Nothing but the Truth

Are there times that it is okay to tell lies? What about lying to protect someone else? Does God ever wink at lying?
What about Rahab the prostitute lying about the Israelite spies that she kept in her home in Jericho? She is even honored in Hebrews 11 for being a woman of extreme faith! What are your thoughts?

In my experience, most people practice some form of lying on an almost daily basis.
Therefore, we should not be trying to discover when it might be okay to lie. Rather, we should be working at developing a truthful tongue.
When integrity becomes an integral part of our being, we will then be better able to know when to speak and when to keep quiet.
We are so skilled at avoiding, shading, twisting the truth that we are probably not able to know when it may or may not be okay to tell a lie--if such a situation exists. I mean, I haven't had any spies coming into my land recently.
Dale

Rahab lied as an unbeliever. After that action she went to the spies and stated what she had heard about the Israelites and their God. At that point she demonstrated a new faith in their God by asking to be 'saved' and later putting the ribbon in her window as an act of faith. So can you truthfully say she is guilty. As an unbeliever, yes, but as a believer? one who acted on their faith? What happened to Abraham when he lied about Sarah, his wife?

Why do we always try to find a way to circumvent the command? Gracie

graciehill48 wrote:
Why do we always try to find a way to circumvent the command? Gracie

Because it is so easy to break. We feel better if we can justify it in some way. With that in mind... was it wrong for the people that hid the Jews during the holocaust to lie to the Nazis? heh... there are a lot of situations where lying does almost seem justifiable... but I didn't see the word 'unless' in the commandment... so with that in mind, yes Aunt Bertha, that dress does make you look fat.

I liked what Dale spoke on Sunday about how people who want to be able to spot a counterfit bill will study the original piece of currency, not the fake one. If we think about what is right and have as our goal to "speak the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue" (Psalm 15:2) then truth will more often come out. Let's focus on truth, choose truth, ask God to help us with the truth, then when the situation arises, truth, not a shade of it, will come out of our mouths. May God help us all in this area because all of us have been guilty at one time or another or bending, shading, or covering the truth.

As I understand from reading about Jewish law, the Jews were allowed to disobey the law if a life was in danger. That would explain people lying to keep Jews alive during the Holocaust. That would allow me to lie to protect the person who comes to my house with a gun, intent on killing someone, to lie and say that person wasn't around. I would have no trouble lying in that case; however, Aunt Bertha's ugly dress, that's another story. Wouldn't Aunt Bertha rather hear the truth anyway? Shouldn't Aunt Bertha want to hear the truth? And if I told her something she didn't want to hear, wouldn't she be more inclinded to believe me the next time, knowing I didn't varnish the truth just to make her feel better? We can speak the truth in love and be kind but still tell the truth.

One of the things I love about the Word is that it makes no attempt to hide anything...even those who have lied, been unfaithful, or murdered. The example raised at the beginning of this post is much like the Hebrew midwives lying to Pharaoh about how quickly the Hebrew males were born. There is a distinction made in the Bible in times of war for such things as lying and killing people. Rahab sided with the God's people and did battle against the enemy--in this case, by lying....just like the midwives.

When God told the nation of Israel to kill an entire people, for example, it's His prerogative to do so AND it was not murder. And, here's a kicker, it was good because He willed it so. Israel also suffered consequences when they did not obey.

We need to get over any definition we may have of good that is outside of His perfect will. On our own, we have such a poor notion of good. Remember, we are the ones redeemed by our Saviour out of (ekklesia) this counterfeit, fallen kingdom.

Satan is the father of lies. So to lie, for a Christian, may mean that one has a different father than God. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. Jesus is truth. Truth is Jesus. To live Jesus means to live truth. To live a lie, means to live by Satan's kingdom and rule.

Speak the truth in love.