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Nothing but the Truth

Words of Faith Final

Nothing but the Truth
Words of Faith 12-23-2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2022
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Exodus 20
[16] "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

When we honor the truth, we love God with our whole being and love our neighbor as self. We also honor Jesus, who identified Himself as the Truth. Truth-telling is a mark of God's presence and light in our lives. It makes sense, then, that false testimony is a grievous offense to the person damaged, to the community, and to God.
The terminology here indicates the main focus is on formal slander and libel and is concerned primarily with testimony in a legal setting. But the ninth commandment also calls for the sanctity of truth in all areas of life, even though the vocabulary primarily reflects the legal process. The maintenance of justice has always been dependent on the reliability of the witness, but character assassination in any of its forms, legal or casual, constituted a false witness and would be a violation of this commandment.
This Scripture condemns all sorts of lies and falsehoods. A "lying tongue" is listed among the seven things that are detestable to the Lord ( Prov. 6:17). "A bad end will come to the devious liar. A scoundrel and villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth, who winks with his eye, signals with his feet and motions with his fingers, who plots evil with deceit in his heart-- he always stirs up dissension. Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant; he will suddenly be destroyed--without remedy" (Proverbs 6:12-15).
Jesus declared that the devil is the "father of lies" who speaks the language of lies. When we lie, we speak the devil's language and give honor to him (John 8:44). Yuck! Christian believers affirm that Jesus is the way, truth, and life. If Jesus dwells in us, then truth dwells in us. As part of the "new self," created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness, we put off falsehood and speak truthfully, for we are all members of one body" (Ephes. 4:24-25). Truth is about God and community.
The teaching of Jesus concerning testimony addressed an elaborate system of "oaths" that had come into use in first-century Judaism. A person might swear an oath or commitment "upon" heaven, the Temple, God's throne, or His footstool. A rabbi would then split hairs over which oath had the highest claim, the throne or the footstool. This developed into a sly way of making a commitment to break it. Jesus declared that one should not take any such oath but instead let your 'yes' mean yes and your 'no' mean no (Matt. 5:33-37).
Christian discussions regarding truth and lying often drift to the "white lie," such as deceiving a loved one to honor them with a surprise or party. Of course, such situations can even be creatively dealt with such that no actual lie is told, but this is probably not the biggest truth problem in our lives.
There is also consideration of how to answer questions like "Do you like my new haircut?" or "Does this make me look fat?" Does honesty have to be brutal? Kindness may dictate an honest but less brutal answer such as "I don't think that is not the most flattering on you. Let's look at something else.
But enough fluff. Much more serious issues are ethical dilemmas related to times of war or persecution. For example, if found in a situation where you could protect a Jewish person from the holocaust, would you lie to evil authorities? Is such a lie justified? Perhaps the Lord would protect us from speaking untruth, but how far would we go because of a just cause?
Rahab lied to protect the spies Joshua sent into Jericho (Joshua 2:2-6) and then was listed in the lineage of Jesus. The midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, lied to Pharaoh to protect babies from death. "God was kind to the midwives" and gave them their families because they feared God (Ex. 1:19-20). Neither Rahab nor the midwives had the ninth commandment to follow, but God's favor seems to be expressed to them, at least for their faith level, even though they lied.
Far more common than the "white lie" in preparation for a surprise birthday party or the extreme ethical dilemmas presented by persecution is the day to day temptation to make ourselves look a little better than we really are. There are shadings of the truth that can make it appear that we really did follow through on something when actually we did not and covered it later. Some excuses and explanations can blur the edges of truth before we know it. Making our "case" in a dispute can push us to overstate and misrepresent the facts. These may not seem like terrible lies, but it is a slippery slope. If one will lie about a small thing, how far away is the lie about a big thing?
Lying or "false witness" can also be a sin of omission. Failing to bring forward a critical truth or fact can create a falsehood or false conclusion as surely as creating a lie does. Listening to words of slander without correction is a form of lying. When we do not correct the lie, we become part of the lie.
Sadly, in many circles, omitting facts is considered a normal part of shrewd business practice or savvy political speech. Honesty and integrity are valuable, but you may also be viewed as not being a "team player" if you tell the truth. I have known several people who were fired from their jobs simply because they refused to lie and others because they were bold enough to tell the truth.
So how is your truth-telling? The Lord is not grading on a curve. Praise God, we are saved by grace and not by works (Eph. 2:8-9). But we are to put off the old self with its falsehood and speak truthfully (Ephes. 4:24-25).

Dear Lord, reveal any untruth in me. Reveal the ways I may have deceived myself and the ways I may be deceiving others. Set my life straight before You. Cause Your truth to dwell in me by Your Spirit. In gratitude for Your grace, cause me to be a person of truth. In Jesus' name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2022 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.