God’s truth guards us against deceit and is the compass by which we navigate this life.

“Once upon a time, we trusted religion. We trusted science. We trusted politicians.”

Thus begins a trailer for an upcoming documentary called Post Truth. The documentary is touted as the first feature-length film that entirely utilizes generative artificial intelligence (AI). That might lead you to wonder, Is this film even real? That’s the point. The documentary wants viewers to consider how truth and fiction have been blurred as a result of the technologies and messaging of our time. The narrator in the trailer concludes, “We trusted experts. We trusted facts. Now we trust nothing.”

Trust presupposes truth. We all need something to trust, but questions about what is and what is not true abound. There are some possible solutions to the erosion of trust. We could make truth subjective. Then we could personalize the truth and trust it more easily. We could try to revert to a golden age before AI or social media. But these solutions are just further deceptions. God reveals to us that the human heart is deceitful. If we live in a deceptive age, then it is deceptive because the people living in that age are deceptive.

This is why an ancient letter written by Paul to a pastor named Titus has something to say to us today. Pull out your Bible and turn to Titus chapter 1.

Equipping for truthful living

In the first verse, Paul introduces himself as a servant and apostle, but as he does so, he introduces a key thought of the letter. He says that his work is for the benefit of believers and “their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness.” This truth equips us to live in a deceptive age. This truth leads us into truthful living.

Since the human heart is deceitful, we need a kind of truth that comes from outside ourselves. Paul assures us in verse 2 that it comes from God “who does not lie.” Paul echoes Numbers 23:19, where God’s truthfulness is contrasted with human beings’ deceitfulness. When God reveals something about himself, he can be trusted. When he says he is going to do something, he does it.

God reveals himself to us and teaches us through his Word for a practical reason: He wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. This truth has everything to do with God himself, the human condition, and salvation. Because this truth addresses the redemption of people, the study of it is never a dry intellectual exercise.

In fact, God’s truth is transformative. It shapes our lives. For Christians, there will always be an inconsistency between what we believe and the way we live. That is why the truth matters. The truth is that God has declared you to be consistent with his own holiness. Because he gave you his own righteousness, he sees you as truly godly. The truth is that God has now created you to live your life in a way that is consistent with his truth.

Navigating a deceptive age

Titus and the Christians on Crete lived in a deceitful age. Cretan society said less than the standard of God’s truth. In Titus 1:12, Paul quotes from a Cretan prophet, “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” Cretans were seen as deceptive for reasons ranging from their nonstandard war practices to their unorthodox views of Greco-Roman religion. Within the Greek language, Crete even became a byword for a lie.

Cretan Christians faced deceit regarding godly behavior. The phrase translated as “evil brute” comes from an idiom literally meaning “wild animals.” A particular tradition suggests that Crete had no wild animals, so some have suggested that the people were Crete’s wild animals.

Cretan Christians faced deceit regarding life’s purpose. Cretans were called “lazy gluttons.” Cretans had little problem feeding their carnal appetites. Cretan culture celebrated male-only dinners at social halls where food and wine were served freely, particularly to elders among the groups.

Cretan Christians faced deceit not only in secular society but also in the church. In Crete’s congregations, people were deceived by teachers who said more than God’s truth. This was particularly true of people whom Paul called “the circumcision group.” Instead of teaching that people received God’s promise of salvation by grace and only through faith, they demanded that circumcision and likely other practices be obeyed as well.

Paul applied the Cretan prophet’s observation in verse 12 to this group of believers because they shared much in common with their secular counterparts. They exemplified the Cretan stereotype of deceit because they did not teach in accordance with God’s revealed truth. They were “full of meaningless talk and deception” (v. 10). They were wild beasts because their rigid human requirements disrupted whole households (v. 11). They, like the Cretans, also misunderstood how to control human desire. Rather than fulfilling every desire, they held to severe abstinence and called things impure that God called good (v. 15).

Paul said that these people claimed to know God, but their actions revealed they didn’t hold to the truth (v. 16). Saying less than what God’s truth says leads to the deceit of permissiveness. Saying more than God says leads to the deceit of moralism. Both lead to corrupted minds and living (v. 15). Both obscure the truth.

Reflecting God and his truth

This is why filling ourselves with the knowledge of God’s truth is so important. God’s truth guards us against deceit. With our eyes set on eternal life, God’s truth is the compass by which we navigate this life. When there is much to deceive our minds and our consciences, the truth encourages us so that our believing and doing are consistent with each other.

In a deceptive age, Christians truly live truth-shaped lives. Through our godly lives, we reflect God in this world. Through our trustworthy words, we bring him to light to others. Not just your own congregation, but your own home is a beacon of truth. Maybe you do not see it. But God says that his truth will lead you to truthful living.

And you know what? God doesn’t lie.

This is the first article in a three-part series on the book of Titus.

Author: Aaron Goetzinger
Volume 112, Number 10
Issue: October 2025

Understanding Titus’ situation

Paul must have had a large amount of trust in and respect for Titus, a Gentile convert to Christianity, as he had previously entrusted Titus with a problematic situation in Corinth (2 Corinthians 7:6-15). The situation in Crete was not easy either. Christians were spread across the island, and the island was not easily traversable by foot because the middle of it was quite mountainous. Moreover, Titus faced challenges within secular society and a rising tide of false teaching within the Cretan congregations.

This is why Paul in this pastoral letter encouraged Titus to continue to appoint elders in the congregations across Crete (Titus 1:5). The elders would multiply the work of Pastor Titus by encouraging and equipping Cretan Christians with God’s Word. The standards for these elders were high. In contrast to the permissiveness of Cretan society, the elders were to exemplify godly character for their congregations. In contrast to the peddlers of doctrinal error, the elders were to hold to the doctrinal standard found in Jesus’ and the apostles’ teaching.