We need to distinguish from Scripture what changes and what
does not change in reference to God.
1) God’s nature does not change. His
knowledge, holiness and power neither increase, nor decrease over time.
God
is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has
He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
(Numbers 23:19)
Of
old You founded the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. Even
they will perish, but You endure; And all of them will wear out like a garment;
Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed. But You
are the same, And Your years will not come to an end.
(Psalm 102:25-27)
For
I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.
(Malachi 3:6)
Jesus
Christ is the same yesterday
and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)
This is contradictory to the
Mormon conception of God. They believe that God was once as we are, but he has
progressed or evolved to become a god. We also may progress to become gods (Doctrine & Covenants 132:19-20 [D & C is one of the Mormon
authorities alongside The Book of Mormon]).
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_cosmology#cite_note-14
2) Because God’s nature is unchanging, His
plans and purposes do not change.
Remember
the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like
Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times
things which have not been done, Saying, “My purpose will be established, And I
will accomplish all My good pleasure.” (Isaiah 46:9-10)
The
counsel of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to
generation. (Psalm 33:11)
In
the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the
unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, 18 so that
by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who
have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set
before us. (Hebrews 6:17-18; see vv. 13-20 for context)
Blessed
be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the
heavenly places in Christ,
just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we
would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to
adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind
intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace,
which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:3-6 – God’s
purpose in election was formed before the foundation of the world)
3) When God is said to repent or to grieve, Scripture
is describing the emotional reaction of God to human sin; it is not saying that
God has changed His eternal plans and purposes: The LORD was sorry [nacham]
that He had made man on the earth (Genesis
6:6). The Hebrew word (nacham) can
refer to an emotional response or to a change in mind as we see in an
interesting set of verses in 1 Samuel 15.
I regret [nacham] that I have made Saul king (v. 11).
Also
the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind [nacham]; for He is not a man that He should change His mind [nacham]. (1 Samuel 15:29)
Verse 11 is parallel to
Genesis 6:6.
4) Although God does not change, and His
eternal plan does not change, He works out His plan for the world in a
succession of steps. After the fall, and again after the flood, the human race
rapidly deteriorated so that it became like a group of 2-year-olds all throwing
temper tantrums at the same time. God began the moral re-education of the race
and the spiritual preparation of the world for Christ by making a covenant with
Abraham. Later He put a hedge around the nation of Israel and separated it from
the surrounding culture by giving the covenant of the Law to Moses. All of this
was leading up to Christ (Galatians 3:15-25). God’s final revelation to the
world is summed up in Christ (Hebrews 1:1-4—indeed the whole book of Hebrews is
about the finality and supremacy of Christ).
The apostles and prophets of
the New Testament explained the meaning of Christ’s life, death, resurrection
and return. They were instructed by the Holy Spirit to enable them to do this
(John 16:12-15; 1 Corinthians 2:6-16). God revealed truth to the apostles; they
spoke and wrote it in Spirit guided words; the Christian has the Holy Spirit to
help him understand what the apostles wrote. With the passing of that
generation of apostles and prophets, new revelation for the whole church
ceased. (Of course, God still gives individual guidance, though seldom with any
special signs.)
The last Old Testament prophet
predicted the arrival of the next prophet, who turned out to be John the
Baptist (Malachi 4:5-6; Luke 1:13-17; Matthew 11:7-15). Similarly, the last New
Testament prophecy predicted the arrival of the next prophets who will prophesy
in the days immediately before Christ’s return (Revelation 11:3-12). So until
people see two men who can do the amazing miracles given to these men, they
ought not be bamboozled by prophetic claims.
5) Both Muhammad and Joseph Smith claimed to
receive revelations from angelic figures. Their revelations are not consistent
with the gospel. This is how Scripture evaluates them.
I
am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of
Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you,
and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even though we, or an
angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have
preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so I
say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which
you received, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:6-9)
And
no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. (2
Corinthians 11:14)
6) Regarding the Mormon claims
that there are many gods:
Scripture sometimes refers to
other gods, but these are either empty nothings (Psalm 95:6; 115:4-7) or demons
(Deuteronomy 32:17). The gods of the nations are “by nature are no gods”
(Galatians 4:8). Scripture is very clear that there is no other god who is
worthy of the name.
“You
are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “And My servant whom I have chosen, In
order that you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me
there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me.”
(Isaiah 43:10)
Thus
says the LORD, the King of Israel And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I am
the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.
(Isaiah 44:6)
Do
not tremble and do not be afraid; Have I not long since announced it to you and
declared it? And you are My witnesses. Is there any God besides Me, Or is there
any other Rock? I know of none.
(Isaiah 44:8)
I
am the LORD, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird
you, though you have not known Me. (Isaiah 45:5)
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