Telling Fibs

[Colswann1]

If God shone is searchlight on any of us I'm sure we could be caught out in telling fibs in one way or another.

Do you think there are degrees of severity of lying?

Sarah lied to God about laughing and seemed to get away with it.
Ananias and Sapphira lied and got the chop.

What do you think?

[tomoral]

No, I think a lie is a lie. Having said that it just came to me that I am guilty of telling people they look good when in fact they don't.

You know when you go to see a sick person and the first out of your mouth "OH, you look so good." when really they look like they have one foot in the grave.

People told me that all the time when I was sick.

[mikeedwards]

Hey Colin,

I think it is more about motive and intent, not levels.

Peter lied when he said he was not with Jesus and did not know him. (A reaction in fear and honestly trying to protect his life and maybe his family?)

Annias and Sapharia were trying to impress. They were actually more concerned with what man thought than with what God thought. If they had told the truth they would have not been in any physical danger.

Sarah was out of fear of God?

Abraham told a half lie about Sarah. (To protect their lives was his excuse.)

If we were hiding Jews and the Nazis came and knocked on the door looking for them. Would it be okay to tell an outright lie? This would not be a fib or a white lie. I say yes.

Often when I am talking to people about Jesus I give them the good person test. When it comes to telling a lie many want to say they have only told white lies or fibs if you will, which I know is a lie right there.

I think discretion can be okay if Bea asks me how she looks in something but I know she also likes the truth. In the long run discretion of this type could hurt the person. I do not know if you remember or even had the Scope mouthwash commercials years ago. Where somone had bad breath but no one was brave enough to tell them the truth. What somone finally did instead was to sneak an annoymous bottle of Scope to the person. I am not sure if a note was attached or not.

Good post for thinking.

[tomoral]

I have told lies before. Whoppers. When I was drinking I came up with some doozies when I called in sick at work. I still catch myself going for what I think people want to hear, a coping skill I learned as a child. Now when I am tempted to lie, my conscience nags me, and that used to never happen. I guess I can honestly say I am a much more honest person than I was before Jesus saved my life.

I still lie to myself, as well.

[iRoswell]

I like what Warren Wiersbe says,
"God in His grace gives us what we don’t deserve, and God in His mercy doesn’t give us what we do deserve."

If God were to mete out what we deserve, we would all be in trouble. Which should give us pause. I know I don't thank my God enough for His wonderful mercy and grace!!!

The unsaved should really ponder that as they do not have the protection of Christ if they die in their sins. Over 155,000 people die, everyday, around the world. How many of those are without Christ?

Psalms 32:1-5
"Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.
I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said,
"I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin." (NLT)

[Paula22466]

Rahab proved her allegiance to God when she protected the Israelite spies. According to James 2:25, her act of faith justified her (cf Hebrews 11:31). Was her lie, which led to the spies not being caught, part of her act of faith?

If Jesus said the commandment is to love God and love others, how do we love others well if we must cause them harm to spare ourselves a lack of piety?

[Boondox]

A quarter of the truth = a whole lie.

Thou shall NOT lie.


Be cautious, the enemy will attempt to deceive us. Lean not on our own understanding.

[Paula22466]

A quarter of the truth = a whole lie.

Thou shall NOT lie.

Legalism? (!)

[beaedwards]

Since out heart is wicked and deceives us we often lie to ourselves.
It is impossible not to lie on a daily basis. All we have to do is search ourselves and our motivations to realize the battle between what we ought to do and what our selfish flesh gets away with often leans south.

[iRoswell]

Since out heart is wicked and deceives us we often lie to ourselves.
It is impossible not to lie on a daily basis. All we have to do is search ourselves and our motivations to realize the battle between what we ought to do and what our selfish flesh gets away with often leans south.

Which shows us our need for the Savior. The law is our schoolmaster, Galatians 3:24.

[iRoswell]

A quarter of the truth = a whole lie.

Thou shall NOT lie.

Legalism? (!)

I would say more like heralding since he is referencing Scripture, not his own words.

[Paula22466]

A quarter of the truth = a whole lie.

Thou shall NOT lie.

Legalism? (!)

I would say more like heralding since he is referencing Scripture, not his own words.

I disagree, since "thou shall not lie" is his own words (Exodus 20:16).

Have you ever read the story of Corrie Ten Boom? She writes about an instance during the height of Nazi occupation in Holland, when some Nazi soldiers came to her home and asked her if she knew where any Jews were hiding (she was hiding Jews). I suppose, had Corrie been a legalistic pharisee she would have turned them over. Thank God she was not.

[iRoswell]

I disagree, since "thou shall not lie" is his own words (Exodus 20:16).

Have you ever read the story of Corrie Ten Boom? She writes about an instance during the height of Nazi occupation in Holland, when some Nazi soldiers came to her home and asked her if she knew where any Jews were hiding (she was hiding Jews). I suppose, had Corrie been a legalistic pharisee she would have turned them over. Thank God she was not.

Justifying sin, does not make sin any less sinful. It's clear that God hates lying, (Proverbs 6:16-19).
To justify sin, no matter how noble it seems, only cheapens God's grace.

I agree, Corrie Ten Boom, along with many others who have lied to protect the innocent, are couragous and even inspiring individuals. But a lie is still a lie and it condemns us every single time we do it. The same way stealing does, even when it's to save a starving family.

I also don't think the intent of what he said was legalistic. Unless of course he means it as a way of earning salvation. Then yes, I agree it would be legalism.

And I must point out that if I were in a similar situation as Corrie Ten Boom, I am quite certain I would lie. But I'm not going to dress it up as something it's not.

Leviticus 19:11, "Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another."

[Paula22466]

Justifying sin, does not make sin any less sinful. It's clear that God hates lying, (Proverbs 6:16-19).
To justify sin, no matter how noble it seems, only cheapens God's grace.

I'm going to keep pushing back on this one because I think it's important. I am not attempting to justify sin, but I am saying a lie is not a lie if it works toward godliness, therefore it's not a sin. If someone would like to tell me they think Corrie Ten Boom should haveturned those Jews over to the Nazis to avoid a lie, I will call that person a legalistic pharisee and mean it. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness" [bold mine]Mathew 23:23

I also don't think the intent of what he said was legalistic. Unless of course he means it as a way of earning salvation. Then yes, I agree it would be legalism.

Legalism comes in all shapes and sizes and doesn't need to refer to salvation to be legalistic. Anytime someone puts their own piety ahead of the good of another, it is legalism of the worse kind.
Don't get offended (remember what we discussed earlier).

[iRoswell]

Justifying sin, does not make sin any less sinful. It's clear that God hates lying, (Proverbs 6:16-19).
To justify sin, no matter how noble it seems, only cheapens God's grace.

I'm going to keep pushing back on this one because I think it's important. I am not attempting to justify sin, but I am saying a lie is not a lie if it works toward godliness, therefore it's not a sin. If someone would like to tell me they think Corrie Ten Boom should haveturned those Jews over to the Nazis to avoid a lie, I will call that person a legalistic pharisee and mean it. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness" [bold mine]Mathew 23:23

I also don't think the intent of what he said was legalistic. Unless of course he means it as a way of earning salvation. Then yes, I agree it would be legalism.

Legalism comes in all shapes and sizes and doesn't need to refer to salvation to be legalistic. Anytime someone puts their own piety ahead of the good of another, it is legalism of the worse kind.
Don't get offended (remember what we discussed earlier).

No worries, I'm not offended. Just been real busy lately.

You do make some very good points, and it really is hard to say what Corrie Ten Boom did as being wrong. Not to mention Rahab, among others in the Bible, who are praised for their faith in God, in spite of lying. So I concede.