Is there a possible compatibility between immutability and God's mercy?
score:6
I have to stop you at your first point.
Yes, God is immutable--changeless in His essence as God. However, one needs to make a distinction between His attributes that never change and His methods that do change, particularly in relationship to His image bearers, both celestial and terrestrial.
God is both eternal and spiritual. His essence is immutable. Changeless from age to age, He remains the same. We all, his image bearers, however, did have a beginning. We are an amalgam of spirit, soul, and body. Moreover, we all change. We age, we experience decrepitude, and we die. On the bright side, because of the process of sanctification, we grow and mature spiritually, usually in fits and starts (see 2 Corinthians 3:18). God, however, does not.
Martin Luther expressed God's immutability well in his great hymn "A Mighty Fortress":
Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing,
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.
The "battle" that all Christians are engaged in and that only God can win, affects and involves them all differently. Nevertheless, God's unchanging omnipotence is brought to bear on whatever form that battle takes with each believer.
In God's interactions with His image bearers, He accommodates Himself to us in a variety of ways. For example, in our prayer life, the apostle Paul tells us,
. . . the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans (Romans 8:26 NIV).
We are often weak and clueless, so God the Holy Spirit ministers to us as unique individuals. His ways with me are not exactly the same as His ways with anyone else, but His ability to strengthen and enlighten us all does not change. Since He is immutable, the use of His omnipotence does not tire Him out, nor does it change who He is. We are changed by His ministrations, but He is not.
Hebrews tells us,
In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.]2
"Many times" and "various ways" both involve God's ability to change His methods of working through His image bearers. His immutable Deity and the immutable nature of His eternal attributes never change. In fact, they guide the "many times" and "various ways" in which He makes His will known to all of us in general, and to His mouthpieces in particular.
The apostle Paul, for example, could not in his wildest imaginings picture in his mind's eye the technological wonders of the 21st century that allow Christians today to spread the gospel of Jesus across continents at the click of a mouse on the world wide web.
Believers today can rest assured that God will continue to reach people through the internet and through whatever other means that become available to them. When God gives a vision to one of His children about how best to spread the gospel message, you can be sure He will enable him or her to make it happen.
Christians, I believe, need to be thankful that they, with their ever-present LORD Sabaoth at their side, have the privilege to engage in the battle of kingdom building for the glory of our great God and Savior.
Upvote:0
Firstly, God is perfect.
To answer your question simply, if you look in the Old Testament, Moses as well as Jonah had asked God to make a change of a decision - I believe this shows God's perfect mercy as well as answers the other part...
Upvote:3
God is righteous.
He has revealed himself so to be by his not sparing his own Son, but - for the sake of His Own righteousness - he has caused his own Son to suffer on behalf of others.
Thus he has revealed himself to be immutable, his integrity has not been compromised.
This he has done because he loved his own chosen elect. And he has redeemed them.
God has demonstrated that he is immutable and God has demonstrated that he is merciful.
And God has demonstrated that these two facets of His Divine nature are compatible.
This is declared in the Gospel and that Gospel is published throughout the earth.
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