I, Yahweh, Do Not Change

Having preached through Malachi twice, I have had much to reflect on. When I read over the sermons on Malachi I preached the first time, it struck me how little courage I had back then.

In preaching on offerings and the tithe, I came to realize, my own fear had been greater than God’s will. It was because I was afraid the congregation would hear a sermon on giving and stumble. But when I preached Malachi a second time, more than ten years later, I laid aside all my own thoughts and focused on what God wants from those who belong to him. For I had come to understand that God was not ordering his people to hand over offerings; he had made plain why we ought to give, and to what end.

The prophet Malachi rebuked the people who had strayed from God’s will, and at the same time he prayed with an earnest heart that they would return to God. Through these sermons on Malachi, I came to understand more deeply that faith and life shine when we live as God wills.

To restore our relationship with God, we must first deal with the problem of sin. Faith that does not wholly trust in Christ, however zealous, is a matter of form and pretense, and so God does not accept it. Because the sacrifices the people offered could not settle the problem of sin, Jesus came in the flesh. If, as we know, people are divided after death between heaven and hell, between eternal life and eternal punishment, there must be a sure standard that separates the two. That standard is faith in the precious blood of Jesus, who bore the cross.

Friends, God has already accomplished everything needed for the salvation of souls, which means that it is now our faith that will decide our salvation. Because Jesus has rescued us from the curse, Satan can no longer stand in the way of our salvation. Even so, Satan is at work until the last day to make even one more person stumble, and that is why I hope you will make sure that you are in Christ.

There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. That is because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made you, who have confessed your faith, free from the law of sin and of death. In this world racing toward its end, may you be a holy people who look to the righteous God alone and long for the eternal Kingdom.

August 2026
Pastor Cho Chun-sook, Watercourse Church