Austin Bible Church
God is perfect and absolute veracity or truth. God has always been absolute truth and will remain the only source of absolute truth in the universe. In God, every form of perfect truth and every form of perfect knowledge dwells in an absolute form. There never was or will be a time when God is capable of not being perfectly truthful. God cannot go back on His Word because of His perfect veracity. Unlike mankind, He cannot lie. We can only relate God's perfect attributes to our lives through a gaining knowledge of His revealed Truth or the Word of God contained in the original languages of the written Canon of Scripture. We can only do this following salvation and through the teaching ministry of God the Holy Spirit and via a trained pastor-teacher. John 14:6.
"Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. " (John 14:6, NASB)
God is perfect, absolute, and eternal truth. He has communicated His truth to us through the inspired Word of God – Bible doctrine. Deut. 32:4; Psalms 117:2.
""The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He." (Deuteronomy 32:4, NASB)
"For His lovingkindness is great toward us, And the truth of the LORD is everlasting. Praise the LORD!" (Psalms 117:2, NASB)
Therefore His Word is perfect and eternal truth. In addition, His Word is perfectly accurate. God cannot ever be in error. Therefore, we can depend upon His veracity to sustain us. Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18; Psalms 91:4.
"in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago," (Titus 1:2, NASB)
"so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us." (Hebrews 6:18, NASB)
"He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark." (Psalms 91:4, NASB)
Manifestations of God’s Veracity
God's truth is manifested in all of His ways. Psalms 25:10; Psalms 86:15; Rev. 15:3.
"All the paths of the LORD are lovingkindness and truth To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies." (Psalms 25:10, NASB)
"But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, Slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth." (Psalms 86:15, NASB)
"And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations!" (Revelation 15:3, NASB)
God's inerrant truth is also manifested in His works. Psalms 33:4; Psalms 111:7-8; Dan. 4:37.
"For the word of the LORD is upright, And all His work is done in faithfulness." (Psalms 33:4, NASB)
"The works of His hands are truth and justice; All His precepts are sure. They are upheld forever and ever; They are performed in truth and uprightness." (Psalms 111:7-8, NASB)
""Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride."" (Daniel 4:37, NASB)
Because His Word is perfect truth, His Word illustrates His infallible veracity in the Old Testament. 2 Sam. 7:28; 1 Kings 17:24; Psalms 19:9; Psalms 119:142; Psalms 119:151; Psalms 138:2.
""Now, O Lord GOD, You are God, and Your words are truth, and You have promised this good thing to Your servant." (2 Samuel 7:28, NASB)
"Then the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth."" (1 Kings 17:24, NASB)
"Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, And Your law is truth." (Psalms 119:142, NASB)
"I will bow down toward Your holy temple And give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name." (Psalms 138:2, NASB)
His eternal truth is illustrated in His Word in the New Testament. John 8:45; John 17:17; 2 Cor. 6:7; Eph. 1:13.
" "But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. " (John 8:45, NASB)
" "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. " (John 17:17, NASB)
"in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left," (2 Corinthians 6:7, NASB)
"In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise," (Ephesians 1:13, NASB)
Veracity of the Trinity
Each member of the Godhead shares the same perfect attributes. God the Father is perfect truth. Psalms 31:5; Isaiah 65:16; Jer. 10:10; John 3:33; John 17:3; Rom. 3:4.
"Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have ransomed me, O LORD, God of truth." (Psalms 31:5, NASB)
""Because he who is blessed in the earth Will be blessed by the God of truth; And he who swears in the earth Will swear by the God of truth; Because the former troubles are forgotten, And because they are hidden from My sight!" (Isaiah 65:16, NASB)
""He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true." (John 3:33, NASB)
"May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written, "THAT YOU MAY BE JUSTIFIED IN YOUR WORDS, AND PREVAIL WHEN YOU ARE JUDGED."" (Romans 3:4, NASB)
God the Son is absolute perfect truth. John 1:14; John 8:32; John 14:6; 1 John 5:20; Rev. 16:7; Rev. 19:11.
"And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14, NASB)
" and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." " (John 8:32, NASB)
"Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. " (John 14:6, NASB)
"And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war." (Revelation 19:11, NASB)
God the Holy Spirit is infallible perfect veracity. John 14:17; John 15:26; John 16:13; 1 John 5:6.
" that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. " (John 14:17, NASB)
" "When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, " (John 15:26, NASB)
" "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. " (John 16:13, NASB)
"This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth." (1 John 5:6, NASB)
Application of God's Veracity
The application of divine veracity is important for our future. The application of God’s veracity as believers means that we can depend on His Word to be true – always. This is the basis for claiming God’s promises in the early stages of spiritual growth. We can always depend on God to do what He says He will do. We must depend on pastor-teachers trained in their spiritual gift to convey God’s Word to us accurately. In this manner, God the Holy Spirit makes sure that the teaching is correctly understood in our souls. When filled with the Holy Spirit (in fellowship with God) we are promised by God that we will be able to learn His plan for our lives. Because epignosis Bible doctrine resident in our souls in understood and believed, it is applicable to our lives. As we apply God’s word, He honors His Word or truth in us.
Because God is also perfect faithfulness, He provides grace resources to each of us. The purpose of this grace supply from God is so we can continue learning and growing spiritually dependent only on our free will. 1 John 4:6.
"We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error." (1 John 4:6, NASB)
God's Veracity Related to Mankind’s Arrogance and Ignorance
All of us were born with sin natures. It’s in our DNA - literally. This means that all of us sin when our souls are controlled by our sin natures. The most common and destructive mental attitude sin is arrogance. When we are ignorant and out of fellowship (i.e., our soul is controlled by our sin natures), we tend to reject what we don’t already know. However, even when believers are in fellowship, they constantly face this test of accepting God’s teaching so God the Holy Spirit can change us to conform to God’s plan for our lives.
The enabling power of the Holy Spirit teaches us accurately through our human spirit so that we cannot learn God’s truth incorrectly when in fellowship. Therefore, we should be comforted by the fact that since God is absolute truth and veracity, He cannot allow untruth to coexist with the filling of the Holy Spirit in our souls. In addition, His truth cannot be complicated by ignorance, arrogance, or the resultant absurdities of life.
God’s veracity or truth is consistent with His other perfect and absolute attributes. God administers His grace policy toward mankind based on a perfect balance of all of His attributes. He gives or imputes a maximum amount of grace provision to every member of the human race based on our free will decisions to accept more and more elements of His plan for our lives.
God’s truth in the form of Bible doctrine accepted, believed, and resident in our souls as believers acts as a wall of fire by protecting the believer from false doctrine and involvement in Satan’s counterfeit spiritual life. God’s truth in the form of the laws of divine establishment protects the unbeliever from both demon influence and demon possession.
God does not acquire or perceive truth. God is truth. There never was a time when He was not perfect truth. There never will be a time when He is not perfect truth. God is eternal which makes His truth eternal. In God, every form of truth and every form of knowledge dwells in an absolute form. Therefore, God has designed His plan for our lives to function and be fulfilled by means of truth.
Bible Doctrine Versus the Facts of History
Because God is perfect veracity, any revelation from God has to be perfect truth. The Bible is the divinely inspired word of God. This is called Bible doctrine. The Scripture in the Bible is God’s truth for mankind. God supernaturally directed the human authors of Scripture so that, without waiving their human intelligence, individuality, literary style, personal feelings, or any other human factor, they recorded God's complete and coherent message to mankind with perfect accuracy in the original languages of Scripture. Therefore, the words in the original languages bear the authority of God as He is the author. 2 Tim. 3:16-17.
"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17, NASB)
Believers must distinguish between the recorded “facts” of history, which have been proven to not always be true or correct, and the truth of Bible doctrine from God which is absolute, infinite, and eternal truth. 2 Tim. 2:15.
"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15, NASB)
Mankind has recorded many “facts” of history including motivations concluded by others, people’s thoughts, their decisions, and actions in points of time in the past. All of this is relating past human actions and interactions with the consequences of those actions and interactions. Some of this is speculation, conjecture, historians’ interpretations, and recordings of those involved in or near what happened in the past. It is a fact that mankind’s recorded history is incomplete and is not perfectly accurate in many ways. The actual facts of history include truth and lies, failures and successes, and opposition to God and glorification of God. This is because mankind is not perfect. God is.
God’s attribute of omniscience or “all knowing” is perfect and absolute knowledge. God always knew from eternity past all of the facts of the created universe and all created beings. His knowledge includes every actual and potential thought, motive, decision, and action of every created being (angelic and human) and how it did interrelate, could interrelate, or will interrelate with the particular circumstances in the context of those interactions with other created beings.
Therefore, truth originates from God and the false originates from Satan and those under his influence. Truth is found in Bible doctrine. The facts, true and false, are a part of history. The divine attribute of veracity guarantees both the truth of Bible doctrine and the accuracy of everything that happens in history, both true and false. Therefore, we must distinguish between God’s truth, which is Bible doctrine, and the “facts” of history which include the true and the false.
The fact that mankind’s lies are recorded in the Bible as facts does not mean that God condones or sponsors those lies. Although sins are recorded in perfect accuracy, this does not imply that God in any way condones sin. God does not sponsor or condone false doctrine nor the evil of men, but He has reported it accurately in the Canon of Scripture.
Avoid Distractions While Learning Doctrine
God honors Bible doctrine resident in the soul of the believer as they grow spiritually. This is how we can avoid distractions from learning doctrine. God's attribute of veracity is one of the most important in our understanding of what constitutes the Christian way of life. God provides sustaining grace resources so believers can learn Bible doctrine.
God may be self-limited, such as our Lord was during His incarnation, but this is for the sake of God the Father’s grace policy which benefits man to the maximum. The application of this is that there are absolutes. God is the source of truth. This attribute of God guarantees the genuineness of divine revelation in the form of Bible doctrine. The filling of the Holy Spirit guarantees that what we learn while in fellowship in God’s inerrant truth. God’s perfect and absolute veracity is always our guarantee.