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The ninth commandment
Leviticus 19.11
“You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another.”
Colossians 3.9
In this statute we can see the interconnectedness of the Law of God, and why, if we break one of God’s Laws, we break them all.
The Law turns now to being truthful with our neighbors. Stealing and lying are in the same category of transgression; each is a form of not being truthful. If we steal from our neighbors we lie by saying that what we possess is ours and not theirs. If we lie to our neighbors we steal from them the truth God intends them to know.
Any lying to our neighbors of any kind is unacceptable to the Lord, a violation of trust and an assault against God Himself, Who is the truth.
This series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Book Store.