“In hope of eternal life, which GOD, WHO CANNOT LIE, PROMISED…” (Titus 1:2).
In the Mediterranean Sea there lies an island which in Paul’s day had a very bad reputation. It’s name is Crete. To Titus, a pastor sent to evangelize the inhabitants, the Apostle Paul wrote: “One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said. The Cretians are always liars…” (Titus 1:12), and he added: “This witness is true” (Titus 1:13). Paul knew this to be a fact, for he had labored among them. Indeed, even secular history bears witness to this trait of the Cretians, for we are told that in ancient times to call a man a Cretian was to call him a liar.
How wonderful that St. Paul had succeeded in establishing a few small Christian assemblies on this island and that Titus was now laboring there as his successor! And how reassuring that to Titus and these few believers, surrounded on every hand by people who could not be trusted, Paul could write about “eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised”!
“God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken and shall He not make it good?” (Num. 23:19).
Thank God, millions have trusted His Word, especially about salvation through the all-sufficient and finished work of redemption wrought by Christ at Calvary, and they have found it to be blessedly true.
In dozens of passages of Scripture God has promised eternal life to those who trust in Christ and His payment for sin. “Christ died for our sins” (I Cor. 15:3). “[He] was delivered for our offences and was raised again for our justification” (Rom. 4:25). “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life” (John 3:36). “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). Take Him at His Word; His promise is good. “GOD, WHO CANNOT LIE, PROMISED.” source