God’s Unchangeable Purpose – Hebrews 6:16-18

Bibles to Hebrews chapter six. Hebrews chapter six, and we're gonna read together verses 13 through 20.

Hebrews six, beginning at verse 13. For when God made the promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself, saying,

I will bless you, and I will surely multiply you. And so having patiently waited, he obtained the promise.

For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.

In the same way, God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of his purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast, and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.

Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank you that your mercy is so abundant and so amazing and so infinite, and it covers our sin, and it redeems lost people for your own glory, and we thank you for that.

We thank you that we are as unworthy as we are on recipients of such abundant grace and mercy.

We thank you that you are our unchanging and unchangeable God, and that you have purposed the redemption of a people for your own glory, according to the counsel of your own will, and it is that counsel and that decree and that purpose that is the foundation and ground of our security.

Help us to see you as our unchangeable God, and to reflect upon what that means for our salvation this morning.

May you be honored and glorified in the contemplation of our hearts and in the focus of our minds this morning.

May you be honored through the proclamation of your word, both now and forever. We pray that it would accomplish its purposes in our hearts, and encourage us together in it, we ask in Christ's name.

Amen. Well, the passage that we have before us, the one that we just read, we've been in here for a couple of weeks, and we are noticing that in the passage, the author describes the unchangeable purpose of God and an unchangeable oath of God, and God's purpose and his oath are unchangeable because God cannot lie, and since God cannot lie, he cannot promise something, or make an oath of something that he does not fulfill, that he does not bring to pass.

And for the last couple of weeks, I've been saying that this is the foundation upon which our belief in the security of the sheep is grounded.

We don't believe that we are secure because of some decision that we make, or some act of faith, or some action that we do in walking an aisle, or getting baptized, or praying a prayer ends up saving us.

It's not that that is unalterable. Ultimately, we are saved and we are secure because the purposes and the promises and the person of God himself are unalterable, because those things cannot change, and because God cannot lie, if he has purposed our salvation, he will bring it to pass.

And that's what we're seeing here in Hebrews chapter six. The author, having warned apostates, those who are not truly saved, of the danger of falling away earlier in the chapter, now turns to encourage

Christians concerning the security of their own salvation, that we can have assurance and we can be secure because God himself has purposed something that he will most definitely bring to pass.

And last week we looked at God's unchangeable oath, and we have looked at his unchangeable promise, and today we are looking at his unchangeable purpose in verse 17.

You'll notice when we read verse 17, it says in the same way, God desired to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of his purpose.

And we talked about the oath that God interposed, which is itself unchangeable, and the promise that God made, which is unchangeable, and now we're looking at the purpose of God, which is unchangeable.

So we're talking about a lot of unchangeable things, promises, oaths, purposes, but before we really discuss or talk about or understand what all of those things are and why they are unchangeable, we have to go back and talk about something that is also unchangeable, that makes all of those things unchangeable, and that is

God himself. So today we're gonna be looking at what it means when we say that God is unchangeable.

Now, if God were changeable, if he could change and if he did change, then his purposes would be changeable, because God might say or do something that later on he would decide is not the best idea after all so he would then have to change his purpose.

And if his purposes are changeable, then his promises would be changeable, because any promise that he makes to fulfill any purpose that he has decreed would also have to change if his purposes are changeable.

And if his purposes are changeable and his promises are changeable, then ultimately all of his promises would end up being lies, for he might change at some point, and if God changes, his purposes change, if his purposes change, his promises change, because his promises are expressions of his purposes, it is a promise to fulfill his purpose, and his purpose is an expression of his nature.

God cannot purpose or promise anything contrary to his nature. So if God's promises are unchangeable, it is only because his purposes are unchangeable, which verse 17 says, and if his purposes are unchangeable, it is only because God himself is unchangeable.

And that's what we're looking at. This is called the doctrine of immutability. It might sound like a big word. Well, it actually is a big word, but it's not a complex word.

It just simply means that God cannot change. We speak of something mutating or being mutable, it changes.

Something that mutates, it changes. It mutates from one form to another. So something that is mutable is something that is able to change from one position or form to another position or form, or from one substance to a different substance.

That would be something that is mutable, it mutates. Well, it is able to change if it's mutable. If it's immutable, that it means that it is impossible for the change to be able.

So when we talk about God's immutability, we're not just saying that he doesn't change. We're not saying that he could change if he wanted to, but he doesn't, and so therefore he's immutable, but he is able or capable of change.

When we describe God's immutability, we are saying that it is actually impossible for God to change because of who he is and because of what he is.

So in Hebrews 6, I've made the case that the description of apostates who fall away is not a description of genuine and true believers, that believers cannot lose their salvation.

Well, now the author wants to make the positive case that believers, true believers, are actually secure. He's already told us that make -believers and fake -believers are insecure because they fall away.

Now he needs to make the positive case that believers are secure, which he does here in verses 13 to 20, as he talks about the immutable, unchangeable, and unchanging promises, purposes, and then person of God.

Now before we look at God's immutability, I wanna raise an objection for you, and here's the objection.

The objection is this. There are passages in the Bible that describe God repenting or relenting or changing his mind.

For instance, in Genesis chapter six, prayer to the flood, Moses writes, the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth and he was grieved in his heart.

And then in relation to making Saul king in first Samuel chapter 15, the author says of God that God said,

I regret that I have made Saul king for he has turned back from following me and has not carried out my commandments. And then in Jonah chapter three, verse 10,

Jonah says that when God saw their deeds, then they turned from their wicked way, that they had turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which he had declared he would bring upon them, and he did not do it.

And those are not the only passages. There are some other passages that describe God in terms of as if he's changing his mind, he's repenting, or he's relenting.

It seems he had a change of mind regarding the decision to create, Genesis chapter six, he regretted that he had made man, seems that he had a change of mind about making

Saul king, seems that he had a change of mind about destroying the Ninevites, did he? Got changed in those situations?

And what do we do with those passages? And I raise it here at the beginning for two reasons. First, to assure you that we will deal with that objection and we'll deal with those passages at the end of the message.

The second is to tell you that it's at the end of the message, so put it out of your mind as we describe the immutability of God.

Because if I don't say something like that at the beginning, then it's gonna be like there's a big elephant in the living room and we're all kind of wondering, does

Jim know about those passages? Is he not answering those passages because he doesn't know the answer? Is there no answer to those passages? Is that a genuine contradiction?

What about this and what about that? To put all of that out of our minds for just a moment, we're gonna lay out the positive case for the immutability of God, what immutability, what that big word means, what immutability means and what it does not mean, and then at the end of the message,

I'll describe, I'll answer that objection or that question. So first, let's talk about the immutability of God.

It sounds like a complex concept. It's rather a very simple concept concerning the nature and character of God, and that is that he simply does not change.

It is a beautiful, simple, and yet profound reality, a beautiful and simple but profound reality that God never changes.

Now, you compare that to man, A .W. Let me slow down for just a second. I got a lot of stuff to get through, but I'm not gonna get through any of it if I have to correct everything that I say, so let me just slow down for just a second.

A .W. Tozer in his book, The Knowledge of the Holy, in speaking about the immutability of God, says this.

The immutability of God appears in its most perfect beauty when viewed against the mutability of men.

In God, no change is possible. In men, change is impossible to escape.

Neither the man is fixed, nor his world, but he and it are in a constant flux.

Each man appears for a little while to laugh and weep, to work and play, and then to go to make room for those who shall follow him in a never -ending cycle.

Sounds a lot like Ecclesiastes, doesn't it? And the beauty of God's immutability is seen when you compare it to man's mutability, the fact that we are not only subject to change, but we are constantly changing.

There is nothing about you that is the same right now as it was this morning when you woke up, nothing.

You have had experiences since waking up this morning until now that have informed you and developed you that will be with you for the rest of your life that have changed you forever since the time that you woke up this morning.

There are things that are true of you now that were not true of you this morning when you woke up. Mentally, you have changed.

Mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally, we are constantly all in a state of flux. Physically, we grow, we age, we develop, we die.

We're constantly getting stronger or weaker, faster or slower, tired or rested, hungry or full, thirsty or satiated.

Our cells reproduce and then die and then replace themselves. Since you woke up this morning, millions of cells in your bodies have died and gone away and have been replaced by other cells.

You're not the same person physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, or intellectually that you were when you woke up. You are in a constant state of change.

Mentally, you are learning and forgetting things, getting smarter or getting dumber, acquiring skills or forgetting skills.

Just don't think about your kids. I didn't say that to get you to think about your kids getting dumber. You're getting smarter or you're getting dumber.

All of us are, not just our kids. Spiritually, you who are Christians were dead in your sins at one point and you have been made alive together in Jesus Christ.

Spiritually, you have been changed. And you have been sanctified. You're holier now in some measure, however imperceptibly small, than you were this morning when you woke up because he is sanctifying you.

In fact, he is changing you mentally, emotionally, and spiritually even right now as I speak and you listen. Our affections change, our emotions change, our desires, our thoughts, our purposes, our plans, and our intentions.

As A .W. Tozer says, we are all in a constant state of flux. And this just occurred to me this morning while I was going over this.

That our unchanging God uses a constantly changing creation and creatures to accomplish his unchanging will and purposes.

In other words, God himself has something that does not change his purposes. And he is driving and working all things, everything that is in a constant state of fluctuation and change, he is moving it all to the accomplishment of his unchanging purposes.

Or yeah, his unchanging purposes. Our unchanging God is doing that. That to me is just, it is an amazing demonstration of the providence and the sovereignty of God.

There is nothing about us that stays the same. There is nothing about God that ever changes.

There is nothing about you that is unchangeable. Except one thing, your salvation.

And see, that's the work of God, isn't it? It has nothing to do with you. It's the one thing about you, your salvation, that cannot change.

And that is the one thing about you that is absolutely rooted and grounded in the will and the purposes and the plans and the intention and the eternal decrees of an unchanging

God. That cannot and never will change. But God does not change. And the easy way of saying this is to say that God never differs from himself.

His being never changes, his essence never changes, his attributes never change. I'm gonna give you a list of scriptural references to describe different aspects of God's nature and character and how scripture says they do not change.

And again, we're laying the groundwork here for the fact that God himself is an immutable and unchanging and unchangeable

God. Psalm 102, verses 25 through 27. Of old, you founded the earth and the heavens are the work of your hands.

Even they will perish, but you endure, and all of them will wear out like a garment. Like clothing, you will change them and they will be changed, but you are the same and your years will not come to an end.

Notice how the psalmist compares God with all created things. Everything created changes.

But God is the uncreated creator. He is the one thing that never changes. The heavens may wear out, the seas may change, the mountains may erode away, all of creation may be wrapped up, everything might cease to exist, but God himself never changes.

He is the same and his years will not come to an end. Romans 1 .23 describes God as an incorruptible and immortal

God. Romans 1 .23 says that mankind has exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and of four -footed animals and crawling creatures.

Notice there that what is corruptible, everything that is created. What is incorruptible, God. God is incorruptible because he cannot change, therefore he cannot be corrupted and he cannot be perfected.

1 Timothy 1 .17 says now to the king, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. 1

Timothy 6 .15 -16 describes our sovereign king of kings, Lord of Lord, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in light unapproachable.

These are all aspects of God's unchanging nature. Numbers 23 verse 19 says that God's thoughts, his purpose and his will are unchangeable.

God is not a man, Numbers 23 .19 says, that he should lie nor the son of man, that he should repent. And has he said and he will not do it or has he spoken and he will not make it good?

1 Samuel 15 .29, also the glory of Israel will not lie or change his mind for he is not a man that he should change his mind.

Now that one, 1 Samuel 15 is significant because I just read to you earlier from 1 Samuel 15 where God says, I regret that I have made

Saul king. And then 18 verses later, Samuel says, the glory of Israel will not lie or change his mind for he is not a man that he should change his mind.

Right there in the same passage, is an explanation of the unchangeable nature of God even right next to a verse that describes

God changing his mind or relenting or repenting or regretting that he had made

Saul king. Most magnificent, Malachi 3 verse six, for I the

Lord do not change and therefore, oh sons of Jacob, you are not consumed. That is a beautiful verse.

See a nation that was in full -fledged rebellion against the covenant that God had made for him. God says to the prophet Malachi, you wanna know why you're not consumed?

Because I don't change. And I promise something to Abraham and I will see it through. In spite of your wickedness, in spite of your failing, in spite of your sin, you are not consumed because I do not change,

Malachi 3 verse six. James 1 verse 17 says, every good thing and given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the

Father of lights in whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. The fact that God does not change is an evidence for the deity of Christ because that passage that I read to you at the beginning of that long list of verses,

Psalm 102 where it says the heavens are changed and the seas may fall away and all of creation changes but you do not change and your years never come to an end.

That was actually quoted back in Hebrews chapter one. You remember what Hebrews chapter one was describing? The person of the Lord Jesus Christ where the author goes through all of those passages from the

Psalms in the Old Testament and he says this is what the Father says of the Son. You see, the

Father says of the Son, you are the same and your years will not come to an end.

That's Hebrews chapter one. Hebrews chapter 13 says Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

The fact that he does not change is evidence that he is not a created being. He is the uncreated creator because there are only two classifications, those things which change and those things which cannot and do not change and the one thing that cannot and does not change is

God and if Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever and he never changes, then what does that say?

It says Jesus Christ is God. He shares the divine nature. Now that doesn't mean that the man Christ Jesus never changed because he was born, he was an infant, he grew and developed and he learned, et cetera.

Those are expressions and the experiences of his humanity but not his deity. The divine nature, the divine essence which was incarnated in the person of the

Lord Jesus Christ, that divine essence does not change and it never will change. He was as much

God in the womb as he is on the cross and in the resurrection. So that's the nature of God with whom change is impossible because change can only be in one of two directions.

God could either change from being in a worse condition to being in a better condition or to having a worse attribute to a better attribute or he would change from a position of being better to being worse.

You understand that? Change can only go in one of two directions. One of two things can happen. He can grow worse or he can get better.

So you apply that to God's attributes like his knowledge. He can never learn or forget anything because if God ever learned something, that means that prior to learning that, his knowledge was incomplete and if his knowledge was incomplete, then he was not omniscient and if he was not omniscient, then he is not

God. So he can never learn something and he can never forget something. His knowledge can never change and he can never forget anything because if he forgets something, then his knowledge after he forgets it is less than and inferior to his knowledge before he had it and if he forgets something, then he's not omniscient and therefore he's not

God. The wisdom of God, God can never get any wiser than he is right now And he has never been any wiser in eternity past.

And he will not be any wiser in eternity future. And he will learn nothing from us or from anything else for all of eternity.

All that he knows, he has always known. All wisdom that he has, he has always had. It is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

His power cannot change. He cannot decrease in power or increase in power. He cannot decrease in glory or increase in glory.

He cannot become more holy or less holy, more righteous or less righteous, more perfect or less perfect.

He cannot change. The fact that he is perfect mandates that he can never change. Because if he can change, then he is not perfect.

Because imperfection and the ability to change is not something that is inherent to perfection. So if he can change, if he had the ability to change, then he would not itself be perfect.

The fact that we change and our imperfection is an expression of our limitations. It is an expression of our humanity, our creatureliness.

It shows our imperfections and our limitations because when we speak of God being perfect and we say that he is perfect in every way, what we are describing is an inability to be other than he is.

And if he is unable to be other than he is, then he cannot change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

That is a glorious doctrine that stands behind our text, which we now finally get to here in Hebrews chapter six, verse 17, where it says that God desired to show the unchangeableness of his purpose.

So having understood now what it means that God's nature never changes, that he never changes, what does it mean that he has an unchangeable purpose and what does that mean for us?

And this is where the doctrine of God's immutability is the rubber, this is where the rubber hits the road in terms of the implications and the applications for us.

This verse, this word that is translated immutable only is found twice in the New Testament, both of them here in chapter six, once in verse 17 and once in verse 18, once referring to the unchangeableness of his purpose and the second in verse 18 referring to two unchangeable things, which refers to his promise and his oath.

So those three things never change, God's purpose, his promise, and his oath. And this is the only place where that word unchangeable is found in the

New Testament, though the doctrine is explained in terms of who God is and what his purpose is in other passages, though the word is not used.

The word purpose is found more frequently in the New Testament, it's used 12 times, and here's what it means, this definition.

A plan, a purpose, an intention, a will, or a counsel. Plan, purpose, intention, will, or counsel.

And here's how it's variously translated in Scripture, it's translated purpose five times, it's translated plan four times, it's translated reach a decision.

To reach a decision, people purpose to reach the decision. What that means is that they had an intention or a purpose behind the decision that they made.

One time it is translated motive, describing the hidden intentions and purposes of someone's heart, and one time it is translated counsel, and I'm gonna read that passage to you here in just a moment.

It is used of men's plans and purposes and motives, which we might expect, and it is also used of God's plans and purposes and motives, as it is here in Hebrews chapter six.

And when it is used of God's plans and purposes and motives, sometimes it is used of God's purpose for somebody which they rejected, and other times it is used of something that describes

God's unchangeable purpose, as it is here in Hebrews chapter six. And when it's used of God's unchangeable purpose, it is tied in with his plan of redemption.

So I'll give you a few passages. Listen carefully to this. From Acts chapter two, verse 23. Peter, on the day of Pentecost, describing

Jesus, said this man was delivered over by the predetermined plan, that's the word, it's translated plan, purpose, by the predetermined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put him to death.

Then it's used in Acts chapter four, when the apostles are praying, and they say for truly in this city, there were gathered together against your holy servant,

Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your purpose predestined to occur.

So in both of those passages, we're describing the redemptive purposes of God, it is tied in with predetermination and predestination.

And then in Ephesians chapter one, verse 11, which we read prior to our service this morning, it says this, we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of one who works all things after the counsel of his will.

Now all of those passages have to do with God's predetermining and predestining work, and there it is connected with his eternal purpose.

Predestination and preordination are connected with God's eternal purpose. So the death of Christ and his suffering were predestined and pre -purposed by God from all of eternity.

It could not have been otherwise, except that the Lord Jesus would come into this world, live a perfect life, die on a cross, be buried, and rise again.

That is why Jesus and the apostles, when they described those things, the fulfillment of scripture said, it had to come to pass.

This had to happen, why? Because it was the predestined purpose and plan of God. It was preordained that this should happen.

In Ephesians chapter one, it describes us being predestined according to the counsel who works all things after the counsel of his will.

And there, predestination is attached to the counsel, the plan and counsel, the purpose of God in our salvation.

Now in Ephesians chapter one, when Paul says that God works all things after the counsel of will, he's not just saying the death of butterflies, and the rising of the sun, and the ocean tide and currents, and the moon going around the earth.

He's not just describing that. Particularly, Paul has in mind the all things that he has just described in the previous 10 verses of Ephesians chapter one.

And what is that? That you were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. And he set his love upon you in the person of Christ before anything was created.

And it says in verse five that he predestined you to adoption as sons. And that he gave you the forgiveness of your sins.

And in him you have redemption through his blood. And he has made known to you the mysteries of his will.

And he has worked all of these things together, predestining you to your inheritance.

And all of that work, which was granted to us in Christ Jesus from before the foundation of the world,

Paul says in Ephesians one verse 11, all of it was predestined for your glory after and according to his purpose.

How can God predestine something for your glory? Because if he has purposed your salvation, there is nothing on heaven, in heaven or on earth that can alter that.

His purpose is predestined to occur. Because when God purposes it, God brings his purpose to pass.

He has promised to bring his purpose to pass. So we're talking about God's redeeming purpose. We're not just talking about God arbitrarily wish -casting something.

Sitting in heaven and saying, you know, I think I have a good idea. This idea may or may not change in the course of time, but let me give this a shot.

Let's roll the dice and see what happens. See if we can bring something to pass out of this. That's not how God purposes anything.

God doesn't purpose something as if it is a wish that he wishes to fulfill. God doesn't purpose something as if it's a good idea that he's gonna try and sort of aim all of humanity towards this.

God purposes that which he knows that he will bring to pass. And he only purposes everything after the counsel or purpose of his own will.

It is according to his will that we are chosen, not our own. It is according to God's actions that we are chosen, not our own.

It is God's decree that has chosen us, not our decision. None of those things rest with us. None of those things are in our laps.

None of those things are the things that we do. All of these things come to pass and they are predestined to come to pass because God has predestined it all according to his eternal and unchangeable purpose.

Some of you are very uncomfortable with discussion about predestination. I understand that.

I'm not. I'm not any more uncomfortable with that than Scripture is uncomfortable with that. And Scripture's not uncomfortable with that because Scripture mentions it all over the place.

We just read it twice in Ephesians chapter one, that we are predestined to adoption as sons and we are predestined to our inheritance.

That predestining work of God rests upon his purpose, which is unchangeable. That is why it is predestined.

See, if you want to avoid the doctrine of predestination, then you have to do one of two things. You either have to say that God's purpose changes because it can alter all the time, so nothing is ever predestined because God's purpose might change.

Or you have to say that God can fail to fulfill his purpose.

But if God has purposed something and that purpose cannot change and God cannot fail, then it's predestined.

You cannot avoid that. You can't say that God doesn't predestine anything unless you want to suggest that God's purposes change and God's purposes can only change if he changes.

Or if you want to say that God will fail to accomplish his unchangeable purposes. God cannot will or purpose anything that is contrary to his nature.

He cannot contradict himself and he cannot purpose something that he cannot bring to pass. He cannot purpose something that he will fail at accomplishing.

And his salvation purposes cannot fail. I'll remind you of Isaiah 46, verse 10. God declares the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, my purpose will be established and I will accomplish my good pleasure.

Psalm 115, verse three. Our God is in the heavens, he does whatever he pleases. Psalm 135, verse six.

Whatever the Lord pleases, he does. In earth and in heaven, in the seas and in all the deeps. Daniel 4, 35.

All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but he does according to his will in the hosts of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and no one can ward off his hand or say to him, what have you done?

Is it possible for God to purpose something and then not accomplish it or to intend it and then say, well, no,

I can't do that? Is that possible? Is it possible for God to purpose something that is unchangeable and then fail to bring that to pass?

Would you suggest that? You can't suggest that. He decides his purpose and then he accomplishes his purpose and then

God never determines that the purpose that he decided or decreed is inferior to another plan that he then puts into action.

See, the plan of redemption, the coming of the son and the giving of his life on the cross to redeem a people, that was not plan

B that happened after Adam fell. The triune God did not call a council after Adam's sin in the garden and say, now what are we gonna do?

The triune God ordained all of this before he created a single Adam. All of it.

He ordained that Adam would be created perfect and fall into sin and that he would send the son to redeem a people for his own glory and he decreed all of that from before the foundation of the world.

That was his purpose in it, to glorify himself and to do good to us. That is a

God worth worshiping. When God purposes something, he's not wish casting, he's not forwarded by unforeseen circumstances or contingencies, he's not hampered by human rebellion or man's rebellious will, he is not seeking our permission to do anything, he's not trying to do anything.

God doesn't try to do anything. He does. Was it

Yoda who said Jedi Knights don't try, Jedi Knights do? Yeah, well that is cute and it's funny.

Listen, God doesn't try to do anything. He's not trying to speak to you, he's not trying to get your attention, he's not trying to sanctify you, he's not trying to save people, he just does.

Our God sits in the heavens and he does what he pleases. It doesn't say our God sits in the heavens and he tries his best to work out everything and to make good out of it.

God doesn't try to do anything. He never starts to do something that he does not finish, he cannot because our

God does not change. I want you to apply this to your Trinitarian theology for just a moment.

This is where I'm gonna really step on some toes and upset people who don't like some of this stuff but here we go. Apply this to your

Trinitarian theology. The will of the Father and the intention of the Son and the will of the

Holy Spirit are perfectly identical and there is not a shade of difference in the redemptive purposes of God between the will of the

Father, the will of the Son and the will of the Holy Spirit. They are one, absolutely one.

So some people think of salvation as if the Father is sitting in heaven and he, in a very stingy fashion, chooses out a few people to save and then the

Son comes up with a better idea and says, I'll tell you what, I'm gonna go to earth and I'm gonna pay for everybody's sins and try and save everybody.

And then the Holy Spirit comes along and says, man, I don't know how to resolve this conflict between the Father and the

Son. The Father really doesn't want to save all these people, he's only chosen a few but the Son has died for everybody so I'm gonna do my best to try and save everybody that I possibly can.

That is not how our Triune God works, right? When the Father chose, the

Son said, I will pay for their salvation and the Holy Spirit applies that redemption that Christ purchased to all those whom the

Father has given to him. So that the Father in his electing purposes and the Son in his atoning work and the

Holy Spirit in his resurrecting and regenerating work, they are all one in their intention and purpose and that is to save all who are given to the

Son by the Father. God's purpose as he accomplishes it, he works together all three persons of the

Trinity to accomplish what our great Triune God has purposed from eternity past which purpose cannot change and will not fail.

So now that we've talked about what it means that God is unchangeable and that his purpose is unchangeable, let's deal with the objection, shall we?

Let's bring that back out, let's put the elephant back up in the middle of the room and say, okay, now we've got these examples in scripture where it says that God changes his mind or relents or repents of an activity or feels sorrow over something.

What do we do with that in the light of the fact that God himself never changes? So let me give you two of them.

We'll deal with Saul and Jonah and what I'm gonna say about these two examples would apply to every other passage that describes this including

Genesis chapter six and a couple of others. Okay, so there are two passages. First Samuel 15 verse 11,

I'll read it to you again. I regret that I have made Saul king for he has turned back from following me and has not carried out my commands. And then

Jonah chapter three verse 10, when God saw their deeds that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which he had declared he would bring upon them and he did not do it, okay?

So a couple of general statements real quick. First, God reveals himself in relation to his people. God's actions are always perceived by fallen men and women who are constantly changing, right?

God himself does not change but his actions, his character, the revelation of who he is and what he does is perceived by us who are constantly changing.

So oftentimes, scripture uses what we call anthropomorphic or anthropopathic language which means simply attributes of God described in language that humans can relate to either in terms of their passions, their feelings or in terms of their activities or actions.

That would be anthropomorphic and anthropopathic language. So scripture reveals God and describes the actions of God as perceived in human terms or from a human vantage point.

So we would see this with Jonah. Jonah says that God relented concerning the destruction when he saw the repentance of the

Ninevites. So did God change or did the Ninevites change? Who changed? The Ninevites changed, right?

God said, if you continue in this path, I will destroy you because the Ninevites were in that path and the

Ninevites repented, they got out of that path and then when they looked at God, they said, oh, God has changed his mind about destroying us.

No, because if they had not gotten out of that path, God would have done what? He would have destroyed them. But was the purpose of God different from A to B, point

A to B? Was he intending to destroy Nineveh at one point and then intending to save them at another point?

Did his purpose regarding the Ninevites change? No, the Ninevites changed and their perception of God's countenance toward them changed because they were the ones that changed.

And Jonah knew this all along, which is why he says after the Ninevites repented, Lord, is this not what

I said to you when I was back in my own city? That you were compassionate and gracious and slow to anger and relenting concerning calamity?

It's for this reason that I took off for Tarshish. Jonah knew that God's intention all along was to save the

Ninevites and Jonah said, I have no part in that, I'm going to Tarshish. God's purpose was unchanging, he was gonna save the

Ninevites and God's purpose was to use Jonah. So how did going to Tarshish work out for that? Did God's purpose change when

Jonah said, no, I'll have no part in it? No, not at all. Because guess what ended up happening?

Exactly what God determined that he was going to do from before the time that he called Jonah. He accomplished his purpose.

It wasn't God who changed, but the Ninevites. Same thing with Saul. When Saul was made king, it wasn't God's intention that, well, let me just read you the passage again.

It says, I regret that I had made Saul king and then 18 verses later, God says, the glory of Israel will not lie or change his mind for he is not a man that he should change his mind.

So you have two verses, almost back to back. One that says God relented or regrets that he made

Saul king and another said God did not change his mind. So what's going on there? It's the same thing. The author is describing the passion or the view,

God's feeling regarding Saul in language and emotions that human beings can relate with.

Yes, there was a sense in which God was disappointed with Saul, so that disappointment and that judgment is expressed in terms that we can relate to it, a regret, a relenting of this, a turning back from it.

But yet, the passage says later on, the glory of Israel does not change his mind. You see, it was God's intention and purpose all along to have

Saul become king so that he might demonstrate to the Israelites that their choice of a king would be inferior to his king, that they choose according to the sight of their eyes and the outward appearance, but that God looks on the heart.

And it was the intention all along for God to demonstrate this to the nation of Israel by allowing Saul to become king so that he could put

Saul under judgment, remove him from being king, establish David as his chosen king, and then make a covenant with David to sit one of his descendants on his throne to rule and to reign forever.

And by the way, I know that this is gonna happen, by the way, the rule and the reign of Christ on the throne of David forever. You know why

I know that? It's God's purposes do not change. And that's what he said to David concerning that purpose.

I will establish that. So what was God's purpose all along? To demonstrate to Israel, I will choose your king.

You're incapable of choosing your own kings. And when he taught that lesson to them through Saul, God had an emotion towards Saul that is true.

He hadn't changed his mind and his purpose did not change. In fact, that statement that God's purpose regarding Saul had not changed and he did not change his mind, that comes right after Saul tries to make up for it.

And God says, I'm gonna take you out of the throne. I'm gonna appoint your neighbor who is better than yourself to be king in your stead and your house will be removed from this and nobody of your sense will ever sit on your throne.

And Saul says, no, hold on, I'm sorry, I've done this. I should have wiped out the Amalekites. And he has this feigned repentance. And God says, no,

I'm not changing my mind. What was his purpose all along? To establish David as king. God was accomplishing that purpose.

So it's anthropomorphic and anthropopathic language. God never changes, men change and we perceive the actions of God in terms of our vantage point and our changed stature.

We see it accordingly and scripture describes that the perception and encounter of men with God in language that we can understand.

Because while it says that God has a quote unquote change of mind, it's using language that we can understand while it at the same time says

God does not change. And it's not a contradiction. It's describing two aspects of God's nature and character which perfectly harmonize and go together.

Yes, God does experience passions or feelings. Stay away from the term emotions because we don't say that God is emotional but God has passions or feelings and he does experience those things and those things are described to us in terms of things that we can relate to because God is so far high and above us.

So here's the conclusion which you've been waiting for now for far too long. Our security is rooted in the nature of God and his character and he is sovereign and powerful and the will of man cannot stop him.

He does not ask permission, he is able to save, he acts according to his purposes, he cannot fail.

If he has purposed your salvation, he cannot fail, he cannot alter that, he will not change his purpose, he will not change his mind, he will not change what he has decreed concerning you.

God has decreed salvation, he has already determined whom he is going to save, how he is going to save them, when he is going to save them, he has already determined that he will save, he has not left salvation or the accomplishment of his eternal plan up to the wicked, rebellious will of man, he is not determined to do that.

Instead he acts according to the counsel of his own will and he rules and establishes to establish his purpose.

He does not leave his glory up to others. Now, you may be in a group of people that say, okay look

Jim, you've been talking about the security of salvation and eternal security and I agree with you, I believe that we cannot lose our salvation,

I'm on the same page, I agree with that conclusion. But listen, Jim, I cannot agree with any of the theology that you lay out to get to that conclusion.

Can't agree with any of it. I don't believe that God elects us unconditionally before the foundation of the world, that he himself chooses us.

I don't believe that the death of Christ is purposeful and intentional in particular and limited in that way. I don't believe that the death of Christ actually accomplishes salvation, just merely makes it possible.

I can't agree with the fact that you believe that the persons of Trinity are all united in that.

I may agree with your conclusion, but I don't agree with any of the biblical argument that you've used, none of the theology that leads you to that.

But, you and I can at least stand in that one place and say yes, we can agree that you cannot lose your salvation.

Okay, maybe that's you. Let me challenge you with something. You may agree with me on the conclusion, but please understand that the argument that you use to get to that conclusion is not the argument that the

Bible uses to get to that conclusion. You say, I believe that we are safe and secure because salvation is irreversible.

Okay, I say, I agree with that. Salvation is irreversible. Why is it irreversible?

Well, because it is. It's the nature of salvation that once you do this and go from A to B, you can't go back from B to A.

I agree with you. It is irreversible, but what makes it irreversible?

You might say, well, it's the nature of the thing. The nature of what thing? The nature of what thing makes salvation irreversible and permanent?

What is it? I'll give you the argument that the Bible uses. And I can take you to John chapter six, or John chapter 10, or John chapter 17, or Ephesians chapter one, or Romans chapter eight, or first Peter chapter one, and not give you some isolated word or phrase, but actually entire chapters that are devoted to answering this very argument.

Here's the argument the scripture uses. In eternity past, the father gave to the son, a people, a bride, as a love gift to the son.

The son agreed to come into the world and to redeem them by dying in their stead and paying the price for their salvation, securing forever and everlastingly and unalterably the redemption of all those whom the father gave to the son.

This is John chapter six. All that the father has given to me will come to me. And the one who comes to me,

I will not cast him out. But I will give them eternal life, and they will believe in me. I will give them eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.

And I will lose none of them, Jesus said. Why? Because this is the will of the father, and I have come down out of heaven to do the will of the father.

And this is the will of him who sent me, that of all that he has given to me, I raise them all up on the last day and lose not one of them.

That's John chapter six. So here's the argument that the Bible uses for the security of the believer.

God determined and made an unalterable purpose in eternity past that he would save a people.

He gave those people to the son. The son came to save and redeem and to die for those people.

And then the spirit of God applies in time, as we live and time goes by, the spirit of God applies the salvation purchased by the son to those whom the father has chosen and given to the son.

So that all three persons of the trinity are working in perfect harmony with one another to accomplish their eternal and unalterable purpose.

All to the praise of his glorious grace, who works all things after the counsel of his will and not men's will.

That is the argument the scripture gives for the security of the believer. Now, if you reject that, fine.

You may agree with me that we're secure, but just understand the difference between the way you get to that conclusion and the way scripture gets to that conclusion.

If your argument is not a biblical argument, your argument needs to change. You need to adopt mine.

That was a snarky way of saying that I'm arguing to you and what

I'm laying out is the biblical case for the security of the believer. It rests upon God's unchanging purpose.

So Christian, you are safe, you're secure. There's nothing in the heavens, there's nothing on earth that is gonna alter

God's unchangeable purpose for you because God does not change, therefore his purpose does not change, therefore his promises do not change.

They cannot change, they will not change. He has purposed your salvation. If the son has been given you by the father from eternity past, you are safe and secure.

He will give you eternal life, he will raise you up on the last day, and he will not lose one of us. That is his promise, and he can promise that because his promises do not change, and he can promise that because those promises are expressions of his unchangeable purpose, and his unchangeable purpose goes back to his unchanging nature, the nature of God who is himself immutable.

For you to lose your salvation, one of two things would have to happen. Either the purpose of God concerning you would have to change, and we've seen conclusively that it cannot, or that which anchors you to the unchangeable purpose would have to fail.

What is it that anchors you to the unchangeable purpose of God? It is Christ. He is the anchor of our soul.

He is the anchor for us in the holy of holies where he has gone as a forerunner.

That's the next part of the passage. So you may say, I believe in the unchangeable purposes of God. Well, if you believe in the unchangeable purposes of God, and scripture teaches that God's purposes are unchangeable, then the only way you can lose your salvation is if Christ fails as your anchor to that unchangeable purpose.

If he fails to hold you, if he fails to secure you, if he fails to save you, to raise you up the last day, if he loses you,

Christ has to fail to lose even one of you. Therefore, you are secure.

And we will look next week at what the author says in the closing verses of chapter six concerning the nature of Christ and whether or not he can fail.

Let's bow our heads. Father, we thank you for the safety and security that we have in your son.

And while everything in heavens and on earth and in this creation, all created things change and are constantly changing, we know that there is one thing that never changes and always remains the same.

You, our eternal God, your purposes and your promises. Encourage our hearts in these truths, we pray.

And may we delight in them and rest in them with all of the assurance and security that you intend for us, your people.