Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 22
October 15, 1970
NUMBER 23, PAGE 7

An Innocent Lie?

Donald R. Givens

Have you heard the expression: "Well, it was just an innocent little lie?" Are any lies "innocent?" Are their consequences "little?" The Word of God shows all lies to be sinful and every departure from the truth is to be abhorred.

You may have heard the story of the "practical prankster" who innocently (?) re-painted the white line in the middle of a twisting mountain roadway. At nighttime a motorist followed the false line off the road and plunged headlong to death into a deep ravine. Was this an "innocent deception" created by one "who meant no harm?" Or did it take on the character of a deadly lie?

Any deception or misrepresentation in speech or act is in, reality a lie and will create tragedy. Lying is dangerous, and more than that, it is sinful. It will not only "get one in hot water," it will "cast one into the lake of fire and brimstone!"

Lying is a brother to all kinds of sins (read I Tim. 1:10). Falsehoods are told in order to "cover up" other evils already committed. And falsehoods in turn lead to other soul-damning sins.

Jezebel was a liar. Gehazi lied. Ananias and Sapphira lied. What happened to them? The devil himself is the father of all liars: "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and standeth not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof." (John 8:44) Therefore, all who lie partake of Satan's character. God cannot lie.

Yes, every falsehood will demand ultimate wages. We shall reap as we have sown. "But for . . . all liars, their part shall be in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death." (Rev. 21:8) What a hideous, horrible, and horrifying end! Do not walk the pathway that leads to that lake.

Be filled with integrity and honesty: "Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable... whatsoever things are of good report. . . think on these things." (Phil. 4:8)

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