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Ephesians 4:25
“Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.”
Bearing false witness against our neighbors breaks the ninth commandment and serves as an attack against our God’s holy character, for He is truth itself (Ex. 20:16; Prov. 6:16–19; John 14:6). As we finish up our look at the ninth commandment today, we should briefly note that this law does not necessarily forbid everything that falls under the broad category of deception. Remember that the original context is legal testimony, so the core idea is not to speak or act falsely in a way designed to harm an innocent person. There are occasions when something that might be broadly characterized as deceit does not violate the ninth commandment. For example, in planning a surprise birthday party, one might have to deceive the birthday boy or girl temporarily in order to pull off the surprise. Many fun games involve elements of what we might call deceit. The ninth commandment hardly forbids either of these kinds of deceptions. In other words, all false witness involves deception, but not all deception involves false witness. On a more serious note, there are cases in which refusing to engage in any deceit might harm an innocent person. Someone who is seeking to hurt another unjustly has moved from being a neighbor to being an enemy, and while we are called to bless our enemies, we are not called to give them everything they want, especially when they seek harm. We may rarely face those who seek to use the truth only to do evil, but as Dr. R.C. Sproul often noted, Scripture does seem to approve of withholding the truth when doing so is required to save innocent lives (Ex. 1:15–21; Josh. 2; Heb. 11:31).
Refusing to bear false witness, ultimately, is for the purpose of glorifying God and doing good to our neighbors. Christians must have a bias toward telling and promoting the truth. To keep the ninth commandment, we see in today’s passage, we must not only put away falsehood but also take the positive step of speaking the truth to our neighbors, particularly our neighbors in the church (Eph. 4:25). When we do this, we will stand out as shining lights in our world, for many people have no trouble deceiving their neighbors in order to get ahead, commit sin, or protect themselves when they have done wrong. Believers are to be truth-telling people who turn from lying and speak well of others as much as possible. May we always aim to say and do what is true, for to lie to fellow believers is to harm the body of Christ.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
There are many ways that we can fulfill the ninth commandment’s exhortation to speak the truth. In addition to speaking only true words, we can also seek to actively build up the reputation of others in the body of Christ. It is especially good to speak well of our church leaders without being asked to do so. As we do this, we promote the unity of the church and make it easier for our pastors, elders, deacons, and other ministry leaders to do their jobs effectively.
For Further Study
- Proverbs 12:19
- Malachi 3:5
- Ephesians 4:15–16
- 1 John 3:18