Why We Don’t Do What We Should – Ninth Commandment

Why We Don’t Do What We Should

The ninth commandment

Exodus 20.16; Deuteronomy 5.20

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

John 8.32

“…and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

It’s just the opposite of what we think.

See, we think that the Lie is going to free us up. It’s going to make us look good, take the heat off, make someone else think better of us, or whatever. So we lie because we think this is the way to get what we want, to know true freedom from uncertainty. But in reality the opposite is the case. Only truth makes us free. Lies and deception set us adrift on a dissolving raft in a sea of acid. We can’t remember what we said or to whom we’ve said it. We aren’t satisfied with the first lie, so we add a second, and a third, and a fourth in the hope that these will help us get along. The more we lie the more insecure we feel, hoping the day won’t come when our lies will be discovered and we’ll be found out. We feel like we’re running from something, some wild beast threatening to devour us. So we lie a little more to protect our tracks. Now we have become slaves of the lie, and we are no longer free to enjoy Truth. There’s only one way out of this quicksand: look to Jesus. He is the Truth, and His truth can set us free from sin snapping at our heels.

Have you ever been caught in a lie? How did you feel? Was there any sense of relief now that the truth was out?

—

“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.