Called as Witnesses – The Ninth Commandment

Called as Witnesses

The Ninth Commandment

Leviticus 5:1

“If anyone sins in that he hears a public adjuration to testify, and though he is a witness, whether he has seen or come to know the matter, yet does not speak, he shall bear his iniquity…”

Anyone who witnesses a transgression has a duty to come forward to testify when a public call for witnesses is issued. This can be by subpoena or simply by a general appeal through the media, as when a crime has occurred and the local police ask for any who may have seen something to come forward.

Justice requires multiple witnesses, as we have seen, and those who are witnesses must be prepared to testify, even though doing so may be inconvenient.

Christians have been summoned to bear witness to Jesus Christ. We are guilty of sin if we fail to speak the truth as we know it concerning our Savior and King.

Acts 1:8

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.