Do not lie (5574) (pseudomai from pseudo = to cheat, defraud, falsify) means to communicate what is false, with the evident purpose of misleading. The Greek term and the English equivalent ‘to lie’ involve more than simply telling what is not true, for this could occur without an intent to deceive or mislead. It means means to tell a falsehood, attempt to deceive by lying, to speak falsely or deceitfully. Pseúdomai therefore involves not only the communication of a falsehood but also the intent to deceive. Pseúdomai is uses 12x in NT: Matthew 5:11 (note) Blessed are you when men cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me. Acts 5:3 But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back some of the price of the land? 4 "While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God." Comment: The next time we ask "What's so wrong with a little 'white' lie?" we need to think about this scene in Acts! Romans 9:11 (note) am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, 2 Corinthians 11:31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. Galatians 1:20 (Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.) Colossians 3:9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 1 Timothy 2:7 And for this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. Hebrews 6:18 (note) in order that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have strong encouragement, we who have fled for refuge in laying hold of the hope set before us. James 3:14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. 1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; Revelation 3:9 (note) 'Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews, and are not, but lie-- behold, I will make them to come and bow down at your feet, and to know that I have loved you. Pseudomai - 34x in the non-apocryphal Septuagint (LXX) -- Lev. 6:2f; 19:11; Deut. 33:29; Jos. 24:27; 2 Sam. 22:45; 1Ki. 13:18; Neh. 6:8; Job 6:10, 28; 8:18; 27:11; 31:28; 34:6; Ps. 18:44; 27:12; 66:3; 78:36; 81:15; 89:35; Prov. 14:5; Isa. 57:11; 59:13; Jer. 5:12; Hos. 9:2; Hab. 3:17; Zech. 13:4 The command is stop lying or "do not have the habit of lying." The negative preceding the present tense imperative command (present imperative) also implies the practice was already ongoing among the Colossians saints. Vine writes that the tense (do not lie) now is not the aorist, expressing an act complete and decisive, but present, expressing a continued practice. The exhortation therefore was against lying as still existing among the believers. (Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson ) Wuest says that These Colossian saints had carried over into the new life, the sin of lying. They should stop lying because they had put off the old man with his practices, that person they were before they were saved, and had put on the new man, that person they were now in Christ Jesus, this new person being constantly renewed with respect to a complete and perfect knowledge which is according to the image of the One who created him." (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Studies in the Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament: Grand Rapids: Eerdmans) Notice specifically who Paul tells the Colossians to not lie to! In a parallel passage, Paul exhorts the Ephesians that after laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH, EACH ONE of you, WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another. (Eph 4:25-note) Thus we see that one reason why they should adhere to the truth is that they are all "members of of another." How dysfunctional would it be for one part of the human body to lie to another! (And yet isn't that what we do in essence when we commit a sin with one of our members full well knowing that it is against God's will but believing the lie that it will give us some degree of "gratification"!) The lying in question is uttered within the Church (“to one another”), and is fatal to unity of the body of Christ. The lie led to the fall of man and undoubtedly has led to the fall of many a church body or church leadership! Beware brethren. Don't buy the lie that "It's just a little white lie!" That's a lie in itself!) Grant Richison asks How can we reconcile untruth with the Truth himself? If we operate in untruth we misunderstand the relationship between the God of truth and the Christian life. Lying destroys trust. It violates truth and love. A lie misleads causing distrust; the cross restores broken relationships. The profound change at our new birth changed the nature of the Christian's life. This is more than some surface change; it is a radical change of orientation to life. Conversion should change our relationships with people. People should learn to trust us better because we know Christ." (Today's Word) Is lying in the body serious? If you think it's not then read Peter's confrontation of this sin in the newly born church, as he declared... Ananias, why has Satan (cp Jn 8:44) filled your heart to lie to (pseúdomai) the Holy Spirit, and to keep back some of the price of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to (pseúdomai) men, but to God. (Acts 5:3, 4) The sin was in professing to give all, while only giving some. No one had asked Ananias and his wife Sapphira to sell the property. After it was sold, they were not obligated to give all. But they pretended a total dedication, while actually they held some back and in so doing they lied to the body of Christ. Thomas Constable adds that Rather than allowing the Holy Spirit to fill him, Ananias had allowed Satan to control his heart. Ananias’ sin was lying. He sought to deceive the Christians by trying to gain a reputation for greater generosity than he deserved. By deceiving the church, Ananias was also trying to deceive the Holy Spirit who indwelt the church. In attempting to deceive the Holy Spirit, he was trying to deceive God. Note the important identification of the Holy Spirit as God. (Expository Notes) Ananias and his wife Sapphira were guilty of the lie of hypocrisy in the church, faking their spirituality in an attempt to impress others. And it cost them dearly! God is "very hard" on religious hypocrites! (cp Mt 23:13, 14, 15, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29) (Read Acts 5) Lying began when The serpent said to the woman "You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Ge 3:1, 2, 3, 4) Satan was a murderer from the beginning & does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (Jn 8:44) God "cannot lie" (see note on the "non-lying God" in Titus 1:2-note). The writer of Hebrews says "it is impossible for God to lie" (Heb 6:8-note). Jesus Christ is the Truth (Jn 1:14, 17, 8:32, 14:6, 15:1). The upshot is that when believers lie, they mimic Satan and fail to give a proper opinion of their true Father Who is in heaven. Genuine followers of Christ should not lie and especially not to one another. John says that If we say that we have fellowship with (God) and yet walk (present tense = habitually) in the darkness, we lie (pseúdomai) (present tense = habitually) and do not practice the truth; but if we walk (present tense = habitually) in the light as He Himself is in the light, we (present tense = continually) have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. (1Jn 1:6, 7) The venerable pastor and expositor Harry Ironside writes that If there were any truth in the unscriptural theory held by some that the old nature is eradicated when a believer is sanctified, there would be no need for this injunction. Lying is one of the first evidences of the carnal nature. (Ps 58:3 says "The wicked are estranged from the womb; These who speak lies go astray from birth") and untruthfulness is one of the hardest habits for anyone to overcome. It is so natural for these vain hearts of ours to try to make things appear better than they really are (Ed: Did you realize known exaggerations, even ever so slight are lies! "I spent 10 hours reading the Scripture yesterday". Why do we say things like that when we really spent only 6 hours? We want to impress others, to make ourselves "look good", etc. Oh, the deceptive nature of exaggeration! Beware. This writer [B. Hurt, not H A Ironside] truly has frequently had to confess this sin.), to cover up our own failures and accentuate the sins of others. But these are just different forms of lying and we are called on to judge all guile—every kind of untruthfulness—in the light of the cross of Christ. There the old man was crucified in the person of our Substitute, and now his deeds are to be renounced and his habits put off as discarded garments, which are in no sense fit for the new man." THE CHRISTIAN LIFE ACCORDING TO COLOSSIANS Wayne House has a well done summary of our new life in Christ as portrayed in Colossians. The following is an excerpt from his 15 page paper... A muscle will not function properly if the bone to which it is attached is broken or is in a state of degeneration. The same is true of the Christian life. Orthodoxy serves as the skeletal framework for the saint of God. If that framework is faulty and does not affirm truth, the result will be a defective lifestyle. In the Epistle to the Colossians Paul demonstrated this point. The Colossian congregation was under attack by syncretistic Jewish mysticism, which promoted “legal ordinances, circumcision, food regulations, the Sabbath, new moon, and other prescriptions of the Jewish calendar.” In response to this heterodoxy, the Apostle Paul sought to make clear how the infection of false doctrine would affect their Christian living. This article examines the union between doctrine and practice by noting four themes in the Book of Colossians: walking in divine wisdom, living in Christ, putting off sinful works, and putting on Christ.... Putting Off Sinful Works (Col 3:1-11) The Believer’s Position in Christ (Col 3:1-note, Col 3:2-note, Col 3:3, 4-note) Because of the believer’s participation in the death and resurrection of Christ and his victory over “the elements of the world,” he is to “keep seeking the things above” (Col 3:1-note). This continual, ongoing process of seeking, suggested by the present imperative, is to be the consequence of having “been raised up with Christ.” For Paul there was no reason for anyone to be “seeking the things above” if he had not been raised with Christ. The road to the heavenly realm was through Christ, not through asceticism or mysticism. The believer’s position in Christ is his only hope of glory. There should be no boasting of a meeting with God apart from Christ. The believer is to “set” his “mind on the things above” (Col 3:2-note), that is, to seek spiritual wisdom and guidance from the One who sits “at the right hand of God” (Col 3:1-note). This wisdom from above is superior to the traditions of men and “the elementary principles of the world” (Col 2:8-note). The contrast is striking. From Christ, the Source above, there is wisdom. On the other hand the world and all that is a part of it (“the things that are on earth,” Col 3:2-note), are under a curse and doomed for destruction. Believers are to have a mindset that avoids all that is at enmity toward God (cf. Ro 8:6-note). The believer’s death in Christ terminated his relationship with the old self and the things of the earth. To ensure its safety, the new life is protected and vouchsafed in Christ. As Paul wrote, “your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:3-note). The verb ‘hidden’ is a perfect tense, in contrast to the preceding aorist (‘you died,’ drawing attention to the specific occasion of their death with Christ), and stresses the ongoing and permanent effects: your life has been hidden with Christ in God and it remains that way. (O’Brien, Colossians and Philemon, 165) When Christ will return (“when Christ, who is our life, is revealed” Col 3:4), the believers’ glory will be disclosed as well. Meanwhile they can live life to the fullest because of Jesus’ power sustaining them. The Believer’s Response to His Position in Christ (Col 3:5-note, Col 3:6, 7, 8-note, Col 3:9-note, Col 3:10-note, Col 3:11-note) In light of their security, believers pursue righteousness while putting to death (nekrosate) “the members of [their] earthly body” (literally, “the members that are on the earth”). This command means to “put to death whatever in your nature belongs to the earth” (cf. Ro 6:11-note; Ro 8:10-note). Man cannot distance himself from his actions; he is so intimately bound up with them that his actions are a part of himself. Only through the death in which the old self dies, can the way to new life be opened. (Lohse, Colossians and Philemon, 137) With the aorist imperative nekrosate ("mortify" Col 3:5KJV, "consider...dead" Col 3:5NAS-note), Paul moved from the theological to the practical, into the realm where the believer is responsible for his actions. Five things Christians should exclude are fornication (porneia), impurity (akatharsia), lust (pathos), evil desire (epithumia kakia), and greed or covetousness (pleonexia). The order of these terms in Colossians 3:5-note moves from the outward manifestations of sin to the inward cravings of the heart, the acts of immorality and uncleanness to their inner springs. (O’Brien, Colossians and Philemon, 179) These sins emerge from a heart that feeds on earthly philosophies of living. Because of such filth God’s wrath will come on those who willfully disobey Him (Col 3:6-note). This includes not only flagrant unbelievers, but also those in the Colossian congregation who said they believed in Christ but who actually were unbelievers as their evil actions revealed (Ed: Many in the modern church need to re-read that last fearful sentence!). As already noted, Paul wrote this epistle to dissuade some who might delude themselves with alleged visions of glory through mystic encounters. Though false teaching may be enticing, it is bankrupt with respect to life-sustaining principles and as a result, the heresy leads to moral turpitude (inherent baseness, depravity, shameful wickedness). The apostle reminded the Colossian believers that moral misconduct was part of their former demeanor: “in them you also once walked” (Col 3:7-note). The words “but now” which begin Col 3:8, introduce temporal contrast, pointing to the fact that the Christian life must contrast with the person’s former life (cf. Col 1:21, 22-note). (Lohse, Colossians and Philemon, 140) Paul commanded the Colossians to “put…aside” (“rid themselves”) of other vices, including wrath (orge), anger (thumos), malice (kakia), slander (blasphemia), and foul talk (aischrologia). The aorist imperative apothesthe emphasizes that the process and repeated efforts which lead to a transformed daily walk are all incorporated into the imagery of ‘putting off the old life with its deeds’ and ‘putting on the new life’ of righteousness and Christ-likeness. (Buist M. Fanning, Verbal Aspect in New Testament Greek Oxford: Clarendon, 1990, 363) Believers are to discard their old repulsive habits like a set of worn-out clothes. Apotithemi, meaning to “put away,” was used literally with reference to clothes at Acts 7:58 (cf. 2Macc 8:35; Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 8, 266) and in a metaphorical and ethical sense at Ro 13:12-note; Ep 4:22-note, Ep 4:25-note; He 12:1-note; Jas 1:21-note; and 1Pe 2:1-note. (O’Brien, Colossians and Philemon, 186.) Believers also are not to lie to each other. The present tense in the prohibitive imperative (present imperative + negative = me) me pseudesthe (“do not lie,” Col 3:9) connotes an action that is to be habitual. In Ep 4:15-note the present participle aletheuontes (“being truthful”) demonstrates this same idea. Dishonesty characterized the former life, the “old self,” which was crucified and buried with Christ, but now honest speech and conduct are to characterize believers. Since the “old self” (literally “old man”) and his proclivities are to be purged, a new and invigorating “self” or lifestyle must fill the void left by the absence of the old (Col 3:10-note). The new life is to be lived in conformity to the image of the One who created it. Thus Christ alone starts as the Christian’s paradigm. This newness also implies that former distinctions of race or social caste bear no significance on the status of saints as image-bearers of God. In Col 3:11-note Paul emphatically denounced the notion that one group had any greater advantage in Christ than any other. Greeks and Jews were adversaries. Greeks viewed Jews as unsophisticated and lacking wisdom, and Jews viewed the Greeks as uncircumcised aliens estranged from “the covenants of promise” (Eph 2:12-note). Barbarians and Scythicans were viewed as crass and repulsive peoples, the scorn of Greco-Roman society. Slaves and masters in general bore mistrust and animosity toward one another. Yet the enmity between these groups departs when these individuals come to Christ. An unregenerate life gives birth to racism and classism, attitudes stemming from the heart. By contrast, it is improper for believers to harbor disdain for races and classes of people different from their own (cf. Ro 3:22-note; Ro10:12-note). Being renewed at salvation to a new perspective and knowledge (Col 3:10-note), the believer’s conduct is to be in conformity with the Creator’s will. ( Ibid., 192.) Skin color and socioeconomic status, being merely aspects of external appearance and circumstance, are inadequate barometers of character. (Wayne House - The Christian Life According to Colossians -Bibliotheca Sacra Volume 151. 1994 (vnp.151.604.449-151.604.452). Dallas, TX: Dallas Theological Seminary- Good Summary Article) To one another - Believer to believer. Of course this phrase does give license to be less truthful to unbelievers. One another (240) (allelon) means each other and speaks of a mutuality or sharing of sentiments between two persons or groups of persons. Allelon is a reciprocal pronoun which denotes that the encouragement and edification is to be a mutual beneficial activity. As each submits, encourages, loves, etc, the other members benefit. This is the God's description and prescription for a body of believers. One another is a common NT phrase (especially in Paul's letters) with most uses relating to the building up of the body of Christ. As such the "one anothers" in the NT would make an excellent Sunday School study (or topical sermon series), taking time to meditate on each occurrence, asking whether it is being practiced (in the Spirit-note) in your local church and seeking to excel still more (cp Php 1:9, 10, 11-notes; 1Th 3:12-note, 1Th 4:1-note, 1Th 4:10-note). Below is a list of the NT uses of one another (be sure to check the context for the most accurate interpretation). Ro 12:10, 16" class="scriptRef">16" class="scriptRef">16; 13" class="scriptRef">13.8" class="scriptRef">13:8; 15" class="scriptRef">15.14" class="scriptRef">14.13" class="scriptRef">14:13, 19; 15:5, 7, 14; 16:16; 1Co 6:7; 7:5; 11:33; 25" class="scriptRef">12:25; 16:20; 2Co 13:12; Ga 5:13, 15, 26; Ep 4:2, 25, 32; 5:19, 21; Php 2:3; Col 3:9, 13, 16; 1Th 3:12; 4:9, 18; 5:11, 13, 15; 2Th 1:3; Heb 3:13; 10:24, 25; Jas 4:11; 5:9, 16; 1Pe 1:22; 4:8, 9, 10; 5:5, 14; 1Jn 1:7; 3:11, 23; 4:7, 11, 12; 2Jn 1:5 SINCE YOU LAID ASIDE: apekdusamenoi (AMPMPN): (Col 3:8; Ro 6:6; Eph 4:22) Since - This word is not in the Greek text but is added by the NAS translators. More literally it reads having put off, the aorist tense speaking of a completed past action. The basis of putting off the old life is the cross. When you were saved, you in effect stripped off the old unregenerate self with its evil practices. This is why the habitual practice of lying doesn't reflect the new you. A change of nature precedes a change of dress! In fact P. T. Forsyth wrote that A conversion which is but a wave of spiritual experience is not the passage from death to life. (P. T. Forsyth, The Person and Place of Jesus Christ)