Standing Squarely for Truth – The Ninth Commandment

Standing Squarely for Truth

Exodus 20:16

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

God is truth, the apostle reminds us (1 John 4:8), a proposition no Christian will deny. But more to the point for many of us is Pilate’s question, “What is truth?”

Many believers today have their view of truth informed more by the spiritus mundi than the Spirit of God. We seem to think that truth is whatever works for my happiness; whatever my neighbors are willing to hear or bear; or whatever I can get away with without hurting others or being found out.

Suppose any or all of these views actually do represent truth: truth is changeable, merely personal, or potentially devious. If that’s what truth is, what does this say about the God we claim to worship? No wonder God is so determined that we not bear false witness.

Pay attention today to the ways people play fast and loose with truth. How many observations of fudging, distorting, manipulating, or otherwise misusing truth can you note? Do you recognize any of these in your own view of truth?

Daily meditation in the Law of God helps us along the path of holiness, righteousness, and goodness (Rom. 7:12). Order your copy of The Law of God, a compilation of the Mosaic Law for contemporary believers, by going to www.MyParuchia.com, point your browser to “Publications,” then click on the drop-down option, “Waxed Tablet Publications.”

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore.

T.M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.