These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts;
- Zechariah 8:16
keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
- 1 Peter 3:16
Paul answered: “I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well.
- Acts 25:10
Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.
- 3 John 1:12
An honest witness does not deceive,
but a false witness pours out lies. …
A truthful witness saves lives,
but a false witness is deceitful.
- Proverbs 14:5, 25
The Larger Catechism has twenty-three points for this question and biblical proofs for each point. I will only provide the biblical references so that you can look them up at your leisure.
1. Eph. 4:25.
2. III John 12.
3. Prov. 31:9.
4. Ps. 15:2.
5. Jer. 9:3.
6. Jer. 42:4; Acts 20:20.
7. Acts 20:27.
8. Lev. 19:15; Prov. 14:15.
9. Isa. 63:8; Col. 3:9; II Cor. 1:17.
10. Heb. 6:9; I Cor. 13:4, 5.
11. III John 4; Rom. 1:8.
12. II Cor. 12:21; Ps. 119:158.
13. Prov. 17:9; I Peter 4:8.
14. I Cor. 1:4, 5; II Tim. 1:4, 5.
15. Ps. 82:3.
16. I Cor. 13:4, 6, 7.
17. Ps. 15:3.
18. Prov. 25:23.
19. Prov. 26:24, 25.
20. Ps. 101:5.
21. II Cor. 11:18, 23; Prov. 22:1; John 8:49.
22. Ps. 15:4.
23. Phil. 4:8.
“Q. 62. What is required in the Ninth Commandment?
“A. The Ninth Commandment requires the maintaining and promoting of truth between man and man (Zech. 8:16), and of our own (1 Pet. 3:16, Acts 25:10), and our neighbor’s good name (3 John 1:12), especially in witness-bearing. (Prov. 14:5, 25).”
- Charles H. Spurgeon, Spurgeon’s Catechism (Scripture proofs in bold above)
“Q. 77. What is required in the Ninth Commandment?
“A. The Ninth Commandment requireth the maintaining and promoting of truth between man and man, and of our own and our neighbor’s good name, especially in witness-bearing.”
- The Shorter Catechism (Westminster Assembly)
“Q. 144. What are the duties required in the Ninth Commandment?
“A. The duties required in the Ninth Commandment are: the preserving and promoting of truth between man and man, and the good name of our neighbor, as well as our own; appearing and standing for the truth; and from the heart, sincerely, freely, clearly, and fully, speaking the truth, and only the truth, in matters of judgment and justice, and in all other things whatsoever; a charitable esteem of our neighbors, loving, desiring, and rejoicing in their good name; sorrowing for, and covering of their infirmities; freely acknowledging of their gifts and graces, defending their innocency; a ready receiving of good report, and unwillingness to admit of an evil report concerning them; discouraging talebearers, flatterers, and slanderers; love and care of our own good name, and defending it when need requireth; keeping of lawful promises; studying and practicing of whatsoever things are true, honest, lovely, and of good report.”
- The Larger Catechism (Westminster Assembly)
The Shorter and Spurgeon catechisms have the same wording, almost, and the same biblical proofs. The Larger Catechism adds twenty-three points, each with their own biblical proofs that are listed for extra research, if you desire.
All three use the phrase “between man and man.” This could easily be read as any two members of the human race. This is not to be thought of as gender specific.
As usual, the Larger Catechism breaks down bearing false witness into any type of injurious falsehood, even flattery.
Promoting truth is the key here, from a positive point of view. The opposing question for the Shorter and Larger Catechisms is what is forbidden. Here what is required is to avoid all the things forbidden, but in doing so, we are promoting truth.
The commandment sounds exclusive to a court of law, but the catechism answers emphasize that it is especially important in a court of law. In court, a falsehood could lead to someone wrongly convicted of a crime or a criminal being set free, and in civil court, obtaining money through false testimony is another form of stealing money.
We need to have people around us that we can trust. We may trust someone to do the wrong thing, to tell falsehood all the time, but a healthy relationship cannot be sustained if one person is like that.
I wrote yesterday’s biographical story of my wife that we had bought a “program” car, but when the car turned out to be a lemon, we questioned whether we had been told the truth about anything related to the car. It is one thing to just not do business with that company anymore, but with such rampant disrespect for truth, we might be left with doing no business with anyone.
While the secular world says that all truth is subjective, in actuality very little truth is subjective. In fact, in the court of law situation, you get honest witness statements that contradict each other. By virtue of their point of view, two or three witnesses could see the interaction completely differently.
A case in point was when my son was a victim of student violence in an elementary school. As a teacher, he told a student to do something. The student was out of control. The student punched him in the groin, and my son doubled over. The principal told the student to go home for the day but he would not be suspended, an automatic action in such cases. In private, the principal said that she saw my son strike back, and he should be fired. The principal had looked at the classroom video, but she was basing his doubling over as reaching down to hit the child. Yet, a closer look at the video shows both of my son’s hands in his pockets. As an eyewitness, instead of the video that can be rewound and studied frame by frame, you might say in court that you saw the teacher make a punch, when that is not what happened. As it turned out, no charges were made against anyone, but you could see how someone might think something else. Then you add prejudice to the situation, and they are even more confident they saw what they thought they saw.
But my point is that there was only one truth. The child struck the teacher, and the teacher did not retaliate. He was too busy doubling over in pain. While eyewitnesses might see it differently, there is only one truth, what actually happened. Subjectivity comes into play regarding motivation, and for the most part, that is one person’s fantasy against another’s unless the person has a long track record in that regard.
And for that reason, we need to heed this commandment. If we live by the Truth, people will know our motivation is that of truth, justice, and love.
And now let us sing.
The following song is Voice of Truth, sung by Casting Crowns. Lies hurt us, but the Truth is something we can use as our foundation.
“Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I’m in
Onto the crashing waves
To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He’s holding out His hand
But the waves are calling out my name
And they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times
I’ve tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again. “Boy, you’ll never win!”
“You’ll never win!”
But the Voice of Truth tells me a different story
The Voice of Truth says, “Do not be afraid!”
And the Voice of Truth says, “This is for My glory”
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of Truth
Oh what I would do to have
The kind of strength it takes
To stand before a giant
With just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors
Shaking in their armor
Wishing they’d have had the strength to stand
But the giant’s calling out my name
And he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times
I’ve tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
Time and time again. “Boy you’ll never win!”
“You’ll never win!”
But the Voice of Truth tells me a different story
The Voice of Truth says, “Do not be afraid!”
And the Voice of Truth says, “This is for My glory”
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of Truth
But the stone was just the right size
To put the giant on the ground
And the waves they don’t seem so high
On top of them lookin’ down
I will soar with the wings of eagles
When I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
Singing over me
But the Voice of Truth tells me a different story
The Voice of Truth says, “Do not be afraid!”
And the Voice of Truth says, “This is for My glory”
Out of all the voices calling out to me (calling out to me)
I will choose to listen and believe
I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of Truth
I will listen and believe
I will listen and believe the Voice of truth
I will listen and believe
Cause Jesus you are the voice of truth
And I will listen to you, you are”
- Steven Curtis Chapman, Voice of Truth
Closing Prayer
Dear Lord,
You are our Truth. We can stand upon the Truth, because You are our foundation, our rock. When we look elsewhere, we often get falsehood. Help us. Give us strength to stand on the truth and treat each other with honesty. Help us show Your love to others by being reliable in Truth.
In thy Name we pray.
Amen
Soli Deo Gloria. Only to God be the Glory.
Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley 
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