Like Himself, God’s will is immutable; it does not change. His will is immutable because it is eternal. God’s purpose, which is said to be eternal (Eph. 3:11) is that by which He works all things “after the counsel of his own will” (Eph. 1:11). Therefore, His will is eternal. Being eternal, it cannot change. If it were to change, the change would reflect some flaw or weakness requiring the change. Being perfect, God does not change; neither does He need to change His will.

What God does in time He had planned in eternity. He knows the future because He planned the future. His foreknowledge is not mere prescience. Neither does He react to men as men react to Him, as some assert. If He did, then His will and purpose would constantly be changing to reflect this reaction. But Scripture declares, “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world” (Acts 15:18). Not one thing He planned from eternity to do will He fail to accomplish in time. Read all of Ephesians 1:11.

God is sovereign and so is His will. Long ago He stated the sovereignty of His will when He said to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion” (Romans 9:15). The Apostle Paul, who quoted God’s words to Moses, then said, “So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy” (Romans 9:16). Today man’s supposed free will receives the stress in religious teachings, but in the Scripture, God’s free and sovereign will, together with the immutability of that will, receives the proper emphasis. No where do we ever find God really changing His will. It is no wonder then, that the Prophet Samuel exclaimed to King Saul, “And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent” (1 Sam. 15:29).