Truth and Truth-Telling (1)

“What is truth?” Pilate asked Jesus, but he never waited for an answer. He could live without it.

We are prone to be no different. We hear the word “truth” more than we live truth. The expressions about truth are common: “I swear it’s the truth”; “the truth is…”; “we still have the truth.” But living out truth—living with integrity in the face of God, others, and self—is rare.

Biblical concept of truth

In the Hebraic Old Testament the word truth and its cognates occur 185 times; in the Greek New Testament, 183 times. The original meaning of the Hebrew and Greek words so translated denote “support,” “stability,” and by implication, “faithfulness,” “completeness,” “ground for confidence by conformity to fact,” and “worthy of personal commitment.” In a word, the full biblical concept of truth involves factuality faithfulness, and completeness from the objective perspective, and experiential reality from the subjective perspective. Both perspectives flow out of the Triune God Himself who is the essence of truth, and is pleased to reveal something of His magnificent attributes to fallen creatures by means of Word and Spirit. To His people, this revelation culminates, as we shall see shortly, in Jesus Christ as the Truth personified (Jn. 14:6).

While a general account of truth is evident throughout Scripture, its focus is always upon the truth of salvation, the revealed truth in the gospel of the Father’s redeeming grace through Christ and by the Spirit to needy sinners. This is the truth which Christ and the apostles proclaimed (Jn. 8:44–46; 18:37; Rom. 9:1), which was foreshadowed in the Old Testament (1 Pet. 1:10–12) and witnessed to by the Holy Spirit (Jn. 16:13). The Father declares the truth (Jn. 1:18), the Son brings and is the truth (Jn. 1:17,14:6), and the Holy Spirit leads into all the truth (Jn. 16:13), so that true believers by grace may know the truth (|n. 8:32), do the truth (Jn. 3:21), and abide in the truth On. 8:44).

Absolute necessity of truth

Thus, the whole of Christianity and salvation is grounded on the truth and trustworthiness of the written Word of God, the Holy Bible, and on the truth and faithfulness of the living Word of God, Jesus Christ. The infallibility and inerrancy of Holy Scripture and the fullness of Jesus Christ as Savior are doctrines upon which Christianity is authenticated. “Thy Word is truth” On. 17:17). Spirit-applied truth through God’s Word in Christ Jesus is critical in Christian doctrine, Christian experience, and Christian living. Martin Luther once wrote, “Peace if possible, but truth at any rate.”

There are few things as important as truth. “God hath but three things dear unto Him in this world—His saints, His worship, and His truth,” wrote Thomas Goodwin, “and it is hard to say which of these is dearest unto Him.”

Truth is also the cement of all societal life. It is the foundation of all forms of knowledge which function in daily life. For mutual trust, business decisions, judicial law, family life, international cooperation—yes, in all areas of life at home, church, school, and work, we need truth. Scrap truth and truth-telling, and what do we have left?

Sadly, contemporary society is in the process of abandoning truth-telling.

Lying for convenience sake has almost become a norm. Recently I read that more than 60% of college students admitted having cheated on exams in school.

Such figures must concern us. The church does not escape the impingement of worldly norms. Indeed, as young people, you are peculiarly susceptible to pressures from peers and the whims of the time. You need grace to be aware of and flee from the perversions of truth-telling.

Multiple perversions of truth

“Me?” perhaps you say, “but I always tell the truth.”

Are you sure? Did you ever read our Heidelberg Catechism on the ninth commandment, question 112, which deals with not bearing false witness? Let’s examine it phrase by phrase.

Lying against others

The Heidelberger begins by saying that the truth-telling demanded in the ninth commandment means “that I bear false witness against no man, nor falsify any man’s words.” Here he means much more than lying in a courtroom as a sworn witness. He is saying, as it were: Anytime you place someone’s words in a false light, you have abandoned truth. If you leave out certain facts that color the incident you are relating, you abandon truth. If you add to the facts, you abandon truth. If you imply false motives and judgments, you abandon truth. If you change the impression of what he/she really intended, by altering your tone of voice—say, in volume, in sarcasm—you are altering the truth.

May I ask you and myself in love: When we dislike someone, do we color his/her words in any of these ways— subtracting, adding, implicating, altering message or tone? Do we speak with the same accuracy about those who dislike us as we do about our friends? If not, is not this “falsifying a man’s words,” or simply put, lying?

You see, any person can take another person’s words, draw them out of context, exaggerate or minimize certain aspects, change the tone of voice, imply false motives, and the result will be most predictable—namely, a condemnatory conclusion. Dear young people, remember this: If you look for things to condemn another person in order to ruin his/her reputation, there is no person for whom you would be hard pressed to find sufficient, destructive ammunition even when the truth is not distorted—much less when it is! We are all sinners and are full of shortcomings.

But let’s go on. The Catechism adds: “that I be no backbiter, nor slanderer.” The difference between a slanderer and a backbiter is minimal. A slanderer is one who openly and intentionally seeks to negatively judge another. A backbiter is more secretive, subtle, and usually more dangerous. For he is kind to your face, but destructive when you turn your back. Backbiting and slandering are perversions of the truth. They are among those sins against the ninth commandment which God says he hates.

Think with me for a moment. Is there anyone—perhaps a peer at school or work—that you are presently backbiting? If so, for your own soul’s sake, stop this grievous sin immediately, and pray for strength to approach that person, and especially God, for forgiveness.

The Catechism continues: “that I do not judge, nor join in condemning any man rashly, or unheard.” This too is lying. We are bearing false witness if we join in conversation affirmatively, or even with silence, those who are backbiting others who are not present How often truth-telling is perverted when rumors are passed on without being proven! Did you know that more than 90% of rumors do not represent the fair or whole truth? Are we not often guilty of judging others before we have heard their perspective of the issue or event being discussed? Particularly in counseling, we have experienced frequently that there are three sides to a story—”your” side, “my” side, and the “right” side! No wonder Solomon said, “He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him” (Prov. 18:13).

“But,” continues the Heidelberg instructor, “that I avoid all sorts of lies and deceit, as the proper works of the devil, unless I would bring down upon me the heavy wrath of God.” All three parts of this statement are strong language:

First, “all sorts of lies and deceits must be avoided.” That includes lying out of malice; lying out of fear; lying for profit; lying through silence; and lying out of pretended ignorance. It embraces lying by minimizing or stating so-called “half-truths”; lying by maximizing or exaggerating beyond truth. It comprehends lying by flattering others or boasting about one’s self; lying to cover lies; lying out of neglect, assumption, or carelessness; lying by breaking promises, vows, or oaths; and lying so-called little “white lies.”

Second, all these kinds of lies are to be regarded “as the proper works of the devil,” the father of liars from the beginning. Jesus said, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth because there was no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie he speak-eth of his own: for he is a liar and the father of it” (Jn. 8:44). Simply put, the origin of all lying is hell.

Third, since all sorts of lies are from the devil and hell, God’s “heavy wrath” is drawn down upon those who persevere in a lifestyle of lying or passing on rumors about others. Oh, what strong language this is! The wrath of God is dreadful; His heavy wrath is unbearable. God hates lying with a peculiar hatred. Four of the seven things the Lord says He hates in Proverbs 6 are directly related to lying: “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto Him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren” (vv. 16–19). Barring repentance, “all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Rev. 21:8b).

Finally, our Catechism adds that truth-telling commands love: “Likewise, that in judgment and all other dealings I love the truth, speak it uprightly and confess it; also that I defend and promote, as much as I am able, the honor and good character of my neighbor.” A Scots forebear, McGowan, has rightly said, “When we look at our own sins, we look, as it were, through the wrong end of a telescope, reducing their size, but when we look at the sins of others, we move to the other end of the telescope to enlarge them.” How similar to Jesus’ teaching about the beam and the moat! Only grace can turn the telescope around, for grace causes us to think most severely of our own sins.

Q. 112. What is required in the ninth commandment?

A. That I bear false witness against no man, nor falsify any man’s words; that I be no backbiter, nor slanderer; that I do not judge, nor join in condemning any man rashly, or unheard; but that I avoid alt sorts of lies and deceit, as the proper works of the devil, unless I would bring down upon me the heavy wrath of God; likewise, that in judgment and all other dealings I love the truth, speak it uprightly and confess it; also that I defend and promote, as much as I am able, the honor and good character of my neighbor.

Dear young people, lying, gossiping, slandering, injuring others—all these things and more, pervert truth-telling, and are much more frequently committed and deeply abhorred by God than we are inclined to believe. There are no little lies, no “white lies” in God’s book. In God’s eye, every lie is black. Every sin is worthy of death.

Satan is the father of liars. He is the antithesis of God; He is the liar and the lie. His very nature cannot but lie. Lying is Satan’s special work. He is always attempting to either minimize sin or minimize grace. His aim is always to undermine and pervert truth, for God is truth and he hates God with unholy hatred.

Lying against myself

But there is more: We are not only truth-perverters with regard to others. Our sinful, Adamic natures also lie to ourselves.

We lie against ourselves when we deny that we are sinners: “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us” (1 Jn. 1:10). We lie against ourselves when we strive to live as if we had no fallen, depraved souls destined for a never-ending eternity. We lie against ourselves when we deceive our poor souls for eternity, claiming personal grace when we are as yet strangers of the saving work of the Holy Spirit in experiential misery, deliverance, and gratitude. We lie against ourselves when we live relatively comfortably though unconverted. We lie against ourselves when we try to build our hopes for eternity on anything other than Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Dear young people, have you ever realized that by nature we are all living a lie? Have you ever faced this truth about yourself? If we never face the truth of our fallen nature, how will we stand in need of Him whose natures are perfect? If we never face the truth of the Jaw’s curse lying upon us, how will we ever flee to the Curse-bearer? If we never face the truth that we must die, how will we ever be prepared to die?

Lying against God

We are prone to pervert truth with respect to God also. We lie against God when we deny Him or His Son: “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son” (1 Jn. 2:22; cf. 5:10). When we pretend we are not enemies of free grace, as if we are more willing to be converted than God is willing to convert us, we pervert the truth of God. When we trample under foot His gospel invitations and hide behind our inability, we call God a liar. We pervert the truth of the nature of God and the gospel when we don’t believe what our Canons of Dort state so clearly: “It is not the fault of the gospel, nor of Christ, offered therein, nor of God, who calls men by the gospel, and confers upon them various gifts, that those who are called by the ministry of the word, refuse to come, and be converted: the fault lies in themselves” (Head III- IV, Article 9).

Dear young people, are we not all prone to be truth-perverters—against others, ourselves, and God? Oh, if our hearts were only convicted of it by the Holy Spirit, for then we would be persuaded profoundly of our guilt! We are all worthy of condemnation. Truth-perverting is our very nature, ever since our deep fall in Paradise.

Indeed, saving grace is the only means to escape the lie. For when we are unconverted, we are doing nothing less than living a lie. “How?” you ask. Well, every moment we do not glorify God, live by faith, and walk according to the spirituality of the law, we are not only not performing good works and thereby falling short of the purpose for which we are created, but are also continuing to proclaim to God that we still believe the paradise lie of Satan above the paradise truth of our Creator. Our entire life is then a lie, a bearing of false witness to our Creator and to the way we were created.

Dr. J.R. Beeke is pastor of the First Netherlands Reformed Congregation of Grand Rapids, Michigan. This and a concluding article represent the substance of Youth Conference addresses recently given.

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