Grace Fellowship    06/15/08    Truthful Lips and Lying Tongues         Proverbs 12

One of the most weighty statements Jesus Christ ever made is found in John 14, verse 6.  It was spoken in the context of the Last Supper.  He was speaking to His disciples of His soon departure.  Peter asks the Lord where He is going, and Jesus tells Peter, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now . . . .”  Peter responds with, “I will lay down my life for You!”  Then Jesus informs Peter that he will deny any knowledge of Jesus, not once, but three times, before morning.

Then, so-called doubting Thomas asks Jesus the same question as Peter: “Lord, we do not know where you are going, and how can we know the way?”  To that, Jesus responds with, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6).

Peter will lie and be a repeat offender concerning his relationship with the Lord Jesus before the rooster crows.  But in contrast with Peter, then Jesus says, “I am the truth.”  Does it matter if Peter lies?  Does it matter whether or not Jesus is the truth?  Why did He say that, and make that particular point: “You will deny Me three times, but I am the truth”?  Just how important is it that Jesus is the truth?

On another occasion, Jesus was speaking to the Jews at the Temple.  He said, “I am going away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come."  Same thing He would tell His disciples: ”I’m going away and you cannot follow.”  But the big difference in this situation, compared to the disciples at the Last Supper, is that these people here in John 8 will never follow Him.  Listen why.

22 So the Jews said, "Will He kill Himself, because He says, `Where I go you cannot come'?" 23 And He said to them, "You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins." 25 Then they said to Him, "Who are You?" And Jesus said to them, "Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. 26 "I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him." 27 They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father. 28 Then Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. 29 "And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him." 30 As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.

31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:22-32, NKJV).

33 They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone.  How can you say, `You will be made free'?" 34 Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 "And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. 36 "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

37 "I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. 38 "I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father." 39 They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father."  Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. 40 "But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God.  Abraham did not do this. 41 "You do the deeds of your father."  Then they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father--God." 42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. 43 "Why do you not understand My speech?  Because you are not able to listen to My word. 44 "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. 45 "But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. (John 8:33-45, NKJV).

5 The thoughts of the righteous are right, But the counsels of the wicked are deceitful. 13 The wicked is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, But the righteous will come through trouble. 17 He who speaks truth declares righteousness, But a false witness, deceit. 19 The truthful lip shall be established forever, But a lying tongue is but for a moment. 20 Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, But counselors of peace have joy. 22 Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, But those who deal truthfully are His delight. (Proverbs 12:5, 13, 17, 19, 20, 22, NKJV).

Pr 17:4 An evildoer gives heed to false lips; A liar listens eagerly to a spiteful tongue.
Pr 19:22 What is desired in a man is kindness, And a poor man is better than a liar.
5 Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. 6 Do not add to His words, Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar. (Proverbs 30:5-6, NKJV).

5 The thoughts of the righteous are right
17 He who speaks truth declares righteousness
19 The truthful lip shall be established forever,
22 those who deal truthfully are His [the LORD’s] delight.

Do these words not describe the Christian?  In all these passages, there is a blatant contrast between the righteous who speak the truth, and the wicked who lie.  So what happens when the righteous lie?  What happens when the believer commits the abomination of lying?

There are only a couple of possibilities:
1. The so-called “righteous” are only superficially righteous.  In reality, they are hypocrites.  Or,
2. The truly righteous, when they lie, revert back and become truly unrighteous.  Or
3. The truly righteous are not yet perfect in their righteousness.  And they hate it.  They hate their sin.

Can Christians lie?  Definitely.  Do Christians lie?  Most definitely.  Do genuine Christians cease to be Christians when they lie (or commit any other sin)?  No.  Why not?

Because the Truth has set him free.  You were dead in trespasses and sins, but now you have been made alive in Christ.  You have been taken out of the death that sin requires, and have been placed into eternal life, as though you had never sinned, and will never sin again.  For all those who are in Christ Jesus, there is therefore now no condemnation.  The Lord Jesus has borne all of the sins of those who believe, sins past, sins present, and sins future, in His own body on the cross.  In that sacrificial act on our behalf, the Lord Jesus has loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.  It is the Christian, the one who tells the truth and believes the truth, who has been washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus by the Holy Spirit.

So again, what happens when a true Christian, one whom Solomon would describe as a righteous person, what happens when such a person lies (or steals, or commits adultery, or covets his neighbor’s stuff, or gets drunk, or commits any other sin)?  What happens when we sin?  The same thing that happened to Peter when he lied and denied the Lord three times.  We repent.  We run back to the cross once again to remind ourselves of the abomination of our own sinfulness.  We recall how detestable our own ungodliness is, and how undeserving I am of the magnificent grace of God that saved me in the first place.  Our sin serves to keep us humble and dependent, continually dependent upon God’s continuing grace and love for us.  It is then that we know that he who is forgiven much, loves much.

Beloved, the day is coming when we, WE who believe the Truth will enter into that city where “there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.”  We did not write our names in that book.  God did.  And He makes no mistakes.  He made no mistake when in His great love for us, in spite of our great sinfulness, He placed every one of our sins upon the Son of His love, so that He might forgive us and grant us eternal life.

So I say to you what Jesus said to a woman who was caught in her sin, to whom He granted forgiveness, “Go and sin no more.”  But if you do sin, remember we have an Advocate with the Father, we have a High Priest who continually intercedes for His people, we have One who sits at the right hand of the Father who has finished the work of our redemption, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Hallelujah!

¹ http://www.masud.co.uk/ISLAM/nuh/adab_of_islam.htm     “(17) It is unlawful to lie, except when making up between two people, or lying to an enemy in war, or to one’s wife. It is also unlawful to praise or blame another with an untruth. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Lying is wrong, except in three things: the lie of a man to his wife to make her content with him; a lie in war, for war is deception; or a lie to settle trouble between people” (Ahmad, 6.459. H). Ibn Jawzi has said, “The criterion for it is that every praiseworthy objective in Sacred Law that cannot be brought about without lying is permissible to lie for if the objective is permissible, and obligatory to lie for if the objective is obligatory.” When lying is the only way to attain one’s right, one may lie about oneself or another, provided it does not harm the other. And it is obligatory to lie to if necessary to protect a Muslim from being murdered. But whenever one can accomplish the objective by words that merely give a misleading impression with actually being false, it is unlawful to tell an outright lie, because it is unnecessary.”

 http://www.wikiislam.com/wiki/Lying   “* Mehamad said: "Lying is wrong, except in three things: the lie of a man to his wife to make her content with him; a lie to an enemy, for war is deception; or a lie to settle trouble between people" (Ahmad, 6.459. H).”

“Islam is the only religion that implies in its scriptures that it is ever permissible to lie.”