The Truth About Lying

Lying lips are abomination to the Lord,

but those that deal truly

are his delight.  (Proverbs 12:22)

Ninth commandment.  Thou shalt not bear false witness.  What is the first thing Satan did in the Garden of Eden?  He lied to Eve!  And the woman said unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the garden: but the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.  Satans’ reply?  And the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die.  (Clearly disputing Gods’ word, and in effect, suggesting God to be a liar).  How did Eve respond to Satans’ lies?  She foolishly believed him and ate of the forbidden tree.  Then offered the fruit to Adam her husband who ate it also.  The result?  Through their willful disobedience to God, sin entered into the world, bringing with it the curse of death upon all men.  Wherefore, as by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned.  So death came to Adam and Eve just like God said it would.  God never lies.  That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.

But the lie in the Garden of Eden was just the beginning of lies down the ages.  One lie usually begets another.  Upon Gods’ discovery of Adam and Eve’s disobedience, he questioned them about what they did.  Neither accepted responsibility which would have been the honest thing to do.  Instead they passed blame.  Eve blamed her action on the serpent.  Adam blamed his participation on Eve, but in truth, both were drawn away by their own lust for the forbidden fruit.  Satan didn’t force Eve to eat of the tree, and Eve did not force Adam.  With their vain excuses, both of them lied to God.  (A dangerous thing to do).  But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust (desires, and enticed.  Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; when it is finished bringeth forth death.

While Adam and Eve were the first earthly victims of Satans’ lies, I suspect this was not the first time Satan lied.  When Satan was thrown out of heaven he took a third of the angels with him.  Now what lies do you suppose Satan told them to get them to leave their heavenly home to follow him?  After all, who in their right undeceived mind would believe and follow him?  Since Satan is a counterfeit imitator of Christ, wouldn’t you think he probably promised them paradise if they would follow him?  (Knowing our weakness , he always appeals to our own self-interest and pleasure).  For sure he wouldn’t have wanted the deceived angels to know they would be joining him in the everlasting fires of Hell! 

Whatever he told them it wasn’t the truth for there is no truth in him!  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  Satan is the father of lies which means he gave birth to them.  When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.  We know that lies are not of God for God is holy and cannot lie.  So Satan, the angel of light who can appear good and even truthful when it’s to his evil advantage to do so, created the art of lying in its multitude of forms.  Satan has been lying and leading others to lie since the beginning of time.  It is a major tool he uses to cause pain and destruction.

Besides the fall of Adam and Eve, lets now look at some of the other damage caused as a result of lies.  Cain in a jealous rage killed his brother Abel, then lied to his mother about what happened.  Can you imagine how distraught his mother must have been to lose a beloved son, and then to find out her other son killed him, and to add to the injury, lied about it.  And what about Joseph?  His brothers too were jealous of him and in an effort to get rid of him, sold him into slavery, then lied to the father about what happened.  so for many years a father grieved over a dead son that was still very much alive.  And what about Peter who lied when denied he ever knew Christ?  How that must have hurt him.  And last, heaven forbid that we should ever forget that it was lies that helped nail Jesus to Calvary’s cross.

You could say well that happened a long time ago and has nothing to do with this day and age, or with me.  Oh, but you’re wrong!  The heartbreak caused by lies continues every day of our life.  Today without a doubt somewhere there’s a man in prison who shouldn’t be there but is because someone lied about him.  Somewhere there’s an honorable politician who didn’t get elected to office because his opponent spread lies about him.  Somewhere there’s a young girl whose boyfriend in an effort to get something he wanted, told her he loved her, and believing his lies, she gave in, only to be dumped a short time later leaving her with a broken heart and hating herself.

 Somewhere there’s a family torn apart because a brother or sister has lied about one or the other.  Somewhere there’s a church having difficulty because of lies someone has told about the church or its pastor.  Somewhere there’s a husband or wife who is hurting because they just discovered their spouse has been lying to them.  Someone there’s a little child crying because an absent parent promised to come by and get them only to not show up.  These are but a few of only God knows how many examples of the harm and pain caused by a lie.

It’s no wonder God in scripture so often speaks of lying in such strong terms saying it is an abomination to Him.  Abomination means something that is detestable, foul, hateful, horrible, loathsome, repugnant, revolting, vile, despised.  God hates it because he hears and  sees the tears of those who’ve been hurt.  Not only this, God hates it because it is a complete contradiction of who He is, holy and true, and how He wants His children to be.

Christians and Non-Christians both are guilty of this God hated deed.  Christians know better and in disobedience choose to do it anyway.  Others blinded by Satan , are somewhat unaware of the depth of the sin of lying, having been convinced and deceived by Satan to feel and believe that lying is of no great consequence, and having no negative consequences.  (Only the father of lies could convince someone of this!) 

But what Christians and Non-Christians fail to take serious, is something, that God is very serious about.  Forgetting and ignoring that God shall not be mocked, suddenly they find themselves in a world of hurt and trouble.  They find out the hard way that God says what he means and means what he says when he says:

  Behold he travileth with iniquity and conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.  He made a pit, and digged it and is fallen in the ditch he made.  His own mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall down on his own pate. (Ps7:14:16)  A fools mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul. (Ps18:7)  The wicked are snared by the transgression of his lips: but the just shall come out of trouble. (Proverbs 12:13)

The lips of truth shall be established forever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment. (Proverbs 12:19)  A false witness shall not go unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape. (Proverbs 19:5) Bread of deceit is sweet to a man, but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel. (Proverbs 20:17)

These are very sobering, even frightening words aren’t they?  Surely God meant for them to be so that we would think hard before we utter a lie.  Through these warnings, God in his love, is trying to protect us from the consequences of our actions.  The devil is hard at work today convincing people that lying is no big deal.  They will get by with it.  And have nothing to fear.  He is lying!  He is lying!  The truth about lying?  Lying is really, really bad.  It will get you into serious trouble sooner or later.  God hates it.  You should hate it too.  Its best to avoid it at all costs for the cost can break your heart and ruin your life, and has eternal consequences.  Nothing in this passing world is worth it.  Deal truly and God will bless you for it.

By Nancye Sims

Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? 

Who shall dwell in they holy hill?

He that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness,

and speaketh truth in his heart.

Psalms 15:12

The author, Nancye Sims, may be contacted at  .