Romans 3:3-4 For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?… The primary meaning of "truth" in Greek is openness: what is not concealed; but in Hebrew, that which sustains, which does not fail or disappoint our expectations. The true therefore is — I. THAT WHICH IS REAL as opposed to what is fictitious or imaginary. Jehovah is the true God, because He is really God, while the gods of the heathen are vanity and nothing. II. THAT WHICH COMPLETELY COMES UP TO ITS IDEA, or what it purports to be. A true man is a man in whom the idea of manhood is fully realised. The true God is He in whom is found all that Godhead imports. III. THAT IN WHICH THE REALITY CORRESPONDS TO THE MANIFESTATION. God is true because He really is what He declares Himself to be; because He is what He commands us to believe Him to be; and because all His declarations correspond to what really is. IV. THAT WHICH CAN BE DEPENDED UPON, which does not fail, or change, or disappoint. In this sense God is true as He is immutable and faithful. His promise cannot fail. His word never disappoints: it "abideth forever." (C. Hodge, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?WEB: For what if some were without faith? Will their lack of faith nullify the faithfulness of God? |