The Disastrous Sin of Lying

Since you have learned Christ, verse 20, since you have been taught in Him, verse 21, since truth is in Jesus, verse 21, since you have been, verse 23, renewed in the spirit of your mind, since you have put on a new self in the likeness of God, created in righteousness and holiness of the truth, stop lying.

A school district in Virginia recently made it an infraction for students to refer to a classmate by his or her given name and by the corresponding pronouns if that classmate now identifies with pronouns of the opposite sex. You may have heard that story in the news. We're living in a time when even long-established realities are being turned on their heads. So in a world that, frankly, is actively promoting lies, how do you stand for the truth?

How do you show others that there is a God of truth and that objective realities will affect their eternal destiny? John MacArthur gives you practical biblical wisdom today on grace to you as he looks at the disastrous sin of lying. And now with the lesson, here's John. Paul has brought us into Ephesians, chapter 4, right in the middle of this amazing epistle that talks about the transformation that salvation is.

You are not the same. You are a new creation. We come now to the text that I want to draw your attention to. We actually are arriving at verse 25, but I want to read starting at verse 17, because here again the transformation is described. So, this I say and affirm together with the Lord that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart, and they having become callous have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him just as truth is in Jesus, that in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new self which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

What marks a person who is unconverted is unrighteousness, unholiness, and deception. The transformation produces one who has been created in righteousness and holiness and truth. So by the time you get to chapter 4, verse 24, that last verse that I read, you have the theology of transformation. You have the theology of salvation.

You have the theology of conversion. And then in verse 25 you see therefore. And now we start in the rest of the epistle which is the implications of that saving truth.

Because you have been transformed, here is how you are to live. And so I want to read verses 25 to 27. This is where Paul begins the practical part of this epistle. Notice the two sins that he starts with. Therefore, since you have been made new in righteousness, holiness, and truth, therefore laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor.

For we are members of one another. Be angry and yet do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.

Of all the sins that Paul could have started with, at the top of the list it should be somewhat interesting to you that the first two sins he is concerned that Christians renounce that's what laying aside means to completely renounce are lying and anger, lying and anger. And they are associated, by the way, specifically with the devil in verse 27. Lying and anger are the primary operational techniques of Satan.

We know that because Jesus in John 8.44 said, the devil is a liar and the father of lies, and he is a murderer from the beginning. And obviously the ultimate end of hate is murder. Even if you don't murder, but you hate, you're a murderer in your heart. And hatred and murder are the fruit of anger.

This should be obvious to you because you've lived it out, we all have. The two commonest human default sins are lies and anger. This is the initial default of all fallenness. The entire human race easily moves into lies and into anger. They're the very categories of sin that are the absolute default position of a fallen human race.

It's where sinners go easily, easily. And we see that from the very youngest child. What characterizes young children? Lies and anger.

It doesn't take very long. Maybe by the time they're two, they have begun to try to deceive you. And when you ask them at the age of three or four if they did that, they'll say no. So when you welcome that beautiful little baby into your home, you just brought in a born liar who is hostile and angry. And then you're surprised when you say no and he slams himself on the floor and throws a tantrum. This is the foundation of hate and murder. You stood in his way.

You interrupted his will. Lying is the way you hide what's wrong with you and avoid consequences. Anger is the way you reach out and assault the people who threaten your freedom. Psychologists say that by the time children are four, they have mastered the art of lying. It doesn't take long. And just to remind you, Psalm 58 3, because some of you are saying, not my baby. So I'm going to remind you of Psalm 58 3, the wicked are estranged from the womb. They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies. Your child is a born liar.

We're all born liars. That is the default position of all fallen human beings. And this is consistent with how Satan operates as a liar and a hateful killer. And since the whole world lies in the power of the evil one, 1 John 5 19, this infects the entire human race, and as I just quoted for you, does so from the time they come from the womb.

This is the initial evidence of human depravity. But when you are converted, when you're regenerated, when you are transformed, you become truthful and loving. That's the dynamic transformation that takes place.

Consistent with that transformation, then comes the instruction. Back to verse 25, therefore, laying aside falsehood. Since you have learned Christ, verse 20, since you have been taught in Him, verse 21, since truth is in Jesus, verse 21, since you have left behind your former manner of life, since you have been, verse 23, renewed in the spirit of your mind, since you have put on a new self in the likeness of God, created in righteousness and holiness of the truth, stop lying.

Stop lying. If you say you belong to Christ, it will show up in the fact that you will keep His commandments, and that means you will tell the truth. We are the sons of God.

We are the children of God. The Holy Spirit lives within us, the Word of truth. Christ is the truth, and God is true if every man is a liar. Psalm 31 5, Isaiah 65 calls God the God of truth. Psalm 86 says He is abundant in truth.

This is the nature of God. Exodus 34, He abounds in truth. 2 Samuel 7 says, You are God and Your words are truth. So we are the people of the truth.

The church is the pillar and ground of what? Of the truth. This is the only way we can maintain the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace is to speak the truth. Lies send the wrong signals and are disastrously dangerous. Now as Christians, we know the truth.

In fact, let's start behind that. We believe there is such a thing as truth, right? We affirm absolute truth. We not only affirm that absolute truth exists, we know what the absolute truth is because it's revealed on the pages of Scripture.

We are the people of the truth. But even as the people of the truth, we're constantly having to battle against the liars who have infiltrated the church which is the pillar and ground of the truth. And, you know, we can fall prey to those things because there's something about the remaining flesh that is drawn to deception, drawn to lies, drawn to anger, drawn to hate. It's just still there because the sin is still in our flesh. So liars and those who are angry and desire to do damage and harm will find a hearing because there's something in our flesh that pulls us toward that deception and that destruction.

It's part of just the remaining flesh. But add to that this reality, that no civilization has ever lived with as many lies and liars as the one in which we live today. There was a time for most of human history where you only knew the lies that somebody told you. And then somebody invented a printing press, and then you could know the lies that somebody else told. And then somebody invented a telephone and you could hear the lies from people who weren't anywhere near you. And then came the wonderful Internet, and the Internet has created an explosion of lies that is beyond human comprehension. No generation of people has been exposed to more lies and more liars than this one. And that comes at your fallen flesh.

You still have that weakness in you and the massive amount of lies. Find you. You don't find them, they find you. If you have a phone, they find you. They find you constantly. If you turn on the radio, they find you.

If you turn on the television, they find you. Everyone lies sometimes, and most people lie most of the time. People lie about everything. They lie about things you wouldn't even think they would need to lie about. And they lie about things that are patently, obviously untrue.

So this is a hard time. From the top down lies abound, and they are massive lies, and lies that on the surface should be rejected unless you have a reprobate mind, as Romans 1 says happens when God puts a nation under judgment. Listen to Romans 3, verse 10. There is none righteous, not even one. There is none who understands. There is none who seeks for God. All have turned aside. Together they have become useless. There is none who does good.

There is not even one. Their throat is an open grave. With their tongues they keep deceiving. This is a description of sin, and the first sin specifically mentioned is lying, because again it is the default position of fallenness. It's where sinners go most naturally.

Why? For self-preservation and to do harm and damage out of anger and hatred. This is what the Scripture says about liars. Romans 1 says that when God puts people under judgment, they believe a lie. They believe a lie. It's part of the reprobate mind. And if you look into the future, 2 Thessalonians 2, 11 talks about the time in the future when our Lord will come, and it says this, God will send them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false.

It doesn't seem like a big jump, does it? How hard would it be for God to delude the entire population with a deluding influence? They're already deluded over things that should be obvious. And it's going to get worse, and lies and liars are going to get worse, and the delusion is going to become worse and worse until our Lord comes to judge it all. It's important for people to understand how God feels about liars and lying. God hates lying tongue, and He hates the anger that becomes hate that can go as far as to kill. And Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount of Matthew 5, 21 and 22, if you hate in your heart, it's the same thing as murder. People are filled with lies and deception and anger and hate.

The only thing that restrains them from murdering is the consequences. And Proverbs 26, 28 says, a lying tongue hates those it crushes. A lying tongue hates those it crushes.

When you lie to people, you lie to them because you hate them. Throughout the Old Testament, lying lips are always an evidence, and this is important, of disdain for God. You hate God if you lie, because God hates lying. So you're taking God on. It isn't complicated to know God hates lying. So if you're a contented liar, you're taking on God.

It's an abomination to Him, and it shows disdain for Him. And I warn you of this. Every lie you're ever told will be recorded in heaven. Every single lie you ever speak. Matthew 12, 36, every word out of your mouth is on the divine record, and there will be an accounting for every word. Hell is full of liars. Heaven is full of forgiven liars. You may think God is on your side when you blaspheme Him and you abominate Him, but He's not.

He's not. When you bring Him into complicity with your gross transgressions. But that's what people do, and then they say, wait a minute, are God's okay with this? But listen carefully, Revelation 21, 8, but for the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars. Their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. I said it earlier, I'll say it again, hell is full of liars. Heaven is full of forgiven liars who were transformed into the people of the truth. You're told there that there won't be liars in heaven, because all liars will be in hell, all of them. Chapter 22 of Revelation, amazing that the specific issue of lying goes right to the end of Holy Scripture. Verse 14, blessed are those who wash their robes so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter by the gates into the city.

This is the heavenly city. Outside are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the immoral persons, and the murderers, and the idolaters, same list as chapter 21, verse 8, and everyone who loves and practices lying. They're not in heaven. Heaven's not for liars. Heaven's not for liars.

This is the most significant illustration of the hatred of God that dominates the power structure in this world and this nation. They lie. They lie about everything to cover their sin or to advance their sinful desires, to protect themselves or to make themselves rich in power and money.

Whether your lies are direct lies, half-truths intended to mislead, perjury, exaggeration, boasting, flattery, slander, false accusations, hypocrisy, deceitful behavior, whatever kind of lies. If, as Revelation says, you love and practice lying, you'll never arrive in God's holy heaven. Heaven only holds forgiven liars who've been transformed. So let the church be true, right? Let the church speak the truth, and we always speak truth one to another. We are the people of the truth. The church is the pillar and ground of the truth.

So let's bow in prayer. The clarity of these Scriptures today, Lord, are unmistakable. We have no excuse, and I pray that everyone would do an inventory, and we would be made aware by the prompting of Your Holy Spirit, by the conviction of the Spirit, the activation of our conscience, whether we are people of the truth or liars. And, Lord, give us the courage to be the people of the truth no matter what the cost, knowing that You are the God of truth. Christ is the truth.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. The Scripture is the truth, and we are protected by Your promise that You will safeguard Your truth and Your people. I pray that You'll help parents who raise their children to love truth and hate lies, that You'll protect the little ones in this generation from the lies that they will be told in places where they're vulnerable through media, through school teachers, whatever it is.

Protect Your church from lies. Protect us that we may always be known as those who are faithful to the truth, who love the truth, who proclaim the truth at any cost. Lord, we ask that You would work Your work of grace in every heart here, whatever that may be, the transformation of salvation or the continuing work of sanctification, that we may be everything You want us to be for Your glory, we pray in the Savior's name. Amen. This is Grace to You with John MacArthur.

Thanks for being with us. John is a pastor, author, and chancellor of the Masters University and Seminary. His lesson today looked at the disastrous sin of lying. Well, friend, you heard a bit today about the importance of parents training their children to tell the truth. If you download the full message from our website, you'll hear even more about that. And John, you and Patricia took the sin of lying very seriously in raising your own children.

So talk about that for a minute. Yeah, I mean, the basic rule with our four kids was you'll be punished for disobedience, you'll be punished for sinful behavior, but you'll be punished more if you lie. So it was always safer to tell the truth and take the punishment that your misdeed deserved rather than lie, because then the consequences were going to be greater.

There are so many things the Lord hates, but a lying tongue is at the top of the list. We're living in a culture today where we are being lied to by everybody all the time. Media lies, politicians lie, school teachers lie, professors lie, false teachers lie. I mean, it's just a world of lies.

And of course, we shouldn't be surprised because Satan is a liar and the father of lies, and deception is what operates his entire kingdom, and the whole world is in the lap of the evil one. The thing that is most important if you're going to navigate the fallen world is to be truthful. You need to know the truth, and you need to be a truthful person. This I think makes you the real source of wisdom, sanity, understanding, knowledge, if you're the truth teller. And so we tried to instill that in our children from the very time they were small.

Always tell the truth, always tell the truth. And I can remember some pretty serious spankings we gave our kids when they lied, and our kids grew up to tell the truth. That's part of training a child in the way he should go and the result he won't depart from it.

So that is a vital thing. I want to suggest a book to you, What the Bible Says About Parenting. Look, this is a tough time to parent in the world in which we live. This book will revolutionize your parenting, and that can revolutionize your children. The book, again, What the Bible Says About Parenting, how to avoid the dangers of self-esteem, how to present the gospel to your children, what every child's greatest need is, all of these things and more. You can pick up your copy of What the Bible Says About Parenting today. Price is affordable. Shipping is free in the U.S. Just let us know you want one.

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