Do not give false testimony against your neighbor. 

Exodus 20:16 (CSB)

There have been many who have seen this commandment as one that says, Do not lie. While that interpretation is what is at the heart of this commandment, the way in which God words this commandment deals specifically with a certain type of lying: not lying about another person.

If you look through the Law of God (the first five books of the Old Testament), you will see that there were a number of laws that actually called for capital punishment. This means that there were some laws that were seen by God as punishable by the death of the person who broke them. Because of the severity of the punishment, the law of God also stated that a person could not be condemned by the testimony of only one person.

One witness cannot establish any iniquity or sin against a person, whatever that person has done. A fact must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

Deuteronomy 19:15 (CSB)

We can see the importance of this ninth commandment come into play here. How tragic it would be for a person to be punished because of the false testimony of one person? 

While the emphasis of this commandment seems to be on one who gives false testimony against another, the act of lying is at the heart of the matter. The best way to interpret something like this is to understand the heart and intent of the matter. For this reason, today, we will focus on the sin of lying. 

The Leo Burnett advertising agency did a nationwide telephone survey in the late 1990s on lying^[1]James Emery White, You Can Experience an Authentic Life (Nashville: Word Publishing, 2000), 121-122.. The results were interesting:

• 91% of all Americans confessed that they regularly lied.

• 20% admitted they couldn’t get through one day without going along with a previously manufactured lie.

• Most intriguing result of the study: people no longer care about lying. Almost half of all Americans surveyed said that there was nothing wrong with lying.

Lying is a big problem in our society today.

What is a lie?

If you were to Google the definition of lying, it would come up as “not telling the truth.” Dictionary.com defines lying as “a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth; a falsehood.” 

It seems like such an easy thing to define and notice, but yet still so many people are involved and confused about lying.

“Sin has many tools, but a lie is the handle that fits them all.”

Oliver Wendell Holmes

Types of Lies

1) Slander

This is a lie that is created and spread with the deliberate intent to do someone harm. Slander is something that attacks a person’s name and reputation by purposefully spreading false information. Most people would easily identify this as a lie. Slander is the doorway that leads to gossip, and the Bible condemns gossip over and over.

2) Talebearing

This is where one repeats a report about a person without careful investigation. If slander is where gossip is birthed, talebearing is where gossip grows. You feed it and help falsehoods to grow into monsters that destroy people.

Jesus told us that we should go to a person, first of all, to find out the truth. Even if something you hear is true, and even if you go to the person and verify that it is true, that doesn’t mean that you should go around sharing it… even as a “prayer request.”

3) Inappropriate silence

This is when a person hears a false statement about someone and not speaking up to correct it. You may hear something said that you know is not true, but because you are worried about your reputation or what people might think, you remain silent.

We, as Christians, have lost many privileges as believers in this country because people would not speak up for the truth:

• Prayer in schools = In 1962, the Supreme Court majority ruled that prayer in the public school systems of our country violated the First Amendment establishment clause. For the most part, the church was silent and thought that it would never happen.

• Abortion = Roe v. Wade (1973) saw the legalization of abortion for any reason in our country. Sadly, many Christian leaders were either silent or actually supported the decision at the time^[2]http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/evangelical-history/evangelicals-really-silent-roe-v-wade/. Once again, many thought “this won’t happen here, why should I speak up?”

The Origin of Lies

When we look for the source of lies, the Bible gives us a clear picture of where it all comes from.

You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.

John 8:44 (CSB)

Every lie, great or small in our eyes, has its origin in Satan.

“Ananias,” Peter asked, “why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the proceeds of the land? Wasn’t it yours while you possessed it? And after it was sold, wasn’t it at your disposal? Why is it that you planned this thing in your heart? You have not lied to people but to God.”

Acts 5:3-4 (CSB)

Satan had planted the lie within the mind of Ananias and Sapphira to lie about what they received for some land that they had sold. That is what Satan does. He plants lies in our minds to get us away from where God desires us to be.

What Can We Do About It?

We can see that lying goes against what God wants and that every lie is a tool of Satan, so what do we do about it?

Jesus responded, “Truly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. A slave does not remain in the household forever, but a son does remain forever. So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.”

John 8:34-36 (CSB)

Lying is a sin because it goes against what God intends. When a lie comes into our lives, it enslaves us. Think about it… a student lies to his or her parents about not having any homework, then the next day when it is due, the student lies to the teacher with some quick excuse. This cycle repeats itself and then the dreaded report card comes out. The parents ask about the report card and the student then changes the grade or says that it is coming out soon. Lies call for us to keeping building or rather digging ourselves deeper into their debt.

One of God’s desires for our lives is for us to live in freedom: free from the bondage that sin chains us to. That was the whole point of the cross.

Jesus said that if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed. To remove the chains that our lies place on us, we must embrace and live in truth. Jesus is the Truth (John 14:6; 8:32).

When Christ sets us free, He sets us free to go and live a different life from the one that He saved us from. In John 8:2-11, we are told about a woman that was caught in adultery. She was found guilty and due to be executed according to the Law. Jesus told the mob that the one without sin should cast the first stone. The mob quickly withdrew leaving the guilty woman before Jesus. Jesus tells her that He does not condemn her, but that she must go and change.

Conclusion

As you examine your heart today, ask this of God: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way” (Psalm 139:23-24).

As God reveals to you ways in which you may be enslaved to the sin of lying, confess those to Him, accept the forgiveness He offers. You may need to go to someone and ask their forgiveness for the lies that you may have been telling about them.