells us that God will never change his mind. And that is that Jesus is the one who provides to you the promise of salvation, that he is able to save you completely. He offered himself as a sacrifice for your sin. Look at how clearly Hebrews 7:21–22; 25–26, 27 puts it:
“The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind:
‘You are a priest forever.’”
22 Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant…. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them… 26 Such a high priest truly meets our need—He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.
God, in Christ, has given his life for yours. How could he ever change his mind on his love for you and on his good and eternal plans for your life?
Unfortunately, we are the ones who often change our minds about God. There are many people who used to think God was great, until they grew up and grew out of it. There are many people who used to believe in God until the realities of life, with its tragedies, rocked their world and shook them out of faith. There are also people who simply decided to adopt the thinking of our societies that declares that there is no God.
It’s important to remember that God will never, ever change his mind about his love for you, and his desire that you receive his gift of eternal life. God won’t change his mind.
lanny george ross
Jan 29, 2023
Are we in an era of modern day Nineveh? Can we as individuals cause the door of Rev. 3:8 to shut? The warning of Rev. 3:16 tells me God is about to reject his church of Laodiceans. I was raised to think I was part of the Laodicean church and the door would never be closed, yet the threat is clear that God is about to spit the Laodiceans out of his mouth. God would not make empty threats! For many Rev. 3 could open questions; Who is Laodicea, What has God done to/with Laodicea, Has God changed his mind concerning Laodicea? In my 80’s I have noticed the world growing more secular. Had my life ended when I was in my 50’s I to would have been among the secular leaning. God has given me years, yes with infirmities, but they have been the most beautiful for I am able to appreciate the love and forgiveness of my Lord and Savor Jesus.