False Witness

Exodus 20:16 New “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

Continuing through this short topical Bible Study of the Ten Commandments, the lesson points out that Jesus was famously asked to summarize the law of God by giving the greatest commandment. He replied that the great, or central commandment is that we love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, and mind, but He did not stop there. He added that there is another essential statute around which the whole law is based – that we love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:34-40). The Ninth commandment, which prohibits bearing false witness against our neighbor, fleshes our what it means to love our neighbor. One may say that will not lie about or bear false witness against my neighbor because it is against God’s Law in the Ninth Commandment, but if you truly love God and love your neighbor then God’s Law is written upon your heart and it is not in your nature to tell a lie; it is not in you to let them down or hurt them.

Deuteronomy 5:20 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

In the first instance, the ninth commandment has to deal with legal testimony. Bearing false witness to a crime by accusing an innocent person of a criminal act can cause great harm to the accused, and the Lord would have us do all we can to make sure we do not harm innocent people. Our Creator takes the truth seriously for His Word is truth itself (John 17:17). The commandment against bearing false witness has application beyond legal settings, however. It has implications for the truthfulness of our speech in general, with particular importance for issues such as gossip and slander, unfairly causing people to question the character and reputation of others. None of us are innocent with respect to the ninth commandment. Psalm 116:11 “All men are liars.”

Proverbs 12:22 “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are His delight.”

What is the purpose of these holy Ten Commandments when we see that we fail them all the time? Our Wednesday evening Small Group Bible Study has been going through a series of pastor, author and conference speaker Louie Giglio videos lately. Based on Ephesians 2:1-2 “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience”, Giglio states the reality that sin doesn’t make us sin-sick; sin makes us “dead”. Jesus makes dead people alive. Our testimony is not about what I do. I was dead in my trespasses and sins, and could not help myself. But, Jesus brought me from death to life. Christ died for you and me. The Ten Commandments drive us to Christ, the blessed Redeemer, our Savior and Lord. No lie.