The Power of Lies – The Ninth Commandment

The Power of Lies

Exodus 20:16; Deuteronomy 5:20

“You shall not bear false witness.”

Matthew 28:13-15

“Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So they took the money and did as they were directed.

Lies are like snowballs, rolling downhill.

How powerful are lies? These Roman soldiers had witnessed the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Terrified, they fled to their employers for advice, who told them to lie, gave them money to lie, and promised to lie on their behalf, if need be, in order to keep alive the lie that the apostles had come and stolen away the body of Jesus while they slept. Many people would believe that lie, even though it’s a little difficult to understand how the soldiers could know all this had happened, since, as they said, they were asleep. Did the apostles leave a note? Lies feed on one another and gain power the more widely they spread. The most foundational lie in this whole episode is the one that runs like a deep current under it all: it’s better to be rich than to believe the obvious truth about Jesus Christ. It’s better to save our skin here and now than to embrace that which delivers us into everlasting life. The world today is blinded by the father of lies and holds onto every distortion of truth to keep from having to embrace the Truth Who sets us free. But let us not condemn our unbelieving contemporaries. Have pity on those who are rolling downhill to destruction under the force of lies, and determine to do everything in your power to help them see the truth.

What are some ways you can show the truth of Jesus to the people you will be with today?

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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.