Did God change His mind (about the definition of right and wrong) in going from the Old to the New Covenant? We have known the answer since the days of Job and Abraham: Elihu, speaking in Job 34:10, says: “Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding. Far be it from God to do evil, And from the Almighty to do wrong. (NASB)” Similarly, Abraham speaking to God, in Genesis 18:25, argues: “Far be it from You to do such a thing, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly? (NASB)”

Both their arguments are the same: The author of Good and Justice cannot and will not do otherwise. If God cannot change, and Justice was created by Him, then Justice and Mercy cannot change.

The loose wrappings at my wrist and neck flutter like flags of war in the wind. Hand over hand I turn and face the rocky wall of the precipice. I have to pull up; but my sinews do not remember how. I look down again and wonder if that too will be my end.

This conversation started by acknowledging that there are passages in the Old Testament that, on first reading, seem difficult to reconcile with the concept of a loving Heavenly Father that Jesus proclaimed in the New Testament. But we know that that difficulty cannot mean there is a contradiction because the God we are talking about has already told us He does not change. The things that were right and wrong back in the Old Testament were still right and wrong in the New, and are still right and wrong today. That is a logical requirement of believing in an Eternal God that created everything, including thought, logic, and all moral laws.

I have heard people say that Jehovah (Yahweh, the I AM) – the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the God of the Old Testament – is an angry god. And to prove it they will cite Laws given to Moses and tell you that no civilized man today would consider those statutes just. But if that were a logical argument, how come Jesus did not reach the same conclusion?

Engineering PhD students have to decide, at least a year before they get their degree, whether they want to go into Academia or Industry after graduation. I met Professors who told me that, in their view, if you got a PhD it was to join Academia. But, having come from Industry, that was not my view. I saw both as valid choices; and if properly managed, they are not necessarily mutually exclusive. But there is a big difference between the two choices.

Today, September 17, is Constitution Day. There’s probably no clearer definition of what it means to be an American than the fact that we all share the same Constitution. There should be no clearer definition of what it means to be a Christian than the fact that we believe in the same Gospel, that we follow the same Jesus. But there was a time in our country’s history when there were two Constitutions. It’s a good thing there is only one Gospel.