Honesty and Fairness – The Ninth Commandment

Honesty and Fairness

The Ninth Commandment

God commands honesty and fairness in all our dealings. 

Deuteronomy 25:13-16

“‘You shall not have in your bag two kinds of weights, a large and a small. You shall not have in your house two kinds of measures, a large and a small. A full and fair weight you shall have, a full and fair measure you shall have, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. For all who do such things, all who act dishonestly, are an abomination to the LORD your God.’”

We are not to practice double standards. We must treat all people alike. The situation envisioned and proscribed here probably involves a merchant seeking to bilk a richer customer with an unjust scale or standard of some kind. Rather like the federal government does with a graduated tax index.

Fullness and fairness in all transactions: this is what truth requires and what we must practice at all times. To do otherwise is to vaunt ourselves above God, to treat others in a way He does not, and, thus, to become abominable in His sight.

We are now accepting registrations for the course, Spiritual Maturity 1: Revival. This free, seven-session course by T. M. Moore allows you to study by yourself or with a mentor, and includes free resources from Patrick, Columbanus, Luther, and Edwards, among others. Visit The Ailbe Seminary for more information on this training opportunity.

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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.