This letter is from Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. I have been sent to proclaim faith to those God has chosen and to teach them to know the truth that shows them how to live godly lives. 2 This truth gives them confidence that they have eternal life, which God—who does not lie—promised them before the world began. 3 And now at just the right time he has revealed this message, which we announce to everyone. It is by the command of God our Savior that I have been entrusted with this work for him.
Titus 1:1-3 NLT
Had I planned out my blog posts a little better, I probably would have concluded my thoughts on verse two of Titus 1 yesterday. But here we are…
In yesterday’s post – Confidence – we thought about the fact that teaching the truth of God will give His people confidence in their eternal destiny. Resting fully in Christ’s work at the cross, we have assurance that our entry into heaven is not reliant on our performance. The blood of Jesus cleanses us, and by placing our trust in Him, we have eternal confidence. That is not to say our performance does not matter of course, and I reminded us that we ought to live godly lives because it is right, and because it is would Jesus would do.
A further reason to have confidence is found in the latter half of verse two. We have assurance because God has promised it.
God does not lie. That’s just plain, good theology. Everything God says will come to pass, and anything He has promised will be done. His promises are based on His Word and His character. If God does not lie, then you can bank on his Word.
If #God does not lie, then you can bank on – trust in – His Word, which is the #Bible
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God is not a man that He should lie. Too few of us, myself included at times, are flippant with our words. We say things we do not mean, or say things in haste or anger that we later do not follow through on. How often do we as parents threaten our children with some punishment or restriction that we later do not do. When this happens, our children learn that our words are of little value. We all say things in the heat of the moment that we do not really mean, but not God. God has never uttered a single word He did not fully mean or commit to.
The particular promise that Paul refers to in this letter, is the promise of eternal life. When did God promise this? Before the world began… Again, this speaks of God’s sovereignty. He is outside of time, knowing the end from the beginning, and can make a promise of this kind.
If God promised it before the world began, then He did so before you were born. He did it prior to you doing anything good or bad. Before you said your first word, or conceived your first thought, God had already made the decree. This reminds us that the promise of God is not reliant upon us. Before the foundation of the world, God chose you. And He will not change His mind. That gives us confidence!
The Revealed Message
We conclude this section of the letter with verse three, which in many respects summarises what we have already covered over the last few posts.
God, as I say above, knows the end from the beginning. Being Sovereign, He knows the precise moment to do something. Now, at just the right time, God has revealed the message to His chosen people. What message? The message of faith which Paul is proclaiming.
Paul does not proclaim it because he feels like it, or it is his hobby. Instead, he does so because it is the command of God. I put this out there to you too, and ask – what has God commanded you to do? And, are you doing it?
We have covered a lot of ground in a few short verses, but all of them centre around this revealed message – that is, the proclamation of faith and the teaching of the truth of God. The result of this proclamation and teaching is eternal life, and the confidence of its knowledge. That is the basis upon which Paul is an apostle. He establishes this as the springboard for what he intends to say in this letter. The contents of this epistle is where we go next, and I hope that you find it encouraging and uplifting.
Have a blessed day!
Andy Brown 
God means everything he says; he doesn’t make suggestions. This is my paraphrase of one of the points you made here, Andy.
It’s also fascinating that all of God’s promises for us were made and guaranteed before we were born! We’ve just along for the ride.
There’s some great teaching here, brother! Thank you, and God Bless!
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