God Demands Truth – The Ninth Commandment

God Demands Truth

Exodus 20:16

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

Consider the grace and kindness of God: He believes that you deserve truth. So He reveals Himself to us, in the creation, by His Word, and in our Lord Jesus Christ, showing us in so many and varied ways what truth is and what that truth means for us.

The truth, Jesus reminded us, sets us free from the pitfalls of lies, deception, and half-truths–the source of more human pain and suffering than we could ever catalog. God is truth, and He speaks truth to His people, even when that truth may make us flinch or wince.

It is His love for us that leads Him to deal with us truthfully; it is for the sake of the love He would show through us that He demands that we relate to our neighbors in just the same way. You can’t love your neighbor if you won’t deal truthfully with him.

Truth is that which reflects God and His will. Paul says we must learn to “speak truth in love.” How would you summarize your program for seeking the truth? Do you feel as though you are growing in truth? Why or why not?

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.