Redeemed Purified & Peculiar: A Study of Titus ExcerptThe Apostle Paul doesn’t waste any time getting into the meat of the word in the book of Titus. There are two important lessons found immediately in the second verse of chapter one. The first lesson is that Christians have eternal life through God, and the second is God cannot lie.
Notice verse two.
“In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.” --Titus 1:2
This verse seems simple, but it is full of information that is essential to a Christian’s life. First, it tells us that in God we have eternal life. A person must be obedient to God to have eternal life. Consider Ephesians 1:3, all spiritual blessings are found in Christ. If all spiritual blessings are in Christ, there are no spiritual blessings outside of Christ. It’s the same for eternal life. If God has promised his faithful follower's eternal life, there is no eternal life outside of following him faithfully. The amazing thing is that in God we have hope!
God is not a fickle god that is driven by the wind. He is a caring, and intelligent being that is both omniscient and all-powerful. Because God knows everything, he knew that man would ultimately need a savior. Before the foundation of the world, God made plans for this reality (Ephesians 1). We have a hope of eternal life through God’s son, the Christ, something for which he planned from the very beginning of the world. In God’s infinite wisdom, and because of his compassion, he knew mankind would need saving, and he was prepared for it. It amazes me to think about how much God actually cares for his children.
God is truthful. He does not lie (Numbers 23:19, I Samuel 15:29, Psalm 92:15, Malachi 3:6, Romans 3:4, Hebrews 6:18, James 1:17-18). God is good (Leviticus 19:11, John 8:44, Revelation 21:8), so His very nature demands Him to be truthful. Many people think there are degrees of truthfulness, and that speaking half-truths is speaking the truth. Thankfully, this is not how God thinks. He hasn’t promised us that there is a hope of eternal life and meant something else. God speaks the truth and speaks what he means.
Matthew 5:37 teaches us that we need to talk in solid terms. Our yeses should be yes, and our nos no. God expects us to be truthful because he is truthful. I am thankful that if God says it, he means it. I know for a fact that I have a hope of eternal life because he tells me so. God expects us to be truthful as he is truthful, and he expects that we are to worship him in truth as well (John 4:24). God demands honesty in all that we do.
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