Exodus 20:16; Proverbs 14:5; Exodus 23:1-3; Proverbs 19:5; Proverbs 19:9; Proverbs 25:18;

Exodus 20:16 ¹⁶"You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

The ninth commandment tells us not to be a false witness.

Proverbs 14:5 ⁵A truthful witness will not lie, but a false witness pours out lies.

Exodus 23:1-3 ¹"You shall not spread a false report. Don't join your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness. ²"You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; neither shall you testify in court to side with a multitude to pervert justice; ³neither shall you favor a poor man in his cause.

We are commanded to not spread lies. We are also commaded to not falsely testify, just because everyone else is doing it. That is no excuse for lying.

Proverbs 19:5 ⁵A false witness shall not be unpunished. He who pours out lies shall not go free.

Proverbs 19:9 ⁹A false witness shall not be unpunished. He who utters lies shall perish.

Proverbs 25:18 ¹⁸A man who gives false testimony against his neighbor is like a club, a sword, or a sharp arrow.

Deuteronomy 19:15-21;

Deuteronomy 19:15-21 ¹⁵One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sins: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established. ¹⁶If an unrighteous witness rise up against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, ¹⁷then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before Yahweh, before the priests and the judges who shall be in those days; ¹⁸ and the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness is a false witness, and has testified falsely against his brother; ¹⁹then you shall do to him as he had thought to do to his brother: so you shall put away the evil from the midst of you. ²⁰Those who remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil in the midst of you. ²¹Your eyes shall not pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

The punishment depends on the severity of the lie. If you lie about stealing, then you pay back what you intended to get, including the extra penalty one must pay if caught stealing. If you lie in a murder case, you would be put to death.

John 8:1-59; Genesis 3:1-6; Revelation 12:9

John 8:1-59 ⁴²Therefore Jesus said to them, "If God were your father, you would love me, for I came out and have come from God. For I haven't come of myself, but he sent me. ⁴³Why don't you understand my speech? Because you can't hear my word. ⁴⁴You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn't stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and its father. ⁴⁵But because I tell the truth, you don't believe me. ⁴⁶Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? ⁴⁷He who is of God hears the words of God. For this cause you don't hear, because you are not of God."

We see that Satan the Devil is the author of lying. Could God make it impossible to lie? I saw a movie once where a boy wished his lawyer father could not lie for a day. And his wish was granted and no matter how hard this lawyer tried he could not lie. He would try to state a lie, but the truth would come out instead. You know, that is possible for God. He could have made it where no matter what angels tried to say, it always came out the truth, but God chose to make angels and humans with the ability to lie if they so choose. I guess God wants us to learn for ourselves how horrible it is to lie and what bad consequences it brings upon us.

Genesis 3:1-6 ¹Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, "Has God really said, 'You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?'" ²The woman said to the serpent, "Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat, ³but of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" ⁴The serpent said to the woman, "You won't surely die, ⁵ for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." ⁶When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit, and ate; and she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate.

And there you have the first recorded lie in the history of mankind. Satan the Devil told Adam and Eve they would not die if they ate of the forbidden fruit. Adam and Eve believed Satan's lie and ate the fruit and they did die. This makes Satan a murderer. Jesus told the truth when he said that the Devil is a liar and a murderer from the beginning. And Satan didn't just lie to Adam and Eve.

Revelation 12:9 ⁹ The great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

Satan has lied to and deceived ALL of Mankind to believe that breaking God's law is a better way of life. And we have ALL believed that lie and because of that we have ALL sinned, except for one. One person out of all mankind did not believe the lies of Satan and NEVER broke God's law. That one person's name is Yahshua Messiah, also known as Jesus Christ and he never sinned. Not only did the Messiah not sin, but he also paid the penalty of sin for all of mankind. If he had not paid the penalty of sin for mankind, there would be NO resurrection. Didn't he even say, "I am the resurrection?" Can we see why he would make such a statement now?

Proverbs 6:16-19; Proverbs 12:17-22; John 4:21-24; John 1:14;

Proverbs 6:16-19 ¹⁶There are six things which Yahweh hates; yes, seven which are an abomination to him: ¹⁷haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood; ¹⁸a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are swift in running to mischief, ¹⁹a false witness who utters lies, and he who sows discord among brothers.

God does not think lying is a trivial matter. It is quite sad that traditional Christianity has a tradition of lying to children about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. How can parents expect children to trust them, when they lie to them? Lying is an abomination to God!

Proverbs 12:17-22 ¹⁷He who is truthful testifies honestly, but a false witness lies. ¹⁸There is one who speaks rashly like the piercing of a sword, but the tongue of the wise heals. ¹⁹Truth's lips will be established forever, but a lying tongue is only momentary. ²⁰Deceit is in the heart of those who plot evil, but joy comes to the promoters of peace. ²¹No mischief shall happen to the righteous, but the wicked shall be filled with evil. ²²Lying lips are an abomination to Yahweh, but those who do the truth are his delight.

Do we want to be God's delight or an abomination to him? I had a boss once that was on a conference call with a vendor and he lied to the vendor and said I went to some conference that I had not been to. This man was the owner of the company I worked for and if he said I was fired, then I was without a job, but I could not bear to hear him lie about me like that. I asked to meet with him as soon as the call was over. I told him point blank he should not be lying about things I had not done. He started telling me how all the vendors lie and he was just doing what they do and that everybody does it. I told him everybody doesn't do it, because I don't do it. I don't lie to you and I won't lie for you. I don't want you lying about me and if you do it in the future I'm going to tell them you are not telling the truth. If you want to lie that's your business, but I don't want to be a part of it. I asked that he Please not do that again. I was shaking a bit by this time and wondering if I would still have a job. He apologized to me and told me he would try not to involve me like that again. We as Christians should value the truth and stand up for it. That's what Jesus did and that's what he expects us to do.

John 4:21-24 ²¹Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour comes, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, will you worship the Father. ²²You worship that which you don't know. We worship that which we know; for salvation is from the Jews. ²³But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to be his worshippers. ²⁴God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."

John 1:14 ¹⁴The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jesus gave us the perfect example to follow.

Romans 13:8-10; Acts 5:1-42;

Romans 13:8-10 ⁸Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. ⁹For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not give false testimony," "You shall not covet," and whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." ¹⁰Love doesn't harm a neighbor. Love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.

Does this mean that New Testament, New Covenant Christians are no longer obligated to keep the law as some false ministers teach?

Acts 5:1-42 ¹But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira, his wife, sold a possession, ²and kept back part of the price, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. ³But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land? ⁴While you kept it, didn't it remain your own? After it was sold, wasn't it in your power? How is it that you have conceived this thing in your heart? You haven't lied to men, but to God." ⁵Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and died. Great fear came on all who heard these things. ⁶The young men arose and wrapped him up, and they carried him out and buried him. ⁷About three hours later, his wife, not knowing what had happened, came in. ⁸Peter answered her, "Tell me whether you sold the land for so much." She said, "Yes, for so much." ⁹But Peter asked her, "How is it that you have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out." ¹⁰She fell down immediately at his feet, and died. The young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her by her husband. ¹¹Great fear came on the whole assembly, and on all who heard these things.

The apostle Peter believed and taught, Christians must be obeying the commandments didn't he? Hard to believe that some false ministers teach that we just need to love our neighbors and don't have to worry about keeping the law. Even harder to believe is that some people are foolish enough to believe them. They are blind to the fact that the law shows us HOW to love our neighbor as ourselves and keeping the law IS showing love to our neighbor.

Revelation 21:5-8;

Revelation 21:5-8 ⁵He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." He said, "Write, for these words of God are faithful and true." ⁶He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give freely to him who is thirsty from the spring of the water of life. ⁷He who overcomes, I will give him these things. I will be his God, and he will be my son. ⁸ But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."

Liars will not be a part of God's Kingdom. As Christians we must always tell the truth.

Exodus 20:16; James 2:10-11; Romans 2:13; Hebrews 10:26-27; Revelation 21:5-8;

• If you don't tell the Truth, you don't keep the commandments.

Exodus 20:16 ¹⁶"You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

• If you are guilty of breaking one of the commandments, you are guilty of all.

James 2:10-11 ¹⁰For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. ¹¹For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not commit murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

• It is not the hearers of the law, but the doers of the law that are justified before God.

Romans 2:13 ¹³For it isn't the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified

• If we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for our sins.

Hebrews 10:26-27 ²⁶For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries.

• People who continue to be liars will not make it into God's Kingdom.

Revelation 21:8 ⁸But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."

There are false ministers out there teaching that Christians don't always have to tell the truth. They claim that there is such a thing as a white lie, that is fine for Christians to do on some occassions. They are ravenous wolves in sheeps clothing seeking whom they may devour. Brethren, don't YOU become one of their victims.