GOD’S COUNSEL IS
UNCHANGEABLE
Hebrews 6: 13: For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear
by no greater, he sware by himself, 14:
Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply
thee. 15: And so, after he had
patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16: For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for
confirmation is to them an end of all strife. 17: Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of
promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: 18: That by two immutable things, in
which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong
consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
It is
amazing how quickly men will believe a man with some new prediction of future
events based on some absurd theory while questioning the very word of God. Think
about that! Yet, man’s unbelief in no
way alters God’s unchangeable decree to save his people through faith in his
Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
When God made promise to Abraham to bless
him and all his elect in Christ, God also made an oath, swearing by himself. Why did God swear by himself? When men make an oath they swear by the greater. For instance, in a court of law men swear by
God who is greater. Since there is no
one greater than God, he swore by himself. But is the promise of God not enough?
Why did God add his oath? An oath, confirms a man’s word, ending all doubt that
he is telling the truth. So to show that his counsel is unchangeable, God gave
not one but two unchangeable things in which it was impossible for God to lie—his
promise and his oath. And so after Abraham patiently endured to the
end in faith, he obtained the promise. “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?” (Nu 23: 19) He declares
“the end from the beginning, and from
ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand,
and I will do all my pleasure.” (Is 46: 10)
Yet, sinners hear this and go on questioning
the word of God? As the apostle Paul said, “What
if some do not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without
effect? God forbid. Let God be true and every man a liar; as it is written,
that thou mightiest be justified in thy sayings, and mightiest overcome when
thou art judged.“ (Rom 3: 3-4)
Truth is, man’s unbelief further proves
that God’s counsel is immutable! Notice,
it was not for everyone that God did this, only for “the heirs of promise.” Be sure to get this! As God made promise to bless Abraham, God
gave these two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie, so
that his elect—the very heirs that God was promising Abraham he would save—would
have strong consolation that we, like Abraham, shall obtain the promise. Therefore, according to God’s unchangeable
promise to Abraham, the Spirit of God found us dead in unbelief, regenerated us
and gave us faith to believe on Christ in whom all the promises of God are yes
and amen to the glory of God. No! Man’s
unbelief does not change the faith of God to fulfill his counsel. But rather, sinners
like us, who now have fled to Christ our Refuge to lay hold of the hope set
before us, who have this strong consolation by God’s immutable counsel, are
living proof that God’s counsel is immutable!