Titus 1:2 Commentary and Bible Study

This is about the eternal reward. ‘In hope of eternal life’ – for ‘hope’ read ‘anticipation’. That is the meaning of the Greek word. In anticipation, in certain expectation, of eternal life, ‘Which God that cannot lie, promised before the world began’, a verse of wonder and verse of fascination too. When did God promise eternal life before the world began? and, how would we know if God had promised eternal life before the word world began? It is a mysterious verse. ‘In anticipation of eternal life’ – the great feature of the Christian life: eternal life. If we didn't have eternal life, and we only knew God for now during this life and then all came to an end, we would be, as the apostle Paul says, of all men the most miserable. ‘Which God, that cannot lie.’ Of course God cannot lie. God cannot lie, obviously, because he is holy and perfect, and has perfect integrity. God cannot lie because he is immutable, that is, he is unchangeable. For God to lie would mean that he was radically changed. He is the unchanging God: every word of God stands. Man lies constantly. He lies to mislead; he lies to show off; he lies to cover his tracks, when he is guilty of something. Man is lying all the time. We have had only recently, public figures, and they lied on their CVs to get to where they are. But we are not surprised because it is going on all the time. People in trades lie. People lie because they don't know the truth, and they say the first thing that comes into their heads. But ‘God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.’ How do we know that? We know that, because we know the purpose of God. So many Scriptures tell us that the eternal blessing of God's people was predetermined before the world began. We could go through numerous passages of Scripture to demonstrate that. But before the world began, eternity for his people was God's purpose and in his mind. You see there is no difference between the purpose of God, and the promise of God. If God has a purpose; because it is a decree, and he is the unchanging, infallible God, that is equivalent to a promise. So it is quite correct for the apostle Paul to say, under inspiration, ‘In hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie, promised before the world began.’ God's purpose is the same as a promise. But then there was a literal promise, in the sense that in eternity past, as you know, there was the great covenant made between the members of the Godhead. In that covenant God the Father promised to God the Son, that he would give him a ransomed people for his own eternal possession, if he would be their Saviour, and go and die for them, and take their place, and take their punishment, and give his righteousness for them. So the promise was in the eternal covenant of God, between Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit regarding the salvation of men. For two reasons therefore – because it is the purpose of God, and because the Father promised the Son an eternal people – Paul is right to say, ‘In hope of eternal life which God that cannot lie, promised before the world began.’ As you read that text in your private devotions, and read it again, you thank God for it, because it is the foundation of your certainty, your expectation of eternal life. It is the solid ground on which you stand.