Although we may think of this law as the commandment against lying, what it condemns is much more insidious. Most people lie to escape some unpleasant situation in their lives—such as a child which has broken something but denies any guilt, or a spouse who is suspected of cheating that tries to cover up their sin. However, when we bear false witness against someone we are intending to cause them irreparable harm in some way. The foremost example would be to commit perjury in a court of law for the purpose of seeing someone being found guilty or perverting justice. Other ways in which we commit this sin is by slandering a person or by spreading rumors which have no basis of fact. Man’s wicked heart loves to hear and spread lurid tales or slanderous stories about someone else. It somehow salves our own guilty conscience when can disparage another person. These kinds of acts can destroy a person’s life or reputation, and God’s law judged it severely.

Exo 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

Lev 19:16 Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD.

Prov 18:8 The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.

Deut 19:16 If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong;
17 Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days;
18 And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother;
19 Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you.
20 And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you.

Of course, Christians should have no part in this kind of sin. The love of Christ in our hearts “Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth.” We are to believe the best about other people, especially our fellow brethren. Gossiping, spreading rumors, slander, and tale bearing must be avoided at all cost. Jesus taught that “every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” He also taught that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” Do we have the “good treasure” of Christ in our hearts that “bringeth forth good things,” or are we feeding upon the garbage of the world and bringing “forth evil things”?

1 Cor 13:4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

James 4:11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.

Phil 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Matt 12:34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

When we view this commandment spiritually instead of just morally, we see that, for the child of God, it also teaches us something different. When we lived in sin, before we meet Christ, our lives were built upon falsehoods. We, of necessity, bore false witness to ourselves, to God, and to others about our true condition. We found it comforting to hide beneath our “refuge of lies” so that our guilty conscience might be assuaged. As Adam hid from God, even so we all have our own “hiding place” of self-deception. However, once God calls us into the light and we “know the truth,” the truth makes us free from this struggle to maintain our own sense of self-righteousness. We no longer have to lie to ourselves or to God about what we are or what we have done—we are sinners, but “the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” As believers we must “walk in the light” of knowing what we are apart from Christ and knowing that it is only by His mercy and grace that we have a relationship with God. Furthermore, we must not be hypocritical in how we present ourselves to others. Because of the vanity of our flesh, we all desire to have others admire and look to us as someone special. Religious people, in particular, love to dress and act piously in order gain the respect and admiration of others. As Christians, we all put on our church clothes, our church face, and our church attitude when we attend Sunday services. We don’t want others to think we might have problems or that we are not living victoriously over sin and the world. However, by putting on this counterfeit front we are bearing false witness to them. Christians, of all people, need to be real, and they need to be honest, even at the expense of our pride. By continuing to walk in these falsehoods we are denying our need of the grace that God has provided for us. Furthermore, by deceiving our fellow brethren we are causing them to err from the truth and depriving them of the mercy and grace they so desperately need. When we put on a fake front to weaker brethren they feel condemned because of their failings. As believers we are to “speak every man truth with his neighbour,” but especially to our fellow brethren.

Isa 28:17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

John 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

Eph 4:17 This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:

2 Cor 11:12 But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we.
13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Matt 23:1 Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
2 Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:
3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

Luke 11:52 Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.

1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Eph 4:25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.