Question 143. What is the ninth commandment?

 

Question 143. What is the ninth commandment?

Answer. The ninth commandment is, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

 

False witness refers to any words or actions that deviate from the truth by concealing, minimizing, altering, or exaggerating facts in a public setting such as a court of law. Why do false witnesses bear false witness against their neighbors even though they are not true? The reason is the evil thought of greed. They bear false witness because they think that they will be disadvantaged as the witness.

Matthew 15:18-19 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these defile a man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are the things which defile a man. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.

There are two types of minds: the carnal mind and the spiritual mind. The mind that defiles a person is the carnal mind. Romans 8:5-7 "For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. The mind set on the flesh is hostile to God; for it does not submit to the law of God, nor indeed can it."

Those who are of the fleshly mind will lie no matter how hard they try not to lie. Those who are of the spiritual mind are guided by the Holy Spirit, so they do not lie and testify as they are. Even those who are born again have two minds: the mind of the flesh and the mind of the spirit. Even those who are born again have to choose whether to act with the mind of the spirit or the mind of the flesh, but as they grow spiritually, the power of the spiritual mind to control the mind of the flesh is given. In other words, they gain the ability to deal with all things by relying on the Holy Spirit.

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