God cannot lie.

Scripture teaches that there is one thing God cannot do: he cannot lie.

Paul explained this in 2 Timothy 2:11-13:

It is a trustworthy statement:

For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him;
If we endure, we will also reign with Him;
If we deny Him, He also will deny us;
If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.

“If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.” The one true and living God of the Bible has revealed himself to his people through a series of covenants down through the ages. He has never once been unfaithful to his covenant promises—it is impossible for him to break his word. He is, by definition, a covenant God.

What about evil and bad things?

Remember this next time you find yourself facing difficulties. We tend to approach the problem of evil through the lens of Greek philosophy: If God is fully powerful and fully good, how can he allow evil? If God is unable to stop bad things from happening to us, then he must not be all powerful. If he is able to stop evil, but refuses to do so, he can’t be all good. These are not bad questions, but scripture approaches the problem very differently.

Philosophers ask, “Why, Lord?” The Psalmist asks instead, “How long, oh Lord?” (Psalm 13:1) In other words, why isn’t the covenant God keeping his word in the way I’d like him to keep it at this moment? We know he’s faithful, but we don’t always experience that faithfulness in quite the way we’d like.

The answer to the Psalmist’s question is simple, but it is not always easy to say in the midst of suffering: blessed be the name of the Lord. We know he is always faithful, even when we can’t see that faithfulness for ourselves. Blessed be the name of the Lord!

You can read more about Jesus’ faithfulness to God’s covenant promises in this blog.

The previous was adapted from a lecture Dr. Sloan gave on the book of Romans to the students of Houston Baptist University.

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