Quote:
Originally Posted by Trapped
Well, I think context is the important thing in each of those cases. Even for Christians who don't hold to a "processed Triune God" but simply to a "regular, orthodox Triune God", there is still the question of squaring up an "unchanging God" with a God who in the Bible does change in various ways.
The question is just: in what context do those verses mean God does not change or Jesus Christ is the same yesterday/today/forever?
After all, Jesus Christ DID change - He took on human flesh. And then He died. And then He was raised with a spiritual body. All those are undeniable changes.
Does that make Hebrews 13:8 a lie? Wrong? No - it's just speaking of a specific way in which Jesus Christ is the same. If we pan out even just a little to include the immediate surrounding verses, the context in Hebrews 13 is in remembering the word of God that the teachers spoke and not being swept away by strange/new teachings.
Heb. 13:7-9
7 Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace and not by foods of no value to those devoted to them.
As far as I can tell, and others can correct me if I'm reading it wrong, but the context seems to be like "that which you have already heard about Jesus Christ, hold to it, it won't change. If you hear a new teaching, it doesn't mean Jesus changed, and there is something new. That's not going to happen". It doesn't mean Jesus is an unchanging statue.
Similarly, Malachi 3 seems to be an assurance that what God has promised regarding punishment or mercy won't change. It doesn't mean God is a static, unmovable rock that doesn't move or twitch or speak or change in any way. After all, prior to Jesus' baptism, God wasn't speaking, and right after Jesus' baptism, God spoke. That's a "change" from not speaking to speaking. So we just need to look at the context of what "doesn't change" means so we don't apply it wholesale to all situations where it isn't intended to apply.
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Right...in other words, without the work of Christ -- incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection -- He would not have been able to say "it is finished". Now, the veil has been torn down and fellowship with God the Father has been restored. This is atonement, redemption, reconcilation, justification.
I think we both agree that I don't see how any of this needs to be construed as "processed".