In hope of eternal life, — Paul preached of the faithful Christian’s reward of eternal life in Heaven with God. This is not an empty hope but a hope with expectation. Having hope toward God, which these also themselves look for, that there shall be a resurrection both of the just and unjust (Acts 24:15) . which God, that cannot lie, —God [is] not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do [it]? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good (Numbers 23:19)? That by two immutable things, in which [it was] impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us (Hebrews 6:18): It is contrary to the very nature of God that He be untruthful. promised before the world began; — Literally, before eternal times. God’s purpose was divinely fixed from eternity.