To ponder the existence and attributes of the God of the Bible is an exercise in fascination. Of course, in our thinking, we eventually run up against a wall in that we cannot discover and it has not by revelation been made known the exact clue to God’s eternality. But, there are things that we can, in our focus, come to comprehend. And as we do this, it gives us greater understanding as to why things are in reality as they are. It certainly helps us to come to a greater appreciation of God, his wonderful word, and all that he has done for us in making salvation possible.
Before answering the question which constitutes the title of this article, I would have us consider several relevant points that hopefully will provide a little background for proper thinking about the question at issue.
The apostle John once wrote, “I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and because no lie is of the truth” (1 John 2:21). John was writing to “the children of God” (3:1). He is not writing to non-Christians as such. And he is telling his brethren that they had come to understand saving truth or the gospel. In 2:21 he makes three claims regarding why he has written to them: (1) it was not because they didn’t know the truth; (2) it was because they did know the truth; (3) and it was because no lie is of the truth. If they did not know the truth, they would not yet be Christians. Furthermore, it was very important that they did know the truth because one cannot be saved without coming to a knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4), and since truth is truth, in knowing it they could have the benefit of what truth offered because no lie is of the truth. If they had only known the lie, they could not yet know the truth.
In 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12, interestingly, there are definite articles which are so insightful. To some who “received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved,” Paul informs us that God will send “a working of error” that those people should believe “the lie.” These are folk who believe “not the truth,” but who have pleasure “in the unrighteousness.” The definite article “the” is there in the original text where I have positioned it.
So, to mankind, two options are open to us regarding salvation information: (1) the truth, and (2) the lie. And in 1 John 2:21, John declares that “no lie is of the truth.” The “laws of thought” as regulative intellectual principles are relevant just here. According to Lionel Ruby’s Logic—An Introduction, the Law of Identity as applied to things means that things are what they are. To say that a horse is a horse means that the thing (horse) is itself. As applied to propositions the law means that if a proposition is true, then it is true. If a proposition is false, then it, of course, is false. It is itself. The second law of thought is the “Law of Excluded Middle,” which for propositions means that a precisely stated proposition is either true or it is false. With regard to things, if we say that all men are mortals, it is either true that all men are mortals or it is false that all men are mortals. There is no middle ground to take. The third law of thought is the “Law of Contradiction.” For things it means that nothing can be both A and its contradiction, not-A. If it is true that a thing is a horse, then it cannot be true that the thing is a non-horse. As applied to propositions, if it is true that man is made in the image of God, then it is false that man is not made in the image of God. A precise statement cannot be both true and false at the same time in the same sense. If a human being is a male, it is false to say that he is not a male. If it is false to say that he is a male, then it is true that he is a non-male. These are basic regulatory principles innate to man that govern all his thinking (see Ruby, pp. 262-268).
So, when John says that “no lie is of the truth,” he is saying something about the nature of God (since God is the ultimate source of truth), and the nature of man (since man is made in the image of God), as well as the nature of truth. John implies that (1) truth is truth (thus affirming the Law of Identity), and (2) if a precise statement is made, it is either true or it is not true—it has to be one or the other (the Law of Excluded Middle), and (3) if a statement is true, its contradictory cannot be true; it must be false. A precise statement cannot be true and its contradiction be true also (the Law of Contradiction). In his incarnation, Jesus claimed to be the personification of truth (John 14:6). The Bible is truth in proposition form (declarations, affirmations, statements).
Now, we have two passages in the New Testament that inform us that God cannot lie. In Titus 1:2 Paul refers to God “who cannot lie.” And in Hebrews 6:18, Paul affirms that “it is impossible for God to lie.” And so we learn that not only does God not lie, but there is an explanation as to why he never does. Now please consider the seriousness of this affirmation. If God has not, does not, and will not lie, and if God has written the Bible, then what he has written is what it is (the Law of Identity), and it is either, in summary, true or it is false (the Law of Excluded Middle), and finally, the Bible cannot be both true and not true (the Law of Contradiction). The Bible, again, has to be either true or false, if it is true then it is true, and if it is true, it cannot then be non-true or false. No lie is of the truth!
Now, as we proceed, some critic might suggest that all we yet know is that the Bible claims that God cannot lie. And, furthermore, the critic might suggest that it might be true that the claim itself allegedly made regarding God in the Bible is itself false. Maybe God can lie, he suggests. If there is a God behind the writing of the Bible, why can’t we think that he could put some falsehood in it without identifying the falsehood, and telling us all the time that the falsehood is, after all, true?
Let me here say that our options regarding the authorship of Scripture are very limited. Either man wrote the Bible or God wrote the Bible. Without going into elaborative proof of the fact that no man and no set of men could possibly have written the Bible (given the nature of the Bible), then we are left with the option of God. Now, if someone thinks that “God” or the alleged God named in the Bible is capable of lying, we take up the exploration of the question at this point. (If the reader wants more information proving the impossibility of non-divine authorship of Scripture, we would suggest that he get a copy of The Utterance of God from the Warren Christian Apologetics Center at WarrenApologetics.org or 304.917.3707).
But now, let us begin to explore the “why” it is that the God of the Bible (the One who is claimed to be the author of the Bible) cannot lie.
The very concept of truth and the concept of falsehood entail the necessity of person. Only a person can tell a truth or a lie. And since a lie (falsehood) is the denial of truth, it presupposes truth. In other words, if the falsification of truth were actually possible without the already existent truth, the lie could not be false.
As we think about God and his relationship to truth, let us ask two questions:
1. Why can’t God be evil?
2. Why can’t God do evil?
First, God cannot be evil because of the definition or meaning of what God would necessarily have to be. Since ultimate reality would have to be either mind or matter, and since eternal matter is impossible and since eternal mind would have to be personal, ultimate reality would have to be mind. (see the Warren-Flew Debate for an excellent philosophical discussion of this most important truth). The world as we experience it and the Bible as we possess it are rationally explainable only on the basis of eternal Mind. And since mind implies person (only person possesses mind), and since evil presupposes good, the ultimately eternal existent Mind would of necessity have to be good. Ultimate reality or ultimate greatness is not only person, it is good Person. Good person entails moral agency or morality. You might remember that Jesus said there is a sense in which God is the only good person there is (Matt. 19:16-17). This is no coincidence! Ultimate greatness would entail, among other things, moral perfection (that is, there is absolutely no deficiency of any kind in this attribute).
As ultimately good, God would have to be—
1. Eternally good
2. Infinitely good
3. Unalterably good
4. Invulnerably good
5. Willfully good
Anselm argued that God is “that greater than which cannot be conceived.” And any “god” that would be deficient in goodness could not be that God.
If someone says that what God is is good regardless of its moral quality or character, then he is denying the ontologically necessary distinction between moral good and moral evil. In other words, if God’s own character decides for us what “morality” will be but his character is not actually a morally good one but simply “the way God is,” then such would be a declaration that there is no qualitative distinction between what is really morally good and what is really morally evil. They could be the same. God could then merely pontificate that murder is good and loving one’s neighbor is evil.
Second, in answering the next question as to why God can’t do evil, we must consider that not only is it the case that God is good, but we must also consider that God desires to be good. That is, God wants to be who he is, and he is certainly content with himself. He is actually good and if he “decides” to do anything such as to create something, he always does so and desires to do so from the point of view of what his goodness would implement. This brings us to the concept of God’s will.
The will of God is such a fundamental and extraordinary concept in Scripture. Jesus taught us to pray with regard to God’s will that it be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt. 6:10). Jesus came to earth to do the Father’s will (John 6:37-38). If we are alive on earth today, it is only by the will of God (Jas. 4:15). Jesus also informed us that “If any man willeth to do his [that is, the Father’s] will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from myself” (John 7:17).
Now, as a moral agent (the ultimate One), God is good and, therefore, wills to do good. God can only will to do good because he is good. And since he is good and wills to do good, his relationship to truth then (as something told) can only be to tell it if he speaks or declares anything at all. It is impossible for God to lie because it is impossible for God to will to speak a lie. And if God cannot tell a lie, he cannot write one!
I will close this brief piece with the observation without elaboration that the accuracy and profundity of the Bible (as well as its other traits) conclusively demonstrate that God is the divine author of all Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16-17; John 5:46). This is God who cannot lie!
Biblical Notes 