DO NOT LIE
TO ONE ANOTHER: me pseudesthe (2PPMM) eis allêlous: (Lev 19:11;
Isa 63:8;
Jer 9:3-5;
Zeph 3:13;
Zech 8:16;
Jn 8:44;
Eph 4:25;
1 Ti 1:10;
Titus 1:12,13;
Rev 21:8,27;
22:15)
(Torrey's Topic
Lying
serious study of this sin which led to the fall of man)
Wuest has a picturesque translation of this section
"Stop lying to one another, having stripped off and away
from yourselves and for your own advantage the old, antiquated,
outworn, decrepit, useless man [that person you were before you were
saved] with his evil practices, and having clothed yourselves with the
new man [the person you are after you are saved] who is constantly
being renewed, with a resulting advanced and perfect experiential
knowledge which is according to the image of the One who created him"
Spurgeon comments...
No lies. Such communications are
filthy. But you put these things away through your union with Christ
in his risen life. Therefore, abhor them. Avoid the very appearance of
them, and cry for grace to be kept from them, for you have been
“renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.”
In Paul’s day, lying was thought to
be a virtue unless the liar happened to be found out; in that case, it
was considered wrong; but to lie through thick and thin, and to lie so
dexterously as to deceive, was looked upon by an Oriental as an
accomplishment of which he might be proud. So the apostle might well
write, “Lie not one to another,”
Matthew Henry adds that lying...
is
contrary both to the law of truth and the law of love, it is both
unjust and unkind, and naturally tends to destroy all faith and
friendship among mankind. Lying makes us like the devil (who is
the father of lies - see John 8:44), and is a prime part of the
devil's image upon our souls; and therefore we are cautioned against
this sin by this general reason: Seeing you have put off the old man
with his deeds, and have put on the new man.
Do
not lie (5574) (pseúdomai
from pseúdō = 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:
1x Mt;
2x Acts;
1x Ro;
1x 2Cor;
1x Gal;
1x Col;
1x 1Ti;
1x Heb;
1x Js;
1x 1Jn;
1x Rev)
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.
There
are 34 uses in the Septuagint (Lev. 6:2f; 19:11; Deut. 33:29;
Jos. 24:27; 2 Sam. 22:45; 1 Ki. 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 implies the practice was already ongoing among the
Colossians saints.
Vines writes that
the
tense (of 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)
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. The
lying in question is uttered within the Church (“to one another”), and
is fatal to its unity.
Lying hardly becomes
those who declare themselves to be disciples of Him who said, “I
am the truth.”
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)
Peter addressed this sin in the newly born church saying
"Ananias,
why has Satan filled your heart to lie to (pseúdomai)
(and attempt to deceive) 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 essence
lied.
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! (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, & you will be like
God,
knowing
good and
evil."
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
Titus 1:2).
The writer of Hebrews says "it is impossible for God to lie" (Heb 6:8).
Jesus Christ is the Truth. The upshot is that when believers lie, they mimic Satan
and fail to give a proper opinion of their true Father. 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, 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."
SINCE
YOU
LAID ASIDE: apekdusamenoi (AMPMPN): (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)
Laid
aside
(554) (apekdúomai
from apo = marker of dissociation > away from +
ekduo = to go or come out of, strip one of clothing) means to take
off or strip off from one's self, the apo
denoting separation from what is put off.
Apekdúomai
is an intensive
double compound, a stronger word than apotithemi ("put...aside"),
which occurs in (see
Colossians 3:8).
The idea of complete separation is conveyed by this verb
apekdúomai
because it is derived from
the preposition apo which conveys the idea of separation
of one thing from another by which the union or fellowship of the two
is destroyed.
Vincent adds that
"By the addition... of apo
from, there is added to the idea of getting out of one’s clothes that
of getting away from them; so that the word is a strong expression for
wholly putting away from one’s self." (Vincent, M. R. Word
studies in the New Testament. Vol. 3, Page 1-488)
The Colossian believers
are to remember that because of the new birth, they have wholly put off
the old self. They have "stripped him clean off" like
a dirty garment and figuratively have gotten away from these filthy
rags.
It is important however to note that the evil nature of the old self
is not (yet) eradicated, but that it remains in the believer until
death (when in glory we will be completely free of the taint of sin).
However the great news is that its power is broken and it has no more
power over the believer than he allows it to have. It is the physical
body as dominated by the evil nature that is put away in favor of a
physical body now dominated by the divine nature.
A B
Simpson writes that...
By a very fine metaphor the Apostle
describes the Christian life under the figure of disrobing and robing
a person. Our garments are frequently used to denote our character.
And so the word habit has come to mean both our dress and manner of
living. There is first the process of disrobing. It begins with the
putting off of our old habits and dispositions, our old clothes...
Next, however, we strip not only to the skin, but to the bone, and to
the very heart. For we put off our very selves. "Ye have put off the
old man with his deeds" (Col. 3:8, 9). This is the entire renunciation
and crucifixion of our old self and our whole natural life. Next comes
the process of robing. This begins inside. There must be a new man
first before he can wear his new clothes. You would not put clean and
beautiful garments on an unbathed person... Next comes the process of
robing. This begins inside. There must be a new man first before he
can wear his new clothes. You would not put clean and beautiful
garments on an unbathed person. (Christ in the Bible)
As John MacArthur
reminds us
"You
can tell a lot about people in our society by the way they dress. From
baseball players to bus drivers, from postal carriers to policemen,
people wear the uniform of their profession. Who we are determines
what we wear, and failing to “dress the part” can sometimes have
embarrassing consequences. Many years ago a very wealthy man in a
Southern California town was found wandering around the local country
club wearing shabby clothes. He was promptly seized by security guards
and charged with vagrancy—even though he owned the country club. He
had failed to dress consistent with who he was...Christians must dress
themselves spiritually in accordance with their new identity. They
have died with Christ and risen to new life. Salvation thus produces a
two-sided obligation for believers. Negatively, they must throw off
the garment of the old, sinful lifestyle, as Paul pointed out in
Col 3:5-9a. Positively, they must put on the lifestyle of the
new man." (MacArthur,
J. Colossians. Chicago: Moody Press)
In short, Paul is
saying that if the old man (see
note) really has been put off
(which it has for a believer), the believer must not at a critical moment
revert to the way one acted before his conversion. How we all need to
hear and heed Paul's exhortation!
The
aorist tense pictures a completed action in the past when they were
"circumcised
with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal (apekdusis
[noun form of apekduomai] = a putting off or laying aside) of the body
of the flesh" (see note
Colossians 2:12).
S. Lewis Johnson
writes that "laid aside" in the aorist tense
"refers
to the events of the cross (cf.
Eph 4:21–24). There the great change
took place. This past fact is the ground of all apostolic exhortation
and true spiritual life. As Nicholson says: “This is the great secret
of the believer’s power, not a realization of it. We are never
exhorted to crucify ourselves.” ...the fact that the participle ("laid
aside" = aorist middle participle) is causal marks this stripping off
of the old man as the reason for the admonition to resist the habit of
lying. A new position obligates the believer to new life and action."
(Bibliotheca
Sacra: volume 121, issue 481, 1964).
In the only other NT
use of apekdúomai
we read that Christ
divested Himself at the cross of the evil powers which had struggled
with Him so strongly during His ministry in attempts to force Him to
abandon the pathway of the cross, Paul recording that
"When He had
disarmed (apekdúomai) the rulers and authorities (evil supernatural, demonic forces),
He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through
Him." (see note
Colossians 2:15)
It should be noted that some commentators take the disarming
as active voice which indicates that Christ stripped
Satan and his demons, depriving them of their power by
His victory at the Cross (which is certainly true).
The related noun
apékdusis is also found in chapter 2 of Colossians, again
in connection with the effects of the work of the Cross of Christ,
Paul instructing the Colossian saints that in Christ
"you were also
circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal (apékdusis - the stripping or putting off) of the
body of the flesh (the sinful, fallen human nature
totally dominating believers before salvation > now it we no longer
having the sinful self telling us what we must do) by the
circumcision of Christ (Christians have been cleansed of that
sinful dominance and been given a new nature)." (see note
Colossians 2:11)
This same idea of
dissociation from who we were in Adam to who we now are in Christ is
brought out in other passages such as Paul's reminder to the saints at
Ephesus that we
"were
formerly darkness, BUT NOW (we) are
Light in the
Lord" and consequently we are
now to "walk
as
children of
Light" (e.g., we are to
stop lying, and doing the other things that characterized our
former life in darkness) (see note
Ephesians 5:4).
Paul is not commanding
the Colossians to lay aside the old self but is explaining that this
is their present condition. This is who they are in Christ. Paul is however telling them this great
truth so that now they might live in the light and power of this transaction. He
is explaining that they are to stop lying since they have taken off the old man
(see
note)
who had the habit of lying.
Because they are now new creatures in Christ, they have the power not to act the way they did before their new
birth.
In essence, Paul is telling them now to apply the truth he had taught
earlier that in Christ the saints at Colossae
"were also
circumcised with a circumcision (circumcision symbolized man’s
need for cleansing of the heart and was the outward sign of that
cleansing of sin that comes by faith) made without hands (at
salvation believers undergo a spiritual “circumcision” = new birth,
new creation at time of regeneration = it involves God {through
Christ's death and our co-crucifixion with Him} "cutting off" the
dominion or power of our sinful nature or flesh, a power to
which we were formerly enslaved), in the removal (stripping
off) of the body of the flesh ("the sinful nature" = the whole
evil, corrupt, carnal, unregenerate nature of man with its passions
and lusts inherited from Adam, which causes us, for example, to
naturally have the habit of lying, cf
Gal 5:24
[see
note]) by the circumcision of Christ (His death on the cross of
Calvary) having been buried with Him in baptism (when the Lord
Jesus died, the believer died also = we died to the controlling power
of sin, cf note
Romans 6:11), in which you were also
raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him
from the dead." (see note
Colossians 2:11-12)
Therefore since we who have died with Christ, have died to the power
sin formerly had over us to make us habitual liars (for example), we
now have the power in Christ to stop lying to one another. These
truths now need to be practiced in our lives. Keep pressing on. Sure
you will fall occasionally. But don't give up. Discipline yourself for
godliness for we shall all soon see our Lord and be completely free of
the presence and pleasure of sin. In the meantime Paul is telling us
to "occupy" until He comes.
In
Colossians 2, Paul reminds the saints at
Colossae that they have
"have died (aorist
tense = a decisive,
completed action in the past) with Christ (speaks of the
believer's inseparable union with Christ) to the elementary
principles of the world." (see note
Colossians 2:20)
What
does death signify? It means that one is set free from practices (like
asceticism, rituals, ordinances -- all of which are man-made and not
God-decreed) that some were saying one must perform in order to be
"spiritual". Paul says we are already "spiritual" because of our death
with Christ. Now live out that spirituality in practice by not
lying to one another.
In
Colossians 3 Paul reminds the saints that
"you have
died (aorist tense = a decisive, completed
action in the past - so far as your spiritual being is concerned, you
died to or were separated from the former life and everything of an
evil nature that pertained to it) and your (new, real, "raised
to walk in newness", cf note
Romans 6:4) life is hidden (perfect
tense speaks of permanence, Robertson says "No hellish burglar can
break that combination") with Christ in God." (see note
Colossians 3:3)
Your new
spiritual life is no longer in the sphere of the earthly and sensual,
but is with the life of the risen Christ, Who is unseen with God. In a
similar statement Paul declared "may it never be that I should
boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the
world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." (Gal
6:14) Because of the Cross the world system had lost its
appeal to Paul, and he had lost his appeal to the world. Now
circumcision was unimportant. Only being a new creation in Christ
mattered. The world is spiritually dead to believers, and they are
dead to the world.
MacDonald adds that
"On that cross the world
died to Paul and Paul to the world. When a man is saved, the world
says goodbye to him, and he says goodbye to the world. He is spoiled
as far as the world is concerned because he is no longer interested in
its fleeting pleasures; the world has lost its attraction for him,
because he has found One who completely satisfies. Findlay says: “He
can never believe in it, never take pride in it, nor do homage to it
any more. It is stripped of its glory and robbed of its power to charm
or govern him.” Thus the cross is a great barrier or dividing line
between the world and the child of God." (Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
Remember that
Colossians 3 and 4 is the "shoe
leather" in which we are to live out the great doctrinal truths
found in the first
chapters 1 and 2. We now need to
prove ourselves doers of the word, and
not merely hearers who delude themselves. (James 1:22)
Paul is
reminding the saints that they really do possess the power to walk the
talk.
This great change that made this power over lying a possibility took place at the Cross.
Christ's finished work at Calvary and our identification with Him now is the
ground of all apostolic exhortation and true spiritual life.
Based on what is true about us, now we have a responsibility as new creatures with new clothes -- the
believer is now obligated to live out his or her new life in thought,
word and deed by the power of the Spirit, in the grace in which we
stand and to the glory of God the
Father.
Christian living depends on Christian learning; duty is always founded
on doctrine. If Satan can keep a Christian ignorant, he can keep him
impotent. (Wiersbe,
W: Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor
or
Logos)
THE
OLD SELF: ton palaion anthrôpon: (see
note on "old man")
This section reads more literally
Having put off completely the old man
Old
(3820) (palaios which gives us words like paleontology - study
of life of past geologic periods based on fossil remains) refers to that which has been in existence
for a long time. Palaios suggests that which
belongs to a past period and is worn out. Figuratively palaios
refers to our previous unregenerate behavior that is now obsolete or
inferior. The believer’s former self before his conversion, his “old
man,” (see
note) belongs
to the past and is old because it has been superseded by that which is
new.
Jesus used palaios
in his explanation that He came to introduce the new, not to patch up
the old. Speaking to John's disciples and the Pharisees, Jesus
declared
"No one sews a patch of unshrunk (by implication
"new") cloth on an old (palaios)
garment; otherwise the patch pulls away from it, the new from the
old (palaios), and a worse tear results."
(Mk
2:21).
What
Jesus was doing here was illustrating that the gospel of repentance
from and forgiveness of sin could not be connected to or contained in
the old, external traditions of Judaism with its emphasis on
self-righteousness and ritual (like fasting). Jesus' teaching rendered
the old traditional forms of Judaism obsolete. Judaism had become old,
and Jesus was going to set up a new form of God’s kingdom on earth
that would be similar to a new garment. God never intended
Christianity to patch up the old, obsolete "wineskin" of Judaism based
on the Law, for Christianity was a new (in quality) way to relate to
God, based on the New Covenant in Christ's blood. Salvation is not a
partial patching up of one’s life; it is a whole new robe of
righteousness. The Christian life is not a mixing of the old and the
new; rather, it is a fulfillment of the old in the new.
Self
(444)(anthropos)
is literally man.
The identity of the
old man has caused considerable discussion in the
commentaries. (see
related discussion -
there is some overlap/duplication in the discussion)
Who is the
old self or old man? He is the whole unregenerate man who was born into Adam's
line (conceived of as a member of the first federal man, Adam) and thus inherited the "sin virus" from Adam.
The Old Self
or Old Man is the worn out, useless, and unconverted sinful
nature.
John Piper says...
The
Old Self is the me that was rebellious against God, and insubordinate
to God's law, and blind to God's glory, and unbelieving toward His
promises...
“Our
old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might
be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.”
Here
the effect of being crucified with Christ is that we are not “slaves
to sin.” It is possible to fall into sinful attitudes and actions
without sin being your overarching slave master. As verse 14 says,
“For
sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under
grace.”
Being
freed from the mastery or enslavement or dominion of sin is not the
same as being sinlessly perfect. (See his full message
United with Christ in Death and
Life, Part 1)
The Old Self
describes all that a person is before conversion or all that he is
as a child of Adam. The Old Self is the unregenerate person
that was in Adam and was spiritually dead. The Old Self is
continually being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit.
The corruption occurs as a result of giving in to deceitful, evil
cravings which are pleasant and promising in prospect but painful and
passing when practiced.
Using the
garment or robe analogy, the Old Self is all I was in Adam's
clothes. Paul explains that
as in Adam (in "Adam's clothes")
all die, so also in Christ (in "Christ's new covenant attire") all
shall be made alive" (1 Cor 15:22).
Stated another
way, if the Old Self hasn't been crucified, conversion has not
occurred. When we entered the New Covenant with Christ by grace
through faith, our Old Self was crucified with Christ...
knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body
of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to
sin
(see note
Romans 6:6),
As a result of
this crucifixion with Christ, our body of sin (does not mean that the
physical body is itself sinful but that our body can be the instrument
which the power of
Sin uses
to carry out its deeds of darkness) was rendered inoperative (deprived
of its force, influence and power over us - see study of this Greek
verb
katargeo).
