Neither Steal nor Lie – The Ninth Commandment

Neither Steal nor Lie

The Ninth Commandment

Leviticus 19:11

“You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another.”

Colossians 3:9

In this statute we can see the interconnectedness of the Law of God, and why, if we break one of God’s Laws, we break them all.

The Law turns now to being truthful with our neighbors. Stealing and lying are in the same category of transgression; each is a form of not being truthful. If we steal from our neighbors we lie by saying that what we possess is ours and not theirs. If we lie to our neighbors we steal from them the truth God intends them to know.

Any lying to our neighbors of any kind is unacceptable to the Lord, a violation of trust and an assault against God Himself, Who is the truth.

In this series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.MyParuchia.com and click on our Book Store.

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