God Is True And Every Human A Liar

Paul wrote in Romans 3 that God is true, and every human being is a liar. He describes Jews and non Jews the same.

• No one is righteous, not even one; no one understands; and no one seeks God.
• All have turned away; they have become worthless together. No one does good, not even one.
• Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.
• The poison of vipers is on their lips.
• Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.
• Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.
• There is no fear of God before their eyes.

What’s the point?

The advantage of being a Jew was that they were entrusted with the very words of God. Paul asks rhetorically, “What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? Not at all! Let God be true and every human being a liar.” So, if every human is unrighteous, what’s the point? Paul writes that under the law, every mouth is silenced. He explains in Romans 4 that works justified Abraham, “he had something to boast about—but not before God. What does Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

“Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.”

The Promise

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.

Although I’ve written about Paul before, I’ll admit that Paul seems hard to grasp for me. 1 Peter Chapter 1 seems a little easier to understand.

Peter writes: God (Father of our Lord Jesus Christ) has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  It is an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for us, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this, we greatly rejoice, though now for a little while we may have to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

Jesus told Peter to “feed His Sheep,” despite Peter having lied three times and claimed he was not a disciple of Jesus.

The Harshness Of Our Circumstances

The world seems harsh. None of us asked to be born. Yet, now that we’re here, we’re told that we are all liars. Even Peter lied at some point in his life. He denied he was Jesus’ disciple, not one but three times. Perhaps the harshness of our circumstances tempts us to lie. I suppose that harshness is not a good excuse. God is true. I suppose He is the only one.

Can we handle the truth?

I was sick for a spell. That is why I haven’t written much lately. It isn’t hard to write when you’re sick, but it is difficult to make much sense. On second thought, many people have trouble making sense, even when they are well. When I listen to the news, it doesn’t make much sense either. Are the originators of the news stories sick? Perhaps, but the more likely answer is that they are lying.

Why do liars lie? I would be lying if I said I fully understood the answer. There is a famous line in the movie titled A Few Good Men: “You can’t handle the truth!” Maybe that is the best answer. Maybe we lie because we can’t handle the truth.

God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24 KJV) I suppose that is why works are an obligation, thus, an insufficient form of worship, while faith is a sufficient form of worship. Maybe we can’t handle the simple idea that just believing is sufficient. And that is not just an educational acknowledgement of a divine being (it is not that simple). Rather, it is a belief so profound that we simply obey, not doubting our Creator.

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve began to doubt the Creator, and they chose the knowledge of good and evil over everlasting life. Yet, through Jesus, the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not, gives every man and woman the decision to choose life. We must not choose the knowledge of good and evil, but choose everlasting life instead. For God is true, and every human being is a liar.