Put Away Lying

 

 

If someone were to ask you what is the universal vice of the pagan world, what would you say? Would you answer, "Lust"?

How about "Pride"? What about "Unbelief"?

According to many of the Bible commentaries, "Lying" is the universal vice among the heathen world. In fact, in our world today, a profitable lie is considered to be better than a hurtful truth.

 

 

A distinguished jurist who spent much time in India remarked that he would not believe a Hindu under oath. Many missionaries attested to this same deceitful characteristic of the heathen worldwide. No confidence can be placed in their statements. At the first opportunity, the pagan will tell a lie.

 

Truth has always been disregarded even among some of the renowned pagans who taught that a lie was to be preferred before the Truth.

 

Meander once said - "A lie is better than a hurtful truth."

Proclus said - "Good is better than Truth."

Darius in Heroditus said - "When telling a lie will be profitable, let it be told."

Plato said - "He may lie who knows how to do it in a suitable time."

Maximus Tyrius said - "There is nothing decorous in Truth but when it is profitable, yea, sometimes Truth is hurtful, and lying is profitable to men."

 

In describing the wicked man, the Bible always includes deceit as one of his main characteristics.

 

King David said of the wicked in Psalm 36:3 - "The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit..."

In Psalm 50:19, Asaph said of the wicked - "...thy tongue frameth deceit."

In Psalm 52:3, David again said - "Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness."

In Psalm 58:3, he said - "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies."

In Proverbs 10:18, Solomon mentioned those who hid hatred with lying lips.
Again, in Proverbs 26:24, he said of those who hated others - "...dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up deceit within him."

1 Timothy 4:2 - Lastly, the Apostle Paul described the Last Days' people as those who would be "Speaking lies in hypocrisy..." 

 

On the other hand, the Scriptures tell us that the righteous man hates lying.

 

In Psalm 119:163, the Psalmist said - "I hate and abhor lying..."

In Psalm 119:29, he earnestly cried out to God - "Remove from me the way of lying..."

In Proverbs 13:5, Solomon outrightly declared - "A righteous man hateth lying..."

Isaiah 63:8 - The Prophet Isaiah openly declared - "For He said, Surely they are My people, children that will not lie: so He was their Saviour."

Zephaniah 3:13 - The Prophet Zephaniah described God's Holy People as - "The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth..."

 

Therefore, we see from these Scriptures that a child of God

will not lie,

hates lying,

and will avoid lying at all costs.

 

However, the following story unfortunately seems to depict the opposite reaction to lying of many Christians nowadays - 

 

"A little boy asked his mother, 'Mommy, what is a lie?' His mother answered by saying, 'Son, a lie is an abomination unto the Lord...but a very present help in time of need!' " - Golden Nugget 
      

How can this be?

 

How can children - begotten of God - speak deliberate falsehoods just like the wicked, without any sense of remorse, guilt, or shame?

Is their "conscience seared with a hot iron"(1 Timothy 4:2) whereby they feel no conviction from the Holy Spirit - the Spirit of Truth?

 

Possibly!

 

Or perhaps many are still influenced by the world's ungodly philosophies rather than heeding Paul's admonition to all saints -

 

Colossians 2:8 - "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." 
       

Paul addressed the churches of Colosse and Ephesus who were still under the influence of worldly philosophies and not the dictates of the Bible. He called for a total renewing of their minds when he said -

 

Colossians 3:9 - "Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds."
Ephesians 4:25 - "Wherefore putting away lying, SPEAK EVERY MAN TRUTH WITH HIS NEIGHBOR..."

 

As Christians, we are not to deceive others by falsehood.

We are to speak the Truth in all of our dealings.

We are to "put off," put aside, put away, or cast off any conscious or intentional falsehoods.

We are never to deal falsely, be untrue, be found a liar, or act deceitfully.

 

In business, we are not to conceal the defects of a product or give it more value than it is worth.

In every day encounters, we are not to pretend sickness when we are not sick, instruct others to say that we are not home when we are home, or feign busyness when we are not busy.

In conversations with others, we are not to exaggerate our accounts or happenings to impress others, place the blame on others when we are indeed the guilty party, or circulate flying rumors as undoubted Truth without investigating them.

 

We are not to -

...make promises that we never intend to keep

...persuade others that a thing is different from what it really is

...tell only part of the Truth, holding back the other part because it may make us look bad in the eyes of others

 

We must dread every word that looks like a lie.

 

Because Lying makes us like the devil.

 

In fact, a man by the name of Frank Gabelein once stated - "There is no form of sin in which we act more satanically than when we indulge in a lie."

 

How about you?

Have you been swayed by this world's philosophies that say that "A lie is better than a hurtful Truth"?

Have you bought the lie that says - "...sometimes Truth is hurtful, and lying is profitable to men"?

Do you lie to make yourself look good in the eyes of others?

Have you ever lied in order to get out of trouble?

Are you aware of the Scripture in Revelation 21:8 that says - "...all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death"?

 

All Liars go to HELL.

 

The wicked delight in lies. Therefore, the wicked are going to Hell unless they Repent.

 

Ephesians 4:25 - Righteous men hate lying. They "put off" the old man with his deceitful ways and "SPEAK EVERY MAN TRUTH WITH HIS NEIGHBOR."

 

Do you find yourself in the category of the wicked or the righteous today?

Are you on the Broad Road that leads to Hell or on the Narrow Way that leads to Heaven?

Do you speak deliberate falsehoods or have you put away lying and deceit in your life?

 

May the Holy Spirit convict us of any lying, and may we lay hold of the Grace of God and turn from this wicked Sin before we end up in Hell for all eternity.

 

Romans 2:11 warns us - "For there is no respect of persons with God."