Do Not Lie to One Another
Do Not Lie to One Another
July 25, 2007
“Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator”
Colossians 3:9-10
1. When Paul forbids lying he condemns every sort of cunning. Because Jesus Christ is “the truth” “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6), believers ought to practice truth in all areas of life.
2. Believers are not to lie to one another because lying characterizes Satan. “He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44) When believers lie, they are imitating Satan, not their heavenly Father.
3. Lying can take place in words said as well as words left unsaid. Believers should not exaggerate statistics, pass on rumors or gossip, or say things to build up their own image at others’ expense. Instead, because they have stripped off the old self with its practices, they should be committed to telling the truth.
4. What is that “old self” or “old nature”? It is whatever we bring from our mother’s womb, and whatever we were by nature. It was each person before he or she came to know Christ. The person was enslaved to sin, bound to the earth, without hope.
5. What is the “new self” or “new nature”? The new man is that which is renewed by the Spirit of Christ to the obedience of righteousness - that which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. The new self or “new nature” from Christ frees us from sin, sets our hearts on “things above” (Col 3:1), and gives us the hope of eternity.
6. Paul was appealing to the commitment the believers had made, urging them to remain true to their confession of faith. They were to rid themselves of the old life and put on the new way of living given by Christ and guided by the Holy Spirit.
7. Paul also urged those who are complete in Christ, and partakers of His risen life, to kill sin. That is because the battle for holiness is still being fought in the life of every Christian.
8. It is because of that battle that Paul wrote, “ We ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body ” (Rom. 8:23). On that great day our flesh will be redeemed and we will no longer be temptable. We will have a new outer man acting in holiness that is a perfect match with the inner man who already loves holiness.
9. It is important to point out that we don’t have two natures. We have one nature on either side of conversion - both the old self and the new self stand alone. The old goes so the new can appear. Since the new replaces the old, they do not coexist. the order is: having put off the old, having put on the new, being renewed.
10. Let us close today by asking how can you be victorious in your struggle with sin?
11. You are victorious over sin first, by starving it. Do not feed anger or resentment. Do not cater to sexual lust or covetousness. Stop lying to yourself and others. Do not put yourself in a position of temptations - the world, the flesh and the devil already have enough. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7)
12. Second, by crowding it out with positive graces: “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things ” (Phil. 4:8). And “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you” (Col. 3:16).
Forgiveness
“No child of God sins to that degree as to make himself incapable of forgiveness” - John Bunyan
GracePointe Baptist Church
2209 N Post Road
Oklahoma City, OK 73141
Phone: (405) 769-5050