“Unchanging ….” (June 2022 Update)
It is hard to determine which of God’s attributes is the most important. In reality, they are all essential. We cannot pick and choose one over the other. To remove even one of His attributes would be to lessen God – and therefore, He would no longer be God!
But, if I had to choose one attribute that is most essential and at the same time, most comforting, I would choose the attribute of “immutability.” Because if God changes, then we can never have confidence in anything. That’s why God says in Malachi 3:6: “For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore, you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.” If God would ever change, we could never have confidence in Him or in His promises. That’s why immutability is so important as we consider the attributes of God.
Everything in this world is constantly changing – some things get better; some things get worse. But the Bible tells us that God is immutable. He never changes but He remains the same, yesterday, today and forever. What do we mean when we say God is immutable and why does it matter?
The word “immutable” is a Latin term meaning “not able to change.” Everything in life changes. We grow up and we grow old. We make improvements to our character. But God is perfect and so to make any changes but mean that He was not perfect. This is the main meaning of immutable when we are speaking about God.
Although there are many passages that speak about God’s immutability, Malachi 3:6 is the classic verse about God not changing. In Malachi 3:6, the Lord says, “For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore, you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.” This is both a declaration of God’s immutability (I the Lord do not change) and the consequences (you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob). Because the Lord does not change, Israel can have confidence in His forgiveness for them. Israel often changed in their faithfulness to God – but God never changed. We see the same promise to believers in 2 Timothy 2:13 where Paul reminds us, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.” Thankfully, we serve an unchanging God who will keep His word to us even if we are not faithful to Him.
Now what does it mean when we say that God is Immutable? It means at least three things: 1) God is immutable in His Person. God does not change – this refers to His person, 2) God is immutable in His Wisdom. God does not change His Mind – this refers to His wisdom, His knowledge and His plans, and 3) God is immutable in His Words. God does what He says – He keeps His Word and His promises.
First, God is Immutable in His Person. This means that God does not Change. This refers to His person and His essence. God is always the same. There was never a time when He was not, and there will never be a time when He will cease to be. He does not grow or learn or improve. In fact, if He did improve then He would not be God! God says this about Himself in Malachi 3:6 that we have already looked at. But also James 1:17 tells us that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” He does not vary in any way. He is the same. In the Old Testament, He is frequently called the “Rock.” The Hebrew word here does not indicate a small rock but a massive Rock that cannot be moved. This is the idea of immutability – God will not change.
This means that God is also immutable in his attributes. This is necessarily so, because His attributes or His person; they are His essence; they are Who He is. In fact, in many theologies the attributes of God are called His perfections. This is because these attributes are always the same because they are always perfect. They never need to change, and they never will because they are perfect. Therefore, His power will always be the same; His wisdom will always be the same; His love will always be the same. This is why the attributes are sometimes called perfections. A. W. Pink puts it simply: “”God cannot change for the better for He is perfect; and being perfect, He cannot change for the worse.” He is God – to change would mean He is not perfect. God is immutable in His Person.
Second, God is immutable in His Wisdom. People change frequently. We have one opinion and then we receive more information, and we change our opinion. We desire ice cream but when we see the chocolate cake, we change our mind. God’s knowledge, God’s will and God’s plans never change because He knows all completely and perfectly, and He plans and prepares for everything perfectly also. 1 Samuel 15:29 tells us this: “He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind.” Psalm 33:10-11 says, “The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.” His plans stand forever – they do not change because they are perfect. In Isaiah 46:10, God distinguishes Himself from all other gods: “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come; I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.” His wisdom is immutable because God’s knowledge, will and plans are immutable. God is immutable in His wisdom.
Third, God is immutable in His Words. God is truth and He cannot lie. Therefore, He is immutable in all that He says. Numbers 23:19 says, “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should change His mind. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken and will He not fulfill?” Men make promises and do not keep them. God makes promises and He always keeps them. Men make commitments and their sons refuse to keep them. But God is not like that – He makes promises, and He keeps every one of them. God is immutable in his words.
The same is regarding the Bible. In Psalm 119:89, the psalmist reminds us: “Your word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.” Jesus also affirmed the immutability of God’s Word in Matthew 5:18 when he said: “For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” All of this is simply because God cannot lie. So, God is immutable – in His words.
What are some implications of the doctrine of immutability? In general, the immutability of God gives us confidence in God. If He is constantly changing, then we can have no confidence in Him or in His words. But because God never changes, we can totally trust His words. He will never lie or speak anything except the truth. Because God never changes, we can totally trust His love. This is why the Old Testament speaks about God’s love as an everlasting love. Because God never changes, we can also trust His plans. His will is always perfect – He never needs to make changes to His plans because it is based upon His perfect knowledge. And because God never changes, we can totally trust His salvation. He says that whoever believes in Him will never perish and He will never change His plan of salvation. We change all the time. If salvation depended on us or on our obedience, we would be in trouble! But we can have confidence in salvation because God never changes. Indeed, that is what the writer of Hebrews is saying in Hebrews 13:8 about Jesus. Because Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (He never changes!), our salvation is secure forever and ever.
While in California this past month at Immanuel Baptist Church in Sacramento, we heard a great sermon on God’s immutability. Our girls understood it immediately and immutability became a favorite word for the next week. They said, “God does not mutate – so He is always the same!” I’m grateful for the immutability of God. I change often (maybe not often enough!) – because I need to. God never changes and that is the foundation of my confidence in Him and His Word!
Teaching …
Believe it or not, many of the seminaries in Ukraine are already planning and preparing for classes! Right now, we are working on teaching ministry for this Fall. It looks like both seminaries in Ukraine (Kyiv and L’viv) are planning to have classes this fall, even in the midst of war. Natalie Tereschenko and I have already been asked to teach the Research and Critical Thinking class that was supposed to have been offered this Spring. We are planning to teach this class in July in a format that will allow for students involved in war efforts to be able to participate. We are adapting the class now so we can teach in this revised format. Natalie is in Romania currently and I am in the states, but we are excited to try to teach our class so that students can continue their studies.
I am also working on getting classes ready for September and October at both schools. Most likely, these will also be on-line classes because we expect the war to be continuing on some level. Even if the military conflict ends, it will be many months before the cleanup and rebuilding ends. And the humanitarian crisis will be an on-going need that our students will be responding to. Still both seminaries are planning to have some classes in some form this Fall. Be praying for the leadership as the make decisions about on-going education for pastors in Ukraine.
Even during the war, Ukrainian Baptist Seminary (UBTS) L’viv is also conducting webinars to help students, pastors and people in the churches to know how to continue ministering in this time of war. Here are some of the topics they are offering this summer: “Effective evangelism in time of war;” “The Challenges and Tasks of Volunteering in the Restoration of the Country;” “How to Keep Family Relations during Separations in War?;” “The Challenge of Volunteering in Time of War: How to take Care of Yourself.” UBTS is also opening an extension in Poland to offer classes for the many refugees in Poland. UBTS has also been offering regional conferences to bring theological education to regions where people are wanting to study. Pray for all these endeavors to continue training people for ministry.
I am so excited to see that the work of the ministry is going on even in such a difficult situation as in the time of war! Pray for these schools and our colleagues there as they minister to and train others to minister. Also, most of them are tirelessly involved in many humanitarian efforts daily. Pray for their strength and for more opportunities to share the gospel with those they are caring for.
Also in June, I will be preaching a few times. First, I will be preaching for a couple of mission teams that are coming to Arkansas to help build some missionary homes at the place where we will be staying starting in August (see below). These two teams will be coming to build two more houses. Each day, they will be building, and, at night, we will have a worship service and some teaching. There will be over 120 workers in these crews. I am looking forward to teaching them in the middle of June. Then at the end of June, I will be preaching at a church in North Little Rock. Pray for me at both of these opportunities. I will be preaching from the Word but also sharing about ministry in Ukraine.
Ministry Possibilities …
Please consider helping financially with many of the ministries in Ukraine that are helping with humanitarian needs while they are sharing the gospel. We have two friends that we would especially like to highlight this month. The first is our neighbor and friend, Andriy Kolbovsky. His family is in the states for now, but his wife and children are planning to return in August. Andriy stayed to help with evacuations, humanitarian needs and driving through wars zones to help people. He is now travelling to bring supplies to villagers hard hit by the war. Even before the war, he worked with a ministry called “Without Excuse Endeavor” that worked with orphans in Ukraine. Right now, he said the greatest need they have is for gas money because he spends all day every day travelling back and forth to bring supplies to the villages. And gas prices are soaring. You can help by sending a donation to their website and mention his name (Here is a link to help with finances http://give.woee.org/GeneralFundFreeway), or you can send it to Teaching Resources (designate it as Missions: Andriy). We will get the money to him directly.
A second ministry to consider supporting is that of Alexei and Lena Khodakovsky. Alexi and Lena are friends from Campus Ministry in Kyiv. They primarily do evangelism with university students. But during the war, they are helping with humanitarian needs. They are providing supplies for the soldiers, medical supplies for hospitals, and also resources for people to rebuild their homes and lives in Ukraine. Right now, they are helping some families with shovels, seeds, and roofing materials. They are also trying to raise funds to provide a tractor for some key families (believers) in one village who can use that equipment to help other families and be a witness for Christ. If you want to help them with funds for these supplies, you can give directly through their PayPal account (lena.khodakivska20@gmail.com – ELENA HODAKOVSKAIA; this would not be tax-deductible) or send your gift through TRI designated as “Missions: Khodakovsky.”
On our website, we have posted some updated links to ministries we know about that are helping people in Ukraine. You can find those links at https://teachingresources.org/2022/03/03/help-for-ukraine/. We will try to highlight some other needs and ministries next month.
While we are here, we are also continuing to make connections with Ukrainians in NW Arkansas and see if we can be involved in some ministry here. Since these are mainly ladies, Katya is trying to keep contact with them. We are not sure what the Lord will provide but we are hoping we can be useful in ministry to Ukrainians here while we are here in NW Arkansas. Katya has been able to help one medical ministry here by providing translations. She also has experience working with hearing-impaired and translating for deaf. So, she is also praying about how she might be used in ministry using her skills for the Lord.
We are still praying about everything the Lord would have us do if we stay here for long. Right now, our main concern is finding out where we will settle more permanently so we can find out how we can best minister during our time here. Hopefully after we get resettled at the end of the summer, we will have some more clarity about how we can be most helpful during our time here in the states. Pray for wise use of the time that we have and for wisdom about what we can be doing in ministry while we are here.
Family …
The big event for us this month was our trip to California. Last fall, when Katya’s niece, Sofia, called to invite us to her wedding, we told her that it would be impossible because we would not be returning to the states for another 2-3 years. I told her that it would take a miracle! Well, this was not what we expected, but we were able to make it to the wedding because we had to evacuate before the invasion. We also did not have enough finances for the trip, but Sean knew a pastor in Sacramento at Immanuel Baptist Church. He contacted him and he arranged a place for us to stay and a car to get around to see family and get to the wedding.
God’s provisions there were beyond amazing. We were able to stay with a family (Randy and Pam Baker) that made us feel like we were at home. And when some other church members brought us the car, we were also shocked at what a perfect car for our time there. The church itself was also fantastic. It is a great church teaching very sound doctrine, but also one of the friendliest churches we have ever been to! While there, we were able to meet many other Ukrainians and had dinner with Vadim (Assistant Director of Reformed Baptist Seminary in Sacramento) and Anna and their children one evening. Our girls even got to read Ukrainian books to their younger daughter! She loved having Kristina and Nadia reading to them.
While there for the wedding, we spent almost every day with Katya’s grandmother. We have missed each other very much because she used to come often to our home in the village. So she especially needed our company. We were also able to help out with the bridal shower and other wedding preparations as well as spending time with Katya’s sister and her family. Finally, since the wedding was over 4 hours north of Sacramento (on the coast), we decided to take a couple of days and visit the Redwood forests there. They were amazing!
And we got to go to the wedding. It was set on the coast off Hwy-1 in California. Our girls were asked to be flower girls and they loved it!
Resettling …
We continue to work on resettling here in Arkansas. Many of our needs are being met and the Lord has taken care of us. We continue to be blessed with clothing for our family. We had one family from North Little Rock (the Bishops) send a box of clothing (and some Legos) for the girls that their girls had grown out of. Everything was so stylish that the girls had to put on a little fashion show for us! Also, when we flew to California (see below), we had to fly from Tulsa because the fares were half the price of Little Rock and Fayetteville. So, we got to spend some time with friends in Tulsa (Wes and Darlene and Samantha Myers). On our return home, Samantha and her mom had prepared a surprise for Kristina and Nadia – two American girl dolls! They love playing with these dolls!
One of our biggest needs was also met last month. As we have written, we can only stay in our current housing until the end of August. But we found a ministry that is providing homes for missionaries on furlough (6 months) here in Northwest Arkansas. This ministry has an amazing vision to build 10 homes for missionaries to use so they can have a place of their own without having to live out of a suitcase all the time. The ministry is called Hiding Place Hollow. We are going to be able to stay there starting August 15th. We have been really blessed to stay in the Stillwell’s basement apartment, but it will really be nice to have a place of our own while we are working on finding something more permanent. Here is their website (Hiding Place Hollow) if you want to help them as they minister to us and other missionary families.
Also, please continue to pray that our regular support levels will continue for at least another year. We will need this while we are trying to make our transition to the states. We will also need additional funds to replace everything that we have lost in the evacuation too. But we are not certain exactly what we will need at this point.
Katya’s grandmother made it to California, and we were able to spend time with her almost daily while we were in California. It meant so much for us to see her, but it was especially good for grandmother who is still trying to figure everything out. Katya’s mother is still in Poland awaiting the final processing of her documents. It should be very soon and then she will go to California too. Now she is staying with our friends from Poland while waiting for the documents to be completed. Pray that this will happen quickly!
We are also trying to get all of Katya’s documents done. All of her paperwork has been submitted so now we are waiting for the processing of her documents. We are not sure what her next step will be. But they took all her biometric data last week and that is generally the final step before they issue documents. Also, be praying for her as she will be taking her driver’s license test in a month so that she can start driving here too.
We are still looking for regular doctors here. I made a much-needed appointment with a cardiologist back in March. The first available appointment for new patients is coming soon – June 7th! I have been having problems called Bradycardia and irregular heartbeats, so I am looking forward to finally getting this appointment!
Probably the hardest thing for us is missing being home in Ukraine. There are times when we just feel like crying and times when we try to hold back tears without success. The girls often speak about wanting to return home. We are beginning to realize that we might not be able to return to Ukraine any time soon. And even if we can in the future, it will not be the same as the Ukraine we left. We are adjusting and preparing in case we cannot go back to Ukraine.
Pray for Ukraine …
Please continue to pray for Ukraine and for the people of Ukraine. The focus has shifted away from Kyiv, but the Russian forces have left a trail of devastation in their departure. And they are continuing to bombard Kyiv and other major cities through Ukraine from the air. And Russian forces are involved now in major attacks in the East and South. It is clear that, win or lose, Putin intends to destroy all that he can of Ukraine!
Pray for Ukrainian believers who are continuing to minister there even with great risk to their own lives. Pray for their safety as they try to evacuate people from occupied areas and pray for them as they distribute humanitarian needs. Pray that the gospel message will be received by those they are helping. And pray for our soldiers who are tirelessly defending the country against this invasion.
Also continue to pray for the people of Russia. Pray that their eyes will be opened to what is really going on in Ukraine. Also, pray that Christians in Russia will boldly speak out about the war, and that believers there will continue to faithfully share the gospel in Russia.
Things change. Our lives have been dramatically changed by the war in Ukraine. And for the people of Ukraine, things will never be the same. But we all have one great hope – God never changes. And, while we may struggle and adapt, God and His promises remain the same. And, because of this, “we are not consumed.” We are grateful that we serve an unchanging God!
By His Grace,
Jim, Katya, Kristina and Nadia
If you missed previous updates or just want to read some short theological reflections, you can find these at our website at https://teachingresources.org/ .
Also, some have asked about how to support us. You can send checks to Teaching Resources International, PO Box 1025, Cabot, AR 72023 or pay through PayPal on our website. Just put “#1000 Ehrhard” in the memo so our treasurer knows where to allocate the funds. If you want to help with our relocation to the US – just put Relocation in the memo. Also, if you want to help with Andriy or the Sneads, just put Missions and their name after the word Missions and we will get the finances to them.
Teaching Resources International 