Is lying a serious sin?

“You will destroy those who tell lies; those who shed blood and practice deceit are an abomination to the Lord.” (Psalm 5:6). “A lying mouth is an abomination to the Lord, but he who walks in truth is his delight.” (Proverbs 12:22). “Would that my head were water and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughters of my people! If only I had a place for wayfarers to stay in the wilderness, that I could leave my people Get out! For they are all adulterers and a deceitful party. They bend their tongue like a bow to tell lies. They do not increase their power in the kingdom by adding evil to evil. You do not know me, says the LORD. Beware of your neighbor, and do not trust your brother, for his neighbor is a slanderer and a slanderer. You are a liar, a laborer of iniquity; your dwelling place is among the deceitful, and they have refused to know me because of their deceit, says the LORD of hosts, 'Behold, I will melt them and refine them. Otherwise, what shall I do on account of the daughters of my people? Their tongues are poisonous darts, and their words are deceitful; they speak peace to their neighbor, but their heart plots against them, 'said the LORD, 'will I not take action against them for these things? What about the sins of such a nation? '" (Jeremiah 9:1-9). "If you say yes, say yes; if you say no, say no; and if you say any more, it is from the evil one." (Matthew 5:37) "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not abide in the truth, for there is no truth in him. He speaks out of himself, for he is a liar , and the father of lies” (John 8:44). “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars—these will have their place in the lake burning with fire and brimstone, the second time death.” (Revelation 21:8). “Blessed are those who wash their clothes, who have authority to the tree of life, and to enter the city by the gate. Outside the city are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and all He who loves to tell lies and fabricate lies” (Revelation 22:14, 15). All Christians consider worshiping false gods, killing, stealing, and committing adultery to be serious sins, but few Christians consider telling lies to be serious sins. It is for this reason that lies are not only prevalent among unbelievers, but also prevalent in the church. There are not many honest people in the world, and there are not many honest people in the church. Not only are there few honest people among ordinary believers, there are also few honest people among the leaders of the church, those who are called “servants of God.” Looking at the world and then looking at the church, we really cannot help but cry out like David, "O Lord, help me; for the godly are gone, and the faithful are no longer among the people. Everyone lies to his neighbor, and they He speaks with greasy lips and a confused heart.” (Psalm 12:1, 2) In the eyes of God, the sin of lying is never lower than the sins of idolatry, murder, stealing, adultery and other sins. As long as we carefully read the passages quoted above, we can see how abominable and hateful the sin of lying is in the eyes of God. "You will destroy anyone who tells lies." "A lying mouth is an abomination to the Lord." Because of telling lies and practicing deceit, the Israelites encountered the great wrath of God. Our Lord told us, "If your words are yes, say 'yes'; if they are no, say 'no'; and if you say more, it is from the evil one." These words clearly let us know that even a little Lies also come from the devil. He also tells us that the devil "lies lies of his own accord, for he is a liar and the father of lies." From this passage we know more clearly that all lies come from the devil. When we lie, we offer our lips and tongue to the devil as his tools. Please think how much this offends God! The last two passages we quoted above clearly juxtapose the sin of lying with the major sins of unbelief, murder, sexual immorality, sorcery, idolatry, etc., and say that those who commit these sins cannot enter the Holy City. Jerusalem will go through the second death. God regards the sin of lying so seriously and hatefully, and He warns us so earnestly in the Bible. How can we think that lying is nothing? In the past, we regarded lying as a small sin, which is actually a huge mistake. This misconception must be completely corrected.

From now on we must view lying as shameful and hateful as idolatry, murder, and sexual immorality. If we tell a lie, we should confess it just as we would if we worshiped an idol, killed someone, or committed adultery. We should be as cautious about lying as we are about committing other major sins. Lying is the most defiling of our spirits and the most damaging of our minds. If a person is used to lying, his heart will be so bad that he can and dares to commit any major sin in the world. Not only that, lies are also the camp and stronghold of all kinds of evil. As long as a person can lie, all kinds of sins will gather and reside in him. On the other hand, if a person does not tell lies, all kinds of sins will have no place to hide in his life. No honest person can steal or cheat, and no honest person can commit adultery or murder. Even if he could do these things, he could only do them once. After he committed these crimes, because he was honest and sincere, he would not lie to cover up. Therefore, he was punished by the law and laughed at by everyone for his sins. Of course he wouldn't dare to do it a second time. The reason why a person can and dares to commit crimes repeatedly is because after committing the crime, he tells lies and uses deception to cover up the crime he has committed. The crimes he had committed in the past had not been discovered, so of course he dared to continue committing crimes. The more sins he committed, the more lies he told, and the more lies he told, the more sins he committed. The sins he committed and the lies he told supported and nurtured each other, and his life was hopeless. As soon as he abandons the sin of lying, all other sins will immediately lose their hiding place, their helping partners, and their powerful backup. They are all forced to leave because they are helpless and have nowhere to hide. Got him. No matter how many sins a person abandons, as long as he does not abandon lies and deceit, all those sins will soon return to his life, and when they come back, they are often more rampant and more powerful than before, because they were before Crime is committed with those filthy and evil faces, but at this time they are committing it with the mask of piety. This mask of godliness is the most deceptive and makes it difficult for people to discover their sin. Under such circumstances, the sins they committed were not only more numerous than before, but also greater and more heinous than before. Understanding this truth, we should pay special attention to this great sin - deceit and lying. When confessing your sins, you must never let it go lightly. You must call it by its true name and rebuke it and abandon it. After confessing our sins, we must always be careful not to allow them to invade our lives. Don't leave it alone. Never let it go just because it is small. If a man can lie about little things, he can lie about big things. On the other hand, if a person is honest and does not lie about small things, he will never lie about big things. A virtuous mother once taught her son, "Son, if you don't want to be an alcoholic, you must not take the first sip of wine." Yes, without taking the first sip of wine, it is naturally impossible to drink a lot of wine. Nor will he become an alcoholic. The same is true for the sin of lying. If you never tell the first lie, you will never tell many lies. Because many people are used to lying about small things, when they encounter big things, they tell lies without any effort or thought. If you examine the lives of many Christians in detail, you will not be surprised that they can commit so many serious sins, which not only dishonor God but also harm many people. You can find many lies and deceptions in their daily words and deeds. Among parents and children, among brothers and sisters, among husbands and wives, among masters and servants, among neighbors and among relatives, it has become commonplace to lie to each other. I hear many Christian parents tell lies and deceive their children. I have seen many Christians deceive and deceive those in their families. I have met many Christians who put on a front and play tricks on their spouses. This is true for close relatives, let alone other people. If you admonish them, they will say, "What do these little things mean? What great harm can these insignificant little lies do? Who can be so perfectly holy as not to tell a lie?" They even say, "A man It is impossible to live in this world without telling a lie. If you want to be a completely honest person without telling a lie, you have to go to heaven. "It is this wrong concept that has harmed many Christians. Let them give their tongues free rein to tell lies. First one sentence, then two sentences, then three, four, five, ten, twenty, thirty, one hundred, five hundred, and one thousand sentences.

First he lies about small things, then he lies about bigger things, and then he also lies about big things. First they lie in front of people, and then they also lie in front of God. The more they lie, the darker their heart becomes and the greater their courage. These people are unimaginably bad. We must never think that telling a small lie is not a sin. The words our Lord taught us prove this view to be false. He said, "If your words are yes, say 'yes'; if they are no, say 'no'; if you say more, it is from the evil one." Do you hear that? Anything more than "yes" and "no" comes from the evil one, the devil. Are small lies also included in this lesson? If it is impossible for us to live in this world as a person who is absolutely honest and does not tell lies, why did our Lord give us this lesson? He will never force us to do something difficult, and He will never ask us to do something that we are simply unable to do. He knew what he was talking about. He knows we need this kind of teaching, so He says this to us. Don’t we acknowledge that Jesus is our Lord and Teacher? Then we should follow in his footsteps and imitate his likeness. He once said to us, “I have given you an example, that you should do just as I did to you.” (John 13:15). What kind of Lord is He? His disciples testified about him that "he had committed no sin, nor was there any deceit in his mouth." (1 Peter 2:22). Here the apostle testifies that the Lord Jesus did not sin, and specifically mentions that “there was no deceit in his mouth.” On the one hand, it lets us know that our Lord is so holy and perfect, and not even a lie was uttered in His mouth. Isn’t it also to teach us and enable us to pursue a completely honest life? If lies still come out of our mouths, are we worthy to be called His disciples? The world is indeed full of deceit and lies, but Christians should be “blameless and truthful, children of God without blemish in a crooked and perverse generation” (Philippians 2:15). As they do this, they will encounter persecution from the world. The more a Christian is like the Lord, the more he will be persecuted by the world, just as the Lord was persecuted by the world. The disciples of Christ are persecuted by the world not only because they acknowledge the name of the Lord, but also because they obey the Lord’s ways and live like the Lord. Christians who cannot express Christ at all in their lives will not face much persecution because they cannot have any impact on the world. There is nothing much in the world with them, and there is nothing less in the world without them. This is not the case with Christ-like Christians. Like the Lord Jesus, they have become the light of the world, just as the Lord Jesus said, "I am the light of the world." (John 8:12), and also said, "You are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:14). Festival). When we truly become the light of the world, we will be hated by the world. Because "the light shines in the darkness, but the darkness does not receive the light." (John 1:5). "The light has come into the world, and men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. This is the condemnation of them. Whoever does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds be rebuked. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that it may be revealed that his deeds are in God” (John 3:19-21). We should not be afraid to pay any price and make any sacrifice to acknowledge the name of the Lord. We should not be afraid to pay any price or make any sacrifices to follow the Lord’s way. As honest people, we should do the same when we speak the truth. If we are beaten and insulted by others because we refuse to tell lies, and if we encounter persecution and tribulation because we are unwilling to follow others in doing hypocritical things, we are blessed, because this is suffering persecution for righteousness. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:10). If we lose our lives because we refuse to follow a lie told by others, we will receive the same reward as those saints in ancient times who laid down their lives for the Lord. Just as we should be prepared to lay down our lives for confessing the name of the Lord, so we should be prepared to lay down our lives for those who do truth. Many believers think that we might as well give in to Satan and compromise with the world on small things, and only then can we sacrifice ourselves when major temptations come. They say, "It's not worth sacrificing for small things." Facts tell us that those who give in on small things rarely stand up for big things. This is not surprising. If a person is afraid of small things and does not have the courage to duel with the enemy, when encountering a big event, if he does not raise the white flag and surrender, he will definitely "abandon his armor and drag his troops away." Those who win in small things may not necessarily win in big things, but those who fail in small things will definitely fail in big things.

Our Lord told us very clearly, "Whoever is faithful in a very small thing will also be faithful in a great thing; but whoever is unjust in a very small thing will also be unrighteous in a great thing." (Luke 16:10) This It is the truth that can never be changed. Satan often deceives us in this way, saying, "This is a small sin, and it doesn't matter if you commit it. You might as well give in on small things, but you must not give in when big things happen. For some small things, we destroy everything." Your future and work are too unworthy. It is a pity to sacrifice for some unimportant issues. Didn’t your Lord tell you to be as clever as a snake? Why are you so stubborn? Many believers have been deceived by such words, causing them to sin in small things, give in to the world in small things, and lose their loyalty to God. What's the result? First give way an inch, then a foot, then a foot, ten feet, a mile, ten miles, a hundred miles, until finally you give up your position completely. We must know that when we are fighting Satan on the spiritual battlefield, we can only move forward, not retreat. We can only attack, but cannot make concessions. Not only can we not retreat more or less, not only can we not make big concessions, we cannot make any Small concessions. We should indeed follow the teachings of the Bible – “If it is possible, as far as it is possible, as far as possible, live at peace with everyone.” (Romans 12:18). But we cannot do things that God hates for the sake of peace with others. Since telling lies and deceit is abhorrent to God, we should be prepared to pay any price and make any sacrifice for those who are honest, even if we give up our property, reputation, status, future, and life, we will not hesitate. Only with this determination can we be victorious warriors in the spiritual battlefield. If we don't do this, we will only fail again and again, until we fail to the point of being out of control, and we will eventually become the captives of Satan. What a terrible thing that is!