The Ninth Commandment

“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.” Exodus 20:16

We have all learnt this commandment to mean don’t tell lies. Lying is any expression of falsehood, designed to mislead. Most of us find it difficult to tell a lie. The body physiologically responds to the telling of a lie (this is the foundation of a lie detector test). But this commandment is not limited to simply the speaking of a falsehood. This command encompasses any word, action, inaction, or expression that seeks to deceive. The five senses of a human being can easily be deceived – ask any sleight-of-hand artist – this is why it is imperative that we, as children of the Living God, do all things clearly and precisely without ambiguity (Proverbs 11:1; Matthew 5:37).

One of the most devious manifestations of this, in churches, is the wilful misrepresentation of Scripture to make it seem complex, and in need of a human interpreter (2 Peter 1:20). When pastors and church leaders do this, run from them. They are attempting to deceive you and return you to the Dark Ages when it was forbidden for the common man to own or read the Bible (Proverbs 12:22). All the books of the Bible are written in literal language, except where specified as symbolic. The symbolic portions are also explained within the Scripture (John 5:39). The Bible was designed by God to be understood by any human who is willing to learn (2 Timothy 3:16). The idea that the Bible cannot be understood by all is direct from the enemy (John 8:44). He is the one who accuses us of our sins, before God (Job 1:6-10; Jude 9; Revelation 12:10; PP 478.3, 4). He is the one who made the original claim that God’s laws could not and did not need to be kept (GC 495.2, 3). He is the only one with a problem and it behoves us not to join him in his false claims.

The Holy Spirit is granted to all who open the Scriptures with a heart willing to learn (John 16:13). This is why we are admonished to pray before beginning our Bible studies (GC 530.2). The Bible instructs us to search the scriptures because they tell of Jesus our, only source of life (John 5:39). In the Bible there is truth, and truth is what will set us free from sin (John 8:32; 17:17). Causing people to think that the truth in Scripture is inaccessible without a Theology degree, or worse, that God does not expect us to adhere do His Truth, is the most devious form of lying, because this will result in the demise of our fellow man (Matthew 5:17-20; 23:13).

In Love

Lovers of Pleasure

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