Satan is designated as a liar, speaking only from his own resources, with no pure truth within him. Every thought from his heart is ulterior, misleading, and self-serving, as he aims to capture every soul through lying and enslave them. By contrast, Jesus Christ describes Himself as the embodiment of truth, which sets one free, while lying enslaves. The whole world lies under the sway of the devil, founded upon a sneaky lie uttered by Satan to Adam and Eve. So detestable is lying to God that He declares all liars shall have their part in the Lake of Fire. Mankind has been affected by the lying disease through contact with Satan and his minions. The source of lying is the heart, it is addictive to the liar, and its fruit is to make the liar unbelievable. Lies are a little fortress where the liar feels safe and powerful, using justifications to build walls around their deceit. The major damage of lying is the destruction of trust, which can irreparably harm or destroy relationships.

A study commissioned by the London Press Club, conducted by neuroscientist Dr. Tara Swart, examined twenty-one journalists over seven months and found troubling results: journalists showed less capacity than average workers to regulate emotions, solve complex problems, think flexibly, or suppress bias, despite reporting no more stress than others. The study also noted journalists consume more alcohol than average, which likely contributed to their poor performance. Rather than confronting how these deficiencies might affect reporting accuracy or honesty, the press club instead emphasized that journalists are sustained by strong beliefs in their work. This disconnect is telling: a Fox News poll found that sixty-five percent of respondents believe reporters fabricate news. The conclusion drawn is that journalists, though less intellectually equipped and impaired by bias and alcohol, remain relentlessly convinced of their calling to shape public opinion, seemingly untroubled that their profession is widely distrusted. This observation about journalists serves as an entry point into a broader biblical teaching on liars. Stupid people are not necessarily liars, but liars are described as foolish, and Psalm 52:2-5 condemns the deceitful tongue that loves evil and destruction, declaring that God will destroy and uproot such a person from the land of the living—there is no good end for liars, whether journalists or anyone else. Since machines like polygraphs cannot reliably detect lies, as demonstrated by scholarly critique of forensic speech science, the ability to discern truth from falsehood must be cultivated by humans themselves. Rabbi Daniel Lapin's exploration of the Five Books of Moses offers three principles for this. First, truth fits into a consistent sequence, while lies are isolated anomalies; this is illustrated by the Hebrew word for truth, EMeT, formed from the first, middle, and last letters of the alphabet, symbolizing a story that runs from A to Z. The word for a lie, SHeKeR, uses jumbled letters near the alphabet's end, symbolizing incoherence. Second, the letters of EMeT stand on broad, stable bases, while those of SHeKeR stand precariously on points—meaning truthful accounts remain steady under scrutiny, while lies wobble when probed. Third, the earliest biblical usages of EMeT all concern a single subject, Isaac's marriage, showing truth's singular consistency, whereas early usages of SHeKeR apply to diverse, unrelated situations, reflecting how lies multiply in countless forms. This truth is embedded even in English usage, since one speaks of "the truth" but "a lie," confirming that truth is one, while falsehood is many. These principles equip believers to test whether a narrative coheres from beginning to end, to probe stories for instability, and to notice departures from a speaker's normal truth-telling pattern. Ultimately, confidence should never be placed in unreliable human institutions, including news media plagued by bias and dishonesty, but only in the Word of God, the true source of wisdom in what may be considered a post-truth society.

The ninth commandment, prohibiting false witness, exposes a sin so pervasive among God's people that deception seems woven into the very fabric of Israelite character, tracing back to the deceitful Jacob before his conversion transformed him into one without guile. Jesus' remark about Nathanael being "an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit" establishes the standard: a true Israelite should be candid and sincere, yet history and daily observation reveal how thoroughly falsehood has become a way of life, infecting advertisers, politicians, government officials, and ordinary citizens who swear oaths in courtrooms only to lie afterward. Isaiah 29:13-15 diagnoses this as hypocrisy—people honoring God with their lips while hiding their counsel in darkness, believing no one sees. This contrasts sharply with God's own nature described in Deuteronomy 32: He is the Rock, unswervingly faithful and true, while His people become "a perverse and crooked generation." Jesus embodies this same faithfulness, declaring Himself "the way, the truth, and the life," not merely speaking truth but making it visible and concrete—a critical distinction, since moral truth requires a credible example, unlike mathematical truth which stands independent of the teacher's character. Satan stands as truth's diametrical opposite, "a liar and the father of it," while God's entire plan rests on the certainty that He is trustworthy. Since believers are being prepared to become truth personified like Christ, living honestly now becomes essential preparation for that destiny. Bearing false witness extends far beyond courtroom testimony to cover any wrongful word or example that injures another, including self-deception and hypocrisy. A good name, more valuable than riches, depends on recognizing and submitting to truth wherever it appears. The deceitful heart of Jeremiah 17:9 continually seeks self-justification, blaming others—especially parents—rather than accepting responsibility for one's own character. Solomon's proverbs reveal lying's destructive mechanics: it functions like a madman throwing firebrands, disguised as jokes yet always causing harm; it wears a mask of gracious speech while harboring hatred; and it inevitably boomerangs, exposing the liar before others just as it destroyed Bernie Madoff. Galatians 6:7-8 confirms this inescapable law of sowing and reaping—God's law cannot be mocked, and hypocrisy fools only people and oneself, temporarily. Job's example, refusing to hide his iniquity "as Adam" did, demonstrates converted wisdom, while James warns that an unbridled tongue renders religion useless, since repeated lying eventually causes one to believe one's own falsehoods. Psalm 15 portrays the person acceptable to visit God's presence: one who speaks truth in his heart, avoids backbiting, and keeps his word even to his own hurt. Paul's standard in II Corinthians 4:1-2—renouncing hidden, shameful methods and manifesting truth openly—models the childlike transparency required to commend oneself to human conscience while pleasing God. Ultimately, keeping this commandment demands refusing to let a deceitful heart justify anything less than complete honesty, regardless of what others might perceive, since genuine trustworthiness before men begins with unwavering faithfulness before God.