The Ten Commandments, Part 9

“I do not believe that any man can preach the gospel who does not preach the Law.”

Charles Spurgeon

Kirk Cameron’s Comment

Is a white lie still a lie? Is half of the truth only half of a lie? If you tell a lie for a “good reason,” is it still a sin? What qualifies us as a liar? By whose standards will we be judged?

Questions & Objections

Lesson

In this lesson we will look at the Ninth Commandment: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16).

It is common when mentioning this Commandment to hear the response, “You mean that if some lady asks you if you think she is ugly, you have to tell her the truth—that she is?” Let the person know that there is a big difference between discretion (wise self-restraint in speech) and lying (a false statement intended to deceive), and that God knows the difference.

Should a Christian ever tell a lie? There are times when we may find ourselves in the difficult position of realizing that telling the truth may have dire repercussions. For example, you are asked by a Nazi if you are hiding any Jews in your home. Should you tell him there are two under your bed? To do so would result in their sure death. Your choice is to lie and save lives, or tell the truth and be a party to murder. Another example is putting “tourist” rather than “Bible smuggler” on your visa into China, or not telling the police in a persecuted country the names of other members of your underground church. Perhaps the answer is that it is the motive that matters. However, the issue depends on the conscience of each individual.

The Bible tells us that God doesn’t lie, and the Ninth Commandment makes it clear that bearing false witness against our neighbor is wrong. Bearing false witness in order to cause harm to another, or to avoid the consequences of our own wrong behavior, is never acceptable to a holy God who knows our motive.

The dictionary defines a lie as a false statement deliberately presented as being true; a falsehood; something intended to deceive or give a wrong impression. People often claim that they have told only a “white lie.” But there is no difference between a white lie, a half-truth, a fib, or an exaggeration. All are lies in the sight of God. How many murders does one have to commit to be a murderer? Just one. In the same way, if they have told even one lie, no matter what color or size, that makes them a liar.

The Ninth Commandment requires the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. God is a God of truth and His Law demands absolute honesty from the heart. Yet the human heart is deceitful above all things. It has been well said that taking the easy path is what makes rivers and men crooked. Look at this telling quote:

...20,000 middle and high-schoolers were surveyed by the Josephson Institute of Ethics—a nonprofit organization in Marina del Rey, Calif., devoted to character education. Ninety-two percent of the teenagers admitted having lied to their parents in the previous year, and 73 percent characterized themselves as “serial liars,” meaning they told lies weekly. Despite these admissions, 91 percent of all respondents said they were “satisfied with my own ethics and character.” (Reader’s Digest, November 1999)

The path of lies is often the easy path, but it leads to hell. The Bible warns that all liars will have their part in the Lake of Fire (Revelation 21:8). What a fearful thought! People may not think deceitfulness is a serious sin, but God does. It should break our hearts to even think of the fate of the ungodly.

Preacher’s Progress

A sample witnessing conversation, written in the style of John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress.

Feathers for Arrows

Two women from Southern California were about to cross the Mexican border to return to the U.S. when they saw what looked like a very small, sick animal in the ditch beside their car. As they examined it in the darkness of the night, they saw that it was a tiny Chihuahua. They decided to take it home with them and nurse it back to health. However, because they were afraid that they were breaking the law, they put it in the trunk of their car, and drove across the border. Once they were in the U.S., they retrieved the animal and nursed it until they arrived home.

One of the women was so concerned for the ailing dog that she actually took it to bed with her, and reached out several times during the night to touch the tiny animal and reassure it that she was still present.

The dog was so sick the next morning, she decided to take it to the veterinarian. That’s when she found out that the animal wasn’t a tiny, sick dog. It was a Mexican water rat, dying of rabies.

The world, in the blackness of its ignorance, thinks that sin is a puppy to be played with. It is the light of God’s Law that enlightens the sinner to the fact that he is in bed with a deadly rat.

We were once “deceived, serving diverse lusts and pleasures,” but now, if we are truly converted, our eyes have been opened. We see sin for the sugar-coated venom that it is.

Words of Comfort

In Houston, Texas, police set out with their sirens wailing after three bank robbers, who had merged into freeway traffic. Unbeknown to the police, two burglars who had just pulled a job were also on the freeway, and took off at high speed mistakenly thinking that the law was chasing them. The police immediately did give chase ... and apprehended the men after they crashed their car in a panic.

Questions

1. What is the dictionary definition of a lie?
2. What is the difference between a lie and discretion?
3. Do you think it is ever okay for a Christian to tell a lie in order to protect someone? Why or why not?
4. What is the difference between a white lie, a half-truth, a fib, and an exaggeration?
5. How many lies must one tell to be a liar?
6. What will happen to all liars?

Answers to these review questions are provided in the back of the printed book / source PDF.

Memory Verse

“A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaks lies shall not escape.”

Proverbs 19:5

Last Words

It is a great mercy that I have no manner of fear or dread of death. I could, if God please, lay my head back and die without terror this afternoon.

Isaac Watts, hymn writer