“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.” [Exodus 20:16]
Here we find a disagreement between Bible scholars and many believers, some maintain that the command covers all lies, whilst others hold to the strictly literal reading, that it is about false or malicious gossip about someone. So basically we have two schools of thought, that Commandment nine covers all lies (statements that are untrue) or statements that are made maliciously against a fellow being. The way the commandment is written, and assuming that is the way He wrote it, the command is certainly qualified as a legalistic command, almost specifically referring to perjury or spreading malicious gossip about someone. Those that consider the command to cover all untruths, they quote Jesus' statement that He is the way, truth and the light [John 4:6], and hold to everything needing to be truth because that protects our relationship with God. Always speaking the truth allows us to abide with God [Psalm 15:1-2], that speaking the truth also shows love and respect for our fellow man [Ephesians 4:15], whilst any kind of lie causes separation and distrust. The Old Testament gives us several definitions, faithful witnesses do not lie, but a false one breathes lies [Proverbs 14:5] but one who speaks lies is deceitful [Proverbs 14:25] and a false witness utters deceit [Proverbs 12:17]. The judicial system of the Old Testament had a very different way of dealing with false witnesses than we have today, if someone offered false witness, and was found out, the witness would suffer the same fate as the accused [Deuteronomy 19:15-2]. "Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Because you have uttered falsehood and seen lying visions, therefore behold, I am against you, declares the Lord God " [Ezekiel 13:8].
We are told by scripture that Satan is the father of liars [John 8:44], but God neither being an Angel or human cannot lie [Numbers 23:19]. So God's nature is truth and because Satan rules this world, man's nature is deceit, lies and corruption; so those who deny Jesus as the Christ, also denies the Father, and those who profess the Son also has the Father [1 John 2:22-23]. Here then is what Jesus talks about when He says He is the truth. When people deny that Jesus is Lord, the Christ, they lie because they know in their hearts that Jesus is Lord. He says that we are lying if we say we know Christ but fail to keep His commandments [1 John 2:4]. Neither can we say we love God, who we cannot see, and fails to love his brother who he can see [1 John 4:20]. If then we confess we love God, but break His laws and commands, we show that we hate God and can lie not only with our voice but also with our actions. God hates ungodliness and unrighteousness and will show His wrath against those who suppress the truth [Romans 1:18]. One example of this will now doubt be the suppression of truth that has surrounded God's creation in the lie that is evolution, one lie that has diverted so many millions from the truth. This can b seen in the same chapter of Romans where the prophesy about men was true of the first century as much as it is now, that they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator [Romans 1:24-25]. Evolution is such a good case in point, because those who suppress the truth about creation suppress the truth to avoid admitting they are wrong (pride), seeming believing that it is easier to live the lie than live God's way. By denying God and and supporting they lie they become slaves of Satan and sin.
Please note that so far the sin of lying has related to those things of God, and about relationships between both man and God. Man's nature is, however is, fallen and therefore lies come naturally to him, directly from the womb at birth [Psalm 58:3]. In fact even before birth we are sinners and rebels [Isaiah 48:8]. Although we are a fallen, sinful people we do have Jesus' promise of salvation through repentance, Jesus knew this and provided for us and our salvation otherwise none would enter His kingdom as all of us have sinned [Romans 3:23]. So let's us look a little closer of what lies actually are. Think about what lies you have told during your life, what were the results of these lies? (good or bad).
The very useful Wikipedia defines lies in a very clear way:
A lie is a statement used intentionally for the purpose of deception. . . Lies may be employed to serve a variety of instrumental, interpersonal, or psychological functions for the individuals who use them. Generally, the term "lie" carries a negative connotation, and depending on the context a person who communicates a lie may be subject to social, legal, religious, or criminal sanctions.
How do we understand this, are all lies negative?
Today we seem to be surrounded by lies, from cover-up stories to deformation, fake news, exaggeration (stretching the truth), fraud, half-truths (the most effective), honest lies (where the person does not realise it is a lie), Jocose lies (lies meant in jest), and even parables. Parables are stories that are untrue (lies) but help to illustrate a point, and of course Jesus told many parables, forty-six to be precise. Some say that Jesus merely related stories of things that had actually happened, but Jesus; the human, was not 'all-knowing', he had the same ability to use the Spirit as we have. Some of Jesus' parables were actually jokes, or humorous stories, but they were all untrue, made up to make a point. Jesus’ parables were often surprising and paradoxical. Many Biblical experts claim that the parables appear in the three synoptic gospels only (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), however if we look closely at John's Gospel we can see another. The trilogy of the sheep, gate, and shepherd, that appears in John 10 can also be seen as a parable that would speak to a farming community of shepherds [Matthew 18:12-14]. Of course Jesus' parables are regarded as 'allegorical hermeneutic' but fictional stories all the same. So we can conclude that not all untruths are negative. Jesus also needed to be careful what He said in public, the authorities and Sanhedrin were continually attempting to trap Him [Matthew 16:1-4; Mark 14:55-59; Mark 8:11-12 ; Matthew 19:3-9; Matthew 22:15-22; Mark 12:13-17], so Jesus needed to be careful as to what He verbalised, much was then in allegory. We must however, hold to the fact that all scripture is ordained by God and useful for teaching [2 Timothy 3:16], so even if the Parables are untruths, God obviously approved by Him.
We are commanded to be as wise as serpents and innocent as doves [Matthew 10:16]. What a great combination this is the wisdom of the serpent is pure cunning and the harmlessness of the dove is little better than weakness, but together the protect from danger whilst doing no harm. God Himself uses deceptions to achieve His purpose from time to time. A dear friend of mine, now passed on, was a high profile Christian rock-band leader, some years ago they were allowed to do a restricted tour of the USSR and took the opportunity to 'smuggle' hundreds of Bibles into Russia in their bus. They were stopped at the border, as expected, so that the bus could be searched, it was obvious that there were packing cases in the bus, but God blinded the border guard to them. Instead, God organised a diversion, by way of another vehicle crashing through the border into the west at exactly the right time; the bus was waved on into the USSR. The Dutch Christian lady, Corrie Ten Boom, whom we have all read about was released, by a deception. Corrie was miraculously released from prison due to a “clerical error.” and a week after her release, all of the female prisoners from her age group were killed. The clerical error was undoubtedly instigated by God through the feeble mind of a human-being. Try to think and discuss (where possible) of other examples of God manipulating reality for the good. It has to be said that Christian theologians are divided as to whether it is permissible to tell direct lies. Purists like Saint Augustine believed it was never justified for Christians to lie, others like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who spent many years in a Nazi prison cell, believed that it is permissible under certain circumstances. Bonhoeffer actually believed that lying was "morally mandated" in deceiving the enemy, especially the physical enemy of the Third Reich.
Although the Bible never condones lying for lying's sake, it does condone lying in order to preserve a higher moral imperative. For example, Rahab purposed to deceive (the lesser moral law) in order to preserve the lives of two Jewish spies (the higher moral law). Likewise, a Christian father today should not hesitate to lie in order to protect his wife and daughters from the imminent threat of rape or murder [Josh. 2:5]. Rahab knowingly lied. Does her lying provide us with biblical justification for lying? (discuss).