About the Author

Thomas Ray Floyd was born in 1953 in Simpson County, Mississippi, the son of Roy Thomas Floyd and Lina Sue Shows Floyd. Thomas Ray's mother was a member of a Primitive Baptist church, and he cut his teeth on the doctrines of distinguishing grace.

When he was a small boy, his father was converted to Christ and became a member of a Missionary Baptist Church. Thomas Ray joined the church of his father when he was 13 years old, and thought of himself as a Christian. The doctrines of grace that he had heard as a child continued to be precious to him and when he became an adult, he joined a Primitive Baptist Church. When he was 27, Thomas Ray made his first effort to preach the gospel in public and was ordained to the full functions of the ministry in 1985. In 1986 he was convinced under the preaching of Rolfe Barnard (by tapes from Mt. Olive Tape Library), the written sermons of Spurgeon, and the ministry of Elder Zack Guess that he had been a false professor and cried out in agony of soul to the Lord Jesus Christ to have mercy and truly save him. And He did! Floyd then began to preach the gospel as he had been taught of the Lord.

Floyd has pastored churches in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee and until recently was pastor of a church plant known as "Particular Baptist Fellowship." He and his wife Brenda presently attend Zion Baptist Church at Polkville, Mississippi, pastored by Elder Glen Hopkins. The pulpit ministry of Zion Baptist Church can be heard at Sermonaudio.com.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

The Immutability of God

(Article for publication week of 6-9-2010 AD)

"For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." (Malachi 3:6).

The God of the Bible (Who is the only true God) is unchangeable. He cannot change for the better, for He is perfect, and He cannot change for the worse, for He would cease to be God, which He will not and cannot do. The idea of a mutable God is foreign to the scriptures and all rational thinking.

God is unchangeable in all His attributes and all His Being. With Him "is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." (James 1:17). He is eternal, without beginning or end, pure spirit, immortal, invisible, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, thrice holy, loving, merciful, and just. Unlike His creation, there is no change or decay in God. He is the same now as He was yesterday, the same in eternity past, and the same for ages to come. What a comfort it is to know that God is unchangeable.

God is unchanging in His purpose. We read in Hebrews 6:17 of the "immutability of His counsel." This means that God has one eternal purpose (Ephesians 3:11) and He will not in any way change His purpose. "He is in one mind, and who can turn Him?" (Job 23:13). God's sovereign will is determined, and nothing can alter it.

The immutability of God is the eternal foundation of the salvation of God's elect. "Ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." Though we are changeable, God is not. Were it left up to us to save ourselves, or keep ourselves saved, we would be ruined for eternity. But praise be to God, salvation is not according to the changeable will of man, but according to the unchangeable will of God! All of those God purposed to save, shall be saved without the loss of one. No one who is truly saved (note well, I say truly saved) can be consumed and be lost, because our Sovereign Lord is unchangeable. He is unchangeable in His justice, and justice was satisfied for the believer by the active and passive obedience of Christ. He is unchangeable in His love, and nothing can separate the believer in Christ from God's immutable love (Romans 8:38-39).

And I want to use this opportunity to show the Deity of Christ once again. Hebrews 13:8 says "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today and forever." Only God is immutable. No creature can be immutable. Thus we see plainly that Christ is God for He is unchangeable. Though Christ joined His Deity to perfect humanity, His essence is unchanged by His hypostatic union with humanity. "The Word was made flesh (John 1:14), but the Word was God (John 1:1). No one can deny the Deity of Christ, for He is immutable, and this is true only of God. Let all heretics and blasphemers and infidels shut their mouths, for Christ is very God of very God and very man of very man.

Now dear children of God, let this encourage your heart today. The Lord is unchangeable and so you will not be consumed. Though you indeed go through many changes, thy great God shall never change! You shall persevere to the end for you are being kept by the power of the eternal Three in One Who is immutable.



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1 comment:

elderchild said...

The 1st Day of Creation

"The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of G-D moved upon the face of the waters."

Then G-D spoke HIS Word into being.......

"Let there be Light"!

And "There was Light".......

And such 'Light' was to be, and is, Eternal!

So Hope is Alive!

Even though this wicked world begins and ends it's day in darkness it is good to realize that the 1st Day of Creation, although begun midst darkness, ended in 'Light'!

And such 'Light' was not the sun, moon or stars for they were not created until the 4th Day.

G-D's Word "Let there be Light" became "The Light which enlightens every man born into the world" and was "the glory The Messiah had with Our Father before the world began".......

LIGHT Begot Light.......

LIKE Begot Like.......

The Messiah, "The Light of the world"(Jn8:12).......

The Messiah, "The beginning of The Creation of G-D"(Rev1:1, 3:14).......

The Messiah, "The Son of The Living G-D".......

And Our Father, HE "created all things" by(of, in and thru) The Messiah" (Ep3:9).......

The 1st Day of Creation.

Now if the beginning can not be 'seen' nor understood, then what of the end?

Confusion would reign, and does reign, for apart from "The Light" there is only darkness, "the blind leading the blind" ;-(

Peace, in spite of the dis-ease(no-peace) that is of this world and it's systems of religion, "for the WHOLE world is under the control of the evil one"(1JN5:19) indeed and Truth.......

Truth IS and IS Forever, a lie is not.......

Abide in The Truth.......

June 7, 2010 at 9:00 PM

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