RUSHWAVE: Establishing Believers in the Christian Faith

Chapter 13: God Abounds in Truth

Any statement, assessment, or representation God makes concerning anything is true.

The world can view truth as relative — what is true for you is not true for me. Truth is not treated as something absolute. Besides such a view being self-contradicting, it is contrary to the revelation of God concerning Himself. God being truthful can be stated two ways: positively and negatively.

God perfectly declares what is and is not the case. Of Himself God says:

The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth. Exodus 34:6

And scripture repeatedly affirms that God is truth.

You are near, O Lord, And all Your commandments are truth. Psalm 119:151
Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have ransomed me, O Lord, God of truth. Psalm 31:5
Now, O Lord God, You are God, and Your words are truth. 2 Samuel 7:28
Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways. Revelation 15:3
God is true. John 3:33
Him who is true. 1 John 5:20
He who sent Me is true. John 8:26
He who is blessed in the earth Will be blessed by the God of truth. Isaiah 65:16

If God says something is the case, then that is indeed the case. If He states such and such does not apply to a particular situation, then it truly does not apply. If anything God says is found to be untrue, it is not because what He said was untrue. It is because we misinterpreted what He said.

God cannot lie. He cannot say something that is untrue. This is basically saying the same things previously stated, but only negatively.

God … cannot lie. Titus 1:2
It is impossible for God to lie. Hebrews 6:18
God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? Numbers 23:19

So we can say that any statement, assessment, or representation God makes concerning anything is perfectly true. But we can elaborate on this even more to make things more clear.

God never overstates or exaggerates the case. He does not make something bad sound worse than it is, nor does He make something good sound better than it is. If He says of mankind “There is none righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10), then He means not even one person is righteous; it is not an overstatement. It is not as if a few are righteous, and God just exaggerated. Likewise if He says there is an afterlife where certain people will live in a new world and “there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain” (Revelation 21:4), then it is not an exaggeration. Certain people will indeed experience a life after death which is absolutely free of mourning, crying, pain or death. It is not that there will be some pain and sorrow, and God just overstated things.

God’s abounding in truth is rooted in His other perfections. If God did not possess His other traits, He either would not or could not be truthful. If He did not know everything, He may incorrectly assess something because He did not have all the facts. If He knew everything but was unrighteous, He might intentionally not tell the truth just to be spiteful. If He changed at the core of His being, then He might be truthful for one thousand years but then one day decide to take a hiatus from truth-telling.

Because God is eternal, always there, knows everything, created everything, and is righteous, it is impossible for Him to be mistaken about anything. Human limitations such as perceiving things incorrectly, showing favoritism, being prejudiced, or failing to word things correctly do not apply to Him.

God’s words are true, and if He makes an assessment of the condition of your heart, it is accurate; if He makes a declaration regarding the quality of your works, it is correct; if He declares what your eternal destiny will be given certain conditions, it is a statement of fact.

from The Nature and Character of God

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