Titus: God Cannot Lie

Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to build up the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness, in the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.
Titus 1:1-2

In my Bible, this truth is packed in three little words and squished in the middle of a long sentence. It’s easy to miss. And in fact, I did miss it, several times while reading this verse. Even more than just skimming over it, the words can be removed from the text altogether and it’s still a sentence. So why did Paul include it? Why did he feel the need to write that God cannot lie?

First, it doesn’t say that God does not lie. This would imply that it is possible for Him to slip up on occasion. It’s hard for us to wrap our tiny flesh-contained brains around the idea that God cannot lie. Because all of us are capable of lying. In fact, sometimes when we don’t even mean to we do. Just the other day I was telling a story from my week when I suddenly realized that it had actually happened the week before. Did that make me a huge liar? No. It showed the inadequacy of my memory – and the fact that I am prone to sinning without planning to sin.

This first verse continues to say “that God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.” Paul reminds us that God made a promise and God will keep it. Why will He keep it? Because He has to; He’s God. God can’t not (double negative, I know) keep a promise. It’s against His nature.

You and I can try our best to keep a promise. I promise to be home by 6:00 but then a wreck happens on the road and I can’t get around it. I promise I’ll move the laundry to the dryer when it’s done. But then the neighbor comes by, we get to talking, and the laundry is forgotten.

Why didn’t we keep our promises? Did we intentionally shrug them off? No (though that is an option). We can’t always keep our promises because, simply put, not everything is under our control.

That’s not true for God. Everything, even the wind and rains, are under God’s control. So when He makes a promise, we can depend on it.

What promise has God made that you doubt He will keep?

What promise has God made that you need to remember today?