The Father of Lies – Ninth Commandment

The Father of Lies

The ninth commandment

Exodus 20.16; Deuteronomy 5.20

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

John 8.44

“When he lies, he speaks out of his own character for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

Lies come from one source.

Jesus taught that the devil is the father of lies. He loves lies because they muddy-up the clear streams of truth issuing from the Word of God. He was a liar from the beginning, deceiving Adam and Eve with bogus encouragement they could be like God. He lies to people all day long, suggesting by a wide variety of means that they are the masters of their fate, they are the captains of their souls. No one can tell them what to do or how to think. They are their own person and can determine what’s right and wrong for them as each situation arises. Such nonsense can only have one source. If you find that you are prone to play a little fast and loose with the truth, be careful that you don’t end up playing into the devil’s agenda and becoming a servant, not of truth, but of the Lie. The Lie says that men don’t need God. They can make it on their own. They’re able to figure all of life out apart from any input from God. Whenever that Lie begins to be reflected in our lives, we are in danger of unwittingly conspiring with the enemy of Truth in his cause to advance the Lie.

Have you ever found yourself in the midst of a lie? How did that make you feel? What did you do?

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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.

Lessons are based on the International Sunday School Lessons for Christian Teaching, copyright © 2009 by the Committee on the Uniform Series.