God’s Word is Truth – The Ninth Commandment

God’s Word is Truth

Exodus 20:16; Deuteronomy 5:20

“You shall not bear false witness.”

John 17:17

“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”

Our words must mirror God’s.

The ninth commandment is designed to guard the speech and relationships between neighbors, so that they live with one another according to the character of God, which is truth. We are made in the image of God, and particularly those who have been redeemed through Jesus Christ are obliged to bear true witness to God in all their relationships, roles, and responsibilities. By His truth God sanctifies His people, further sets them apart as holy unto Him. Any compromise of truth on our part injures our relationship with God and with our neighbor. The ninth commandment gives us a simple test to run with those who insist that Christians have no obligation to obey the Law of God. If we do not keep the ninth commandment, can we bear true witness to the Lord? Can we be sanctified, and be used of God to sanctify one another, if we insist that we are not obliged to live in truth because we are “not under law but under grace”? The idea is ludicrous. And if we are called to keep the ninth commandment in order to bear proper witness to the Lord, then we must keep them all, for in breaking one of God’s laws we violate them all, including the indispensable ninth (Jms. 2.10).

Can you imagine a world in which no one feels obliged to tell the truth? To what must such a world necessarily lead?

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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.