The Ninth Commandment
*The following post was originally written as a meditation for our Confession of Sin during Lord’s Day worship.
Confession of Sin
Acknowledging our guilt; resting in His grace.
The Ninth Commandment:
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:16)
We often abbreviate this commandment by saying, “You shall not lie.”
While this abbreviation does maintain the true sense of the command, it tends to result in an oversimplification of what lying really means in God’s eyes.
In the eyes of God, a lie is more than simply the absence of truth. Even truth can be used to tell lies when it is manipulated for a deceitful purpose. The fundamental nature of a lie is the intention to deceive.
At the heart of this commandment is a call to use God’s gift of communication for holy purposes. To do otherwise—no matter what the manner, measure, or mode—is a violation of God’s holy law.
The sin of deception is a pervasive evil. We find its presence in every stage of life, every class of society, and in every sinner’s heart.
Even from an early age, little children learn the art of bending and contorting the truth in the pursuit of the desires of their heart. By the time they reach adulthood, young apprentices have become skilled masters.
In the following, we will survey some of the various forms this sin often takes in our lives.
But first, remember that the Law of God has been given to lead us to Jesus for our salvation.
The law is not a ladder for us to try to climb in our own strength in order to earn our way to God. Instead, it is a spotlight meant to shine the light of God’s holiness into the mess of our lives, showing us the true condition of our hearts and our need for a Savior.
I encourage you to posture your heart humbly before the Word of God this morning, and to join me in asking God to grant us the grace of genuine repentance.
We are guilty of bearing false witness when: We Exchange the Truth For A Lie
We Exchange the Truth For A Lie By:
Overstating Our Qualities (Bearing false witness about yourself to give an untrue impression)
Flattery (Bearing false witness about another to convince them to give you something you want)
Slander (Bearing false witness about another in order to take or keep something from them)
Lying To Win/Maintain Approval (Bearing false witness to avoid being disliked)
Lying To Hide Our Sin (Bearing false witness to avoid getting caught)
Hiding Another’s Sin (Providing false evidence or an alibi to cover another’s wrong)
We are guilty of bearing false witness when: We Pervert the Truth
We Pervert the Truth By:
Exaggeration (Stretching the truth to obtain a greater response)
Misrepresentation (Telling only part of the truth to control the perception)
Misleading (Being intentionally vague to limit others’ awareness)
We are guilty of bearing false witness when: We Hijack the Truth
We Hijack the Truth By:
Gossiping (Telling truth that is not ours to tell)
Withholding Information (Keeping truth that is not ours to keep)
Controlling the Narrative (Abusing position, influence, and/or authority to control the meaning assigned to a set of facts)
We are guilty of bearing false witness when: We Conceal the Truth
Yes, even our silence can be a lie in the sight of God. Remaining silent when we have a moral obligation to speak is bearing false witness by willfully allowing untruth to prevail.
We Conceal the Truth By:
Silence For Selfish Convenience (Knowingly allowing another to suffer harm for fear of the cost of defending them)
Silence For Selfish Revenge (Knowingly allowing another to suffer harm on the basis of a personal grudge)
Withholding Evidence (Knowingly withholding pertinent information that pertains to the due course of justice)
Silence In Reproving Our Brother (Failure to love our brother by lovingly speaking the truth we know he needs to hear for his good)
Silence In the Evangelization of the Lost (Failure to love our brother by earnestly testifying to the truth of his need for Christ)
May our gracious Father help us recognize how quickly each of our own hearts turn to these sinful ways whenever the pressures of desire or circumstance encroach upon our lives.
Let us thank God for the light of his truth that shines and exposes the darkness of our hearts, and let us bring our many sins to Jesus who promises to forgive and cleanse all who come to him in repentance and faith.
We invite you to privately confess your sins before the Lord now. — (A TIME OF SILENT CONFESSION)
Assurance of God’s Forgiveness
“Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” (Micah 7:18-19)