Should the believer ever lie?

 

 

In the last part of Acts 5 the Apostles find themselves in a very difficult situation.  High Priest prohibits them from preaching the gospel. So what are they going to do? They know! Tey said to the High Priest: Acts 5:29 “But Peter & th apostles answered [the High Priest] ‘We must obey God rather than men.’” Believers can be in a similar situation where he thinks he has no choice but to lie; Or in a situation where he thinks lying is the right thing to do.  The Apostles statement helps us with this question: Should the believer ever lie? Are we ever justified to lie? Is there ever a situation where a believer can say: ‘I have no choice but to lie’?

 

 1. What does the Bible teach about lying?

How can we ask that question if the eight commandment is so clear: Exodus 20:16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour” The Bible is very clearly against lying! There are many verses in Scripture that confirm this (Lev 19:11; Psa 5:6; Psa 31:18; Psa 58:3; Psa 101:7; Psa 120:2; Prv 6:16-19; Prv 12:22; Prv 14:5; Prv 14:25; Prv 19:9; Prv 21:6; John 8:44; Col 3:9; Jas 3:6; Rev 21:8).  Jesus’ expectation in Matthew 5:37 is very simple “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’”. In Ephesians 4:25 Paul says that believers should be done with lying and instead “let each of you speak truth with his neighbour” Lying is not compatible with a life of obedience to God because it does not honour Him.  

Here are 3 reasons why a Christian should always speak the truth and never lie:

 a. Your Integrity

Titus 2:7-8 says: “Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.” We are called to act in accordance with our faith, which means that lying is something you need to do away with.  This is what 2 Corinthians 4:2 also says “But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God.” Your Christian integrity expects that you should never lie.

 

b. Your desire

In Matthew 6:33 Jesus says your desire above all else should be to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness”.  The Bible makes no secret of the fact that God hates lies with an extreme hatred. So how can you as a believer even attempt to justify lying? Whatever your circumstances may be in which you feel compelled to lie, in Acts 5:29 the apostles say “We must obey God rather than men” That is our greatest desire as Christians, to honour God and God is never honoured by lies.

 

c. Your testimony

Jesus calls us in Matthews. 5:13-14 to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. This requires that we do right even when everyone around us is doing wrong or even if we are expected to do wrong.  Daniel is an excellent example of this.  Even though he worked in very ungodly circumstances he still stood firm in the truth.  What is striking is that in Daniel 6:3-4 he was even honoured by the wicked king and was promoted because he “[was] distinguished above all th other high officials & satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him.”  

 

We must stand out in this evil world as Ephesians 5:11 encourages us: “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”  This is what your testimony expects of you.  Believers must always speak the truth. Lies must never be part of our actions if we want to honour God. I hope you desire to honour God in all things. That requires that you also honour Him by always speaking the truth. 

Yet we must always speak the truth in love, not with hatred or attack. Colossians 4:6 “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”  That does not mean that we can compromise on truth, I remind U again of what Acts 5:29 “We must obey God rather than men” 

God cannot lie, says Hebrews 6:18. And He expects that believers should also never lie according to Exodus 20:18 and many other places in Scripture.  

Furthermore, we have the promise: That God will never place us in a situation where we must lie.  In 1 Corinthians 10:13 Paul says “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God’s faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”  According to Hebrews 4:15 Jesus was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin.  This means that Jesus was also tempted to lie, but He did not. We are called to follow His example in this as well, because It glorifies God when we love truth and it glorifies God when we hate lies.

 

2. Is there ever a justification for lying?

Some will say that while a believer should not lie, there are occasions when it is permissible for him to lie.  They will even quote Bible verses that they believe allows for it.  Furthermore they give hypothetical circumstances where they believe it is even expected for Christians to lie. 

 

a. Alleged Biblical support

They usually resort to three texts that seem to say that lying is sometimes                        permissible: 

               i.Midwives let baby boy live – Exodus 1

In Exodus 1:15-21 King Pharaoh commands the Jewish Midwives to kill the Jewish boys the moment that they are born. However the midwives do not kill them.  When Pharaoh finds out and confronts them, and they answer by saying “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” 

What we know is that they somehow devised a plan to save the lives of these Jewish boys, but we do not know what that plan was. While Pharaoh asked them to explain why they did not carry out his command, there is no clarity that what they said was a lie. We would have to speculate.  

Furthermore there is also no indication that God blessed them or gave approval for their lies.  Yes, the Lord did blessed the midwives, But not because of their lies, but because they saved the boys alive. In Genesis 12:3 the Lord says “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonours you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  If they lied, which is not certain, it does not mean God blessed them because of their lies.  It does not show God’s approval of their lies. This passage does not justify lies!

 

             ii.Rahab hides the spies – Joshua 2

In Joshua 2:2-6 we read that Rahab hid two Jewish spies under the flax stalks on her house’s roof.  The King of Jericho sent men to her asking where they were.  She said that they came to her but then left and left the city.  

There is no doubt here that Rahab lied to protect the Jewish men.  But it is interesting what the New Testament says about Rahab. In Hebrew 11:31 we read “By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies”  Another New Testament passage that speaks about Rahab is James 2:25 which says “…was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?”  What the Bible commends her for is receiving and protecting the spies.  The Bible is completely silent about her lie.  The Bible does not recommend it, nor does the Bible condemn it, it says nothing about her lies.  We should not argue from silence. This text is not there to teach a moral lesson about lying, whether it is right or wrong, the rest of the Word is clear about that.  

Furthermore Rahab was a believing Gentile in the time of the Old Testament who did not have the full revelation of God.  In Acts 17:30 Paul says, speaking of gentiles in the time of the Old Testament, that “the times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent” We know the truth about lies and God will judge us accordingly.  In Luke 12:47-48 Jesus says “that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.”

 

           iii.Samuel anoints David – 1 Samuel 16

Here, the Lord sends Samuel to anoint David as king while Saul is still on the throne.  But what if Saul finds out? So the Lord tells Samuel to tell whoever asks him that he came to Bethlehem to bring a sacrifice.  The Lord also told him to invite Jesse and his sons to the sacrifice.  Yes the Lord did also send him to anoint David, but Samuel does not have to say that. The men of the city then asked Samuel if he came in peace? He replied by saying, yes, I came to bring a sacrifice to the Lord.  Was Samuel lying? No!  They did not ask if he came to anoint David as king and Samuel did not offer to tell them.  

In Mattew 10:16 Jesus says: “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” We must be wise in this evil world, but still remember to speak the truth and hate the lie. 

 

b. Alleged justification for lies 

i.   The protection of life

Let us say you are a believer living in Germany during the time of Hitler.  There is a sudden knock on your door and it is a Jewish man pleading that you should hide him.  Moments later, a Nazi soldier also knocks on your door.  He asks you if there is any Jews in your house.  What are you going to answer?  If you say yes, the Jew will be killed, but if you say no, then you are lying.  So what should you do? 

People use this as an example that it is sometimes right to lie, but does this justify lying? Is lying your only option here? This is actually very similar to how the Pharisees tried to trick Jesus in Mattew 22:15-22.  They asked whether we should pay taxes? So Jesus took a coin and asked whose image or copy is on it.  The answer is Caesar’s.  To this Jesus responded by saying that we should give to the emperor what is his due and to God what is His due. 

Sir Edgar Allan Poe makes an interesting suggestion to the question of the Jew and the Nazi soldier.  He says you should always hide something in plain sight.  For instance, you should hide a book on a bookshelf or library.  If you want to hide a vehicle, park it in a busy parking garage.  Similarly if you want to hide a Jew in your home, then let him open the front door for the soldier with you.  If the soldier then asks: “Are you hiding Jews?” you respond by saying something like “Now who would be so foolish?”.  Or if he asks “Are there Jews in your house?” you should invite him to search for himself.  The point is that the last place someone often look for something is right before their eyes. 

The soldier may not believe you in any case and still search the house and then he will most certainly find the Jew and capture him.  But by hiding him ‘in clear view’ you do not have to lie and it is your best chance of protecting the Jewish man.

 

ii. The principle of love

This is another justification they seek for why you should sometimes lie.  Matthew 22:39 says

“You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”  There are various scenarios where they would apply this.  The example we just looked at of the Jew and the Nazi also fits into this.  But other examples is when you know something that will make someone sad and therefore you simply say something like ‘No, you don’t know’.  Another example is if you know something about someone  that will get them into trouble if anyone found out, so you also state that you do not know something that you actually do know. 

But the commandment to love your neighbour is the second commandment according to Matthew 22. There is a first and greatest commandment that comes before it. Matthew 22:37-38 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.” Everything we do must obey the first commandment. So the question is, does lying show love to God from all your heart, soul and mind?  Because even our love for our neighbour must honour God and we know that God hates lies and commands us never to lie.  Therefore love for your neighbour does not justify lies.

 

iii.  Circumstances determine right and wrong

They refer to circumstances like: your manager at work requires you to lie; or someone's life is in danger and the only way to protect them is by lying; or if the truth will to someone more harm that ‘an innocent lie’ will. 

We have an Biblical example of someone lying because they believed their circumstances demanded it.  In 1 Samuel 29:1-11 David lied to King Achish of the Philistines. He pretended that he was angry with King Saul and gave the impression that he was willing to fight with the Philistines against the Israelites, his own people.  If the Lord did not intervene and prevented the Philistine leaders from accepting David’s willingness to fight against his own people, things could have turned out very tragically. 

But we do not have to wonder if David’s actions here was right or wrong because in 1 Samuel 30:6 we read “and David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons & daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.”  He strengthened himself in the Lord his God. That means he renewed his faith, repented his sin and found forgiveness.  David knew lying was wrong, and we should as well.

 

iv.  If things work out right I did right

Many will argue that when they lied, things still worked out for them, so therefore it was fine to lie. Sometimes you will do something that is wrong in the eyes of the Lord, but things still turn out fine for you.  

Remember many of the richest and influential people in the world are dishonest and wicked people.  Psalm 73 says that the wealth of the wicked leads to their destruction.  The fact that everything works out right does not mean you are justified in doing it. Jonah did not want God to save Nineveh, he wanted the Lord to destroy it.  So Jonah fled to Tarsus.  Everything worked out for him to flee: ‘by chance’ there was a boat to Tarsus; ‘by chance’ there was one more place on the boat for a fleeing prophet.  Things worked out, but that does not mean that fleeing to Tarsus was God’s will for Jonah, and he knew that. 

The Lord gave very clear instruction to Jonah about His will for him and God also gave us clear instruction about His will for us, also about lying.  In Exodus 20:16 the Lord says “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour” and this is repeated throughout Scripture time and time again. 

 

Because God hates lies and his children should never try and find justification for lying.  So what if your manager demands that you lie?  What if telling the truth leads to someone’s death? What if lying seems like the only logical option in your situation? Acts 5:29 “We must obey God rather than men” And if you your circumstances requires you to be as “wise as serpents & innocent as doves” as Jesus tells us Matthew 10:16, the James 1:5 gives the answer to that: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, & it will be given him.”  

But lying is not an option for the believer. We must obey God and rest in His sovereign will in all things.  Because as Romans 8:28 tells us “we know that for those who love Gd, all things work together for good”

 

Amen!