Author	Thread: The Ninth Commandment
sskookum View Profile History	The Ninth Commandment Posted : 12 May, 2011 04:39 PM You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour. What does this mean to you? Post Reply
sskookum View Profile History	The Ninth Commandment Posted : 12 May, 2011 05:34 PM I was looking through the 10 commandments because I wanted to find out what it says about lying. During some of my Bible readings, I have found different times where a few of God's biggest followers would lie to like deceive their enemy and in other situations too. I know that when I was growing up, I learned that lying is a bad thing. The ninth commandment looks like the one that would be closest to that, but really doesn't say "Thou shalt not lie." If it does mean that or something to that affect, then why does God bless figures in the Bible after they deceive? Maybe part of the answer that I am looking for might lay towards good and evil, true believers and non, the righteous and the non-righteous, those who will do God's work and those who won't or don't? Does that sound about right? Post Reply
View Profile History	The Ninth Commandment Posted : 12 May, 2011 05:49 PM Great observations! I would say those great followers who lied were all men of "Faith" meaning they had relationship with God through Grace and not the Law. The covenant of Grace had not yet be revealed to the world, however it was revealed in a limited form to some such as Abraham and David. Under the Law a person does good and gets good, does bad and gets bad. Under Grace what a person gets is not soley dependent on the persons actions, rather it is dependent on God's unmerited favor, what is best for us and the larger plan of God. The fact that great men of the Bible lied is not a approval of lying, rather it is a honest representation of their humanity and how God interacted with them according to His Grace. Post Reply
View Profile History	The Ninth Commandment Posted : 12 May, 2011 05:50 PM To bear false witness AGAINST your neighbor is the point. So, Yes, there are times, rare, but still they happen, where lying is the righteous thing to do. the most common illustration is the Nazi coming to your door in Germany and asking you if you have seen any Jews, while you have three Jews hiding in your basement. Do you tell the Nazi the truth, knowing what will happen to the Jews in your home if the Nazi finds out they are there? No. You give the truth to whom the truth is due. The idea of the command is not to lie AGAINST your nieghbor. If you lie in court to a jury so that your neighbor will be hurt and it will be your gain, then you have broken the command outwardly and inwardly. If you Lie to a Nazi, to save the lives of your neighbor, you have "loved your neighbor as yourself" and that would be the loving thing to do. In Christ, James Post Reply
View Profile History	The Ninth Commandment Posted : 12 May, 2011 07:15 PM Maybe it's just me, but I can't see where telling a lie would ever be the righteous thing to do,james. (Even if it was the Nazi scenario you gave.) Post Reply
sskookum View Profile History	The Ninth Commandment Posted : 12 May, 2011 08:30 PM Thanks Twosparrows! At SirJames-I see what you are saying and at first glance that is what I would perceive to do. When I think of the word "neighbor", isn't that kind of the way we are supposed to treat all people, even our enemies? So all people would be considered neighbors? How do we know that it is in God's plan to lie to the Nazi's? Do we determine God's will by having our faith in Him, to know that that is the right thing to do? The timing of the Nazi's were of course after Jesus was on the earth so that kind of leads me to think that we are supposed to emmulate ourselves to be more like Jesus. Jesus loved everyone, even his enemies. God takes everyone when it is their time. How do we as humans help make that kind of decision to know that it is a part of God's plan? Post Reply
View Profile History	The Ninth Commandment Posted : 13 May, 2011 04:27 AM Hello brothers, God clearly said that no one of liears will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven! It means we are forbidden by God to lie! Liars will NEVER get to the Kingodm of Heaven. So, if you do it then stop doing it, repent of your sins, confess it to God Jesus and live a holy life! Let's read about it: Revelation 21 All Things Made New 1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John,[a] saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, �Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.� 5 Then He who sat on the throne said, �Behold, I make all things new.� And He said to me,[b] �Write, for these words are true and faithful.� 6 And He said to me, �It is done![c] I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things,[d] and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 8 But the cowardly, unbelieving,[e] 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.� Post Reply
sskookum View Profile History	The Ninth Commandment Posted : 13 May, 2011 04:26 PM Thanks Bahira:) That pretty much clears it up for me, for the time being anyway. Post Reply