Fixed, Immovable, and Unchangeable

I recently read an article by Daniel Peterson about the unchangeableness of God.  He was responding to those who suggested that God was not unchangeable because we see Him doing different things at different times in the scriptures.  He commands one people to do one thing and then another people to do another.  Christ even grew from a baby to a man, lived and then died, and yet Paul said, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8).  Didn’t Christ change?  Brother Peterson responded to this question this way, “Constant or consistent people aren’t literally unchanging — they move about, eat, sleep, age, work, rest, play and finally die — but they’re faithful and dependable. They are unchanging or unwavering in purpose, love and loyalty.  And believers in God are confident that he is more faithful, more reliable in his love, loyalty and purposes than even the most constant mortal human. He will fulfill his promises. His actions won’t be arbitrary, inconsistent or whimsical. His fixed determination is to save all who genuinely seek salvation.”  In other words, God’s personality and character traits are unchanging and not necessarily His actions. 

               I don’t have much problem accepting that this is what the scriptural writers meant when they said that God was unchanging was more about His character than His physical actions.  And I think there is a lot for us to learn from the fact that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  In the Doctrine and Covenants we read this testimony: “By these things we know that there is a God in heaven, who is infinite and eternal, from everlasting to everlasting the same unchangeable God, the framer of heaven and earth, and all things which are in them” (D&C 20:17).  Mormon similarly affirmed, “For I know that God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being; but he is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity” (Moroni 8:18).  His son Moroni likewise testified, “And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles” (Mormon 9:19).  Not only is this important for us to understand because it teaches us about the character of God and shows that we can place perfect trust in Him, but it also is the kind of character that we should hope to have.  I just finished listening to the book Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne, and this subject reminds me of the main character of the book, Phileas Fogg.  He was trying to win a bet by traveling around the world in a specified time period, and his personality was phlegmatic to the extreme.  Nothing could excite him or deter him.  Despite setback after setback, nothing could get him down.  When he came to the insurmountable problem he would work tirelessly until he found another way.  You knew exactly how he would respond to every situation, no matter how bad: he calmly found a solution (sometimes in the most extreme way, such as burning half the ship he was on so he had enough fuel to get across the ocean) no matter what the crisis.  To me that is an “unchangeable” person, and it is the kind of character that we should seek to have.  If we are to become like God and the Savior, then we have to learn to be constant and true and always faithful.  I think the words used in the school of the prophets summarizes best how the Lord wants us to become.  We should be able to say to those we are called upon to love and serve: “I salute you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, in token or remembrance of the everlasting covenant, in which covenant I receive you to fellowship, in a determination that is fixed, immovable, and unchangeable, to be your friend and brother through the grace of God in the bonds of love, to walk in all the commandments of God blameless, in thanksgiving, forever and ever” (D&C 88:133).  To have a fixed, immovable, and unchangeable determination to love others and keep the commandments is surely the kind of character the Savior is working to develop in us.