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The Ninth Commandment – False Testimony
Today’s study is on God’s Commandment not to bear false testimony, from Exodus 20:16 NKJV, 16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
God has made it clear how He feels about certain things.
In Proverbs 6:16-19 NKJV, He tells us about some things He hates.
16 These six things the Lord hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
17 A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
19 A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.
Notice especially how He mentions lying twice. He hates a lying tongue and a false witness who speaks lies.
Scripture makes it clear how God feels about lying in any of its forms. The question you need to ask is, how do you feel about lying? Do you feel the same way God does? What are your standards?
As I was growing up, you would often hear someone say, “My word is my bond.” I know that if my father promised anyone anything, he did not have to put it in writing. Everyone knew that whatever he said, he would do or die trying.
Today, most people would not count on someone’s word on a business deal. As a society, we have lost faith in a person’s word.
Lying and false testimony are common today.
I wish I could say that most people are honest and would never bear false witness, but I can not. However, I know that you would agree that it would be so much better if people always told the truth.
Even though we start early, trying to teach our children not to lie, they see adults lying everywhere they turn. Adults often tell people what they think they want to hear or some falsehood to make them look better.
Yes, God hates lies or false testimony.
What are we going to do about it?
It has become an epidemic in our society.
Where did this epidemic start?
It started at the very beginning of creation. God made man and woman, and He told them that if they ate of one certain tree’s fruit, they would die. Satan lied to Eve in the garden, the same way he is still lying to us today. Genesis 3:4 NKJV says, “Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die.” However, we all will die at least once. Some of us will die a second time according to Scripture.
We are told in Revelation 21:8 NKJV, But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
Please notice who our Lord groups with liars. He says the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, and idolaters.
Personally, I don’t want to be grouped with those guilty of those sins.
What about Christians?
This should not be a question that we need to ask. As Christians, we should be following God’s Commandments. Scriptures in both the Old and New Testaments make it clear that we should not lie.
Why would we ever question our stand on lying?
We are told in Proverbs 12:22 NKJV, Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are His delight.
Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:25 NKJV, Therefore, putting away lying, ‘Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,’ for we are members of one another.
Then Paul reminds us in Colossians 3:9-10 NKJV, Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.
Christians are to be an example to the world.
Lying should be as evil to us as it is to God. Bearing false witness should never happen in our lives. This even includes gossip, which usually goes from bad to worse as it is repeated.
You should remember that you are a Christian first, not a politician, news reporter, or any of the occupations noted for lying or bearing false witness. When you give your life to God and accept Jesus as your Savior, you are to give up all sinful acts.
As Christians, we are to model ourselves after Jesus and those truths we know about God and His Commandments.
You belong to God, and He cannot lie.
The Word is clear about God and lying. He will not and cannot lie. The following are just two of the many Scriptures that tell us that God cannot lie. Listen to what just these Scriptures say. Paul tells us in Hebrews 6:17-18, “it is impossible for God to lie.” Titus 1:2 says, “in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.”
We are to pattern our lives after Jesus, who is God in the flesh. Jesus told the truth, and that is what offended many of the religious leaders. They tried to find ways around God’s Laws; Jesus completed His Laws.
Satan, on the other hand, is very different.
With Satan, lying is his native language. He only uses the truth when he is trying to convince someone to sin. Then he twists it into an idea that does not come from God.
His followers learn to do the same thing. We see it every day in our society where a person takes a truth, such as that racism is wrong. They then use that truth to justify their actions, which are racist against someone else.
One way to identify Satan’s followers is that they lie. The truth is not in them.
Satan and his followers constantly lie.
Jesus said this about Satan in the last part of John 8:44c NKJV, When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
You can’t get any clearer than that. He is a great deceiver, and lying is his number one tool.
Don’t let him deceive you!
In conclusion, don’t lie.
Satan is the father of lies.
Don’t follow Satan and become a liar.
Plant in your mind the Ninth Commandment: You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. In other words, don’t lie.
Points to remember are that:
- God can not lie.
- God hates lying
- Liars will be cast into hell.
Click the following links to continue your study of all the Commandments, The First Commandment – No Other God!, The Second Commandment – No Idols, The Third Commandment -The Lord’s Name, The Fourth Commandment – The Sabbath, The Fifth Commandment – Honor Father and Mother, The Sixth Commandment – Do Not Murder, The Seventh Commandment – Do not commit adultery, The Eighth Commandment – Stealing, The Ninth Commandment – False Testimony, and The Tenth Commandment –