Does God’s Word Change?

1 Peter 1:23-25

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If someone came up to you and said God’s word changes over time, how would you respond to that? A lot of people struggle with this. They wonder is God’s word stable? Does it stay the same? Is it still speaking to us today the same way that it did 2000 years ago?

God’s word itself responds to this. Saint Peter in his epistle quotes from the Prophet Isaiah. And he says in 1 Peter one, verse 23, and going on

For you have been born again, not from perishable seed but from imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For: All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like a flower of the field. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord endures forever. And this is the word that was preached to you. (1 Peter 1:23-25)

That’s really comforting that God’s word does not change. There’s a churchy word that we use for this. We teach our confirmation students. It’s speaking about God’s immutability. God does not shift like shadows. He isn’t like a sand foundation that can wash away. He stands and his word stands, sure. Certain. We want to hold to it.

And that’s a really comforting thing for you and me, because when the day comes and you and I are standing before God and we’re saying, Lord, you promised to let us into heaven because of what you did for us through your son Jesus, how he lived for us. He died for us. He’s risen from the dead. You have a place waiting for us there with you. If on that day he says, “Yeah, well, I changed my mind.” How terrifying would that be?

Glory be to God that his word does not change. It is reliable. It endures. And so we hold to it. We hold to what God’s word says. The same message that was proclaimed 2000 years ago that Jesus himself taught is what we hold to today. The Word of the Lord endures forever. That same gospel message that Jesus proclaimed about the forgiveness of sins that comes to us through Him and His work. It applies today, just as it did then, and it always will. And this is what Christians throughout time, throughout history will cling to and hold to. Glory be to God and for the fact that his Word endures forever. And we pray.

Thank you, Lord, for giving us your enduring word that we can always count on and rely upon it. And the message of the gospel that you share with us through it. We thank you for this. Amen.

God’s peace be with you.