The other day I spoke on the Heidelberg Catechism Question #112 What does the Ninth Commandment teach? Well Exo 20:16 is what is commonly known as the Ninth Commandment. And oftentimes it is understood to refer to a prohibition against lying (giving false testimony) against your neighbor(s), especially in a court situation.
Some in my audience were puzzled when I brought up a Dutch Christian by the name of Corrie Ten Boom. She harbored Jews under the threat of the German Nazi Regime during the Second World War. She lied to the regime to help her Jewish friends escape. She broke the law of her "occupied" country in order to preserve many lives of a people who were under attack. These Jews would certainly face a terrible fate were their hideouts exposed.
The question is: didn't Ms. Corrie break the Ninth Commandment when she lied? She did. Did she bear false witness against her friends? I am not 100% sure. Shouldn't I have kept from mentioning her and her story when I am expounding on the Ninth Commandment?
Well I happen to believe Christians ought to interpret the Ninth Commandment differently under the Age of the Holy Spirit than under the Age of the Law. Under the Age of the Law, God's people living in the Promised Land are forbidden to lie against their neighbor when they are called upon to bear witness. Abraham lied about Sarah. Under the Age of the Holy Christ, Christians not only should be guarding ourselves against lying but we are also to be living witnesses of our Lord Jesus Christ. He came to deliver sinners from bondage. He calls those who are laden with a heavy burden to come and find rest in Him for his yoke is easy and his burden is light. As his followers, Christians are called to live free of sin (such as lying) but also to have a saving compassion for the poor and persecuted.
Corrie had lied to an evil regime and its murderous undertakers. But by what she did, she had also witnessed the love of Christ. Jesus took on the burden to save sinners who would otherwise perish. Ms. Corrie Ten Boom and her friends took on great risk to help Jews who were without hope of surviving on their own. I thought she bore her Christian identity very well. Her story has continued to bear a good witness of the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. At her testimony, ex-German soldiers came to repentance as well.
Am I a better Christian witness than Corrie Ten Boom because I don't lie? First of all, I am not less condemned than Corrie because we have both sinned deserving the eternal death of hell. By the mercy of God, Ms. Corrie and I are saved but only through faith in the saving grace of Jesus our Lord. We didn't do anything to merit this grace. Nor could we. I am not boasting Corrie's act of lying. But because we are saved, we are called to bear witness to the gospel of saving grace. On this matter, I think Corrie Ten Boom had brought glory on her Lord our Master.
I will be most flattered with your comments. Peace to you from our Lord Jesus.
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