Can God LIE?

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Can God LIE since he can do anything? On the other hand, is it IMPOSSIBLE for him to do so? The book of Hebrews states:

"Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by TWO IMMUTABLE THINGS, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us." (Hebrews 6:17-18, NKJV throughout)

These two things involve the true hope that only Christians possess. The writer of Hebrews takes the next two chapters to explain in detail these two immutable (unchangeable) things.

Notice that Hebrews 7 deals with the greatness of the Melchizedek priesthood as opposed to the Aaronic priesthood. The hope for Israel was to be a great physical nation that would lead all nations to keep God's commandments so they would have great physical blessings.

The oath of God, however, was to bring in a better hope - the awesome hope of eternal life as a member of his family inheriting the earth. This is one of the immutable things that will be accomplished in spiritual Israel:

"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people." (Hebrews 8:10)

However, what is the second immutable thing?

"And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him: The Lord has sworn and will not relent, 'You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek'), by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant . . .

"For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever." (Hebrews 7:21-22, 28, NKJV)

So God will not lie because he has sworn to do two things:

1. To make us (humans) into his very kind of people, to make us fully into his own image and likeness as he stated in Genesis 1:26

2. That Jesus will accomplish his ultimate purpose for us through the office of High Priest.

The choice God made to not lie is also mentioned in other scriptures:

"God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent." (Numbers 23:16)

"Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began . . . " (Titus 1:1-2)

Thank you for your question about can God lie or not.