Titus 1:1-2
(1)Â Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;
(2)Â In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
Ezekiel 14:9
(9)Â And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
We are going to talk today about a case where we can be liars, even when we have no intention to deceive.
To begin to understand this, we will look at the places where it is said of God that he cannot lie and explain what is meant by that. We will reaffirm what we have seen before, that although God cannot lie, he can certainly deceive. We will see more examples where the scriptures refute the view that believers are never justified in deceiving their enemies.
We will see again the dangers of the righteous overmuch view on lying, and how it even serves to weaken faith in the Bible.
And we will see how failing to keep our word can be a type of lie, regardless of our intentions, and can result in missing the kingdom. |
