Can Truth Prosper Out of a Lie?
“For if the truth of God has more abounded through my lie
unto his glory, why yet am I also judged as a sinner? And not rather, (as we be slanderously
reported and as some affirm that we say), Let us do evil, that good may come? Whose
damnation is just.” Romans 3:7-8 (KJV)
Can truth prosper
out of a lie? Let’s stop and think about
it. A few good men feel it is their
obligation to create a lie so they can stop someone from taking a position in
the community, because they feel it is for the best interest of the people. What kind of person will lie and say it is
for the good? If the lie is about a person,
it is hurting the person who is the target, and doesn’t it degrade the
character of the person who is out to destroy another person? The conclusion is that if it is a lie, it isn’t
good and truth will not prosper.
This is one of
many of Paul’s questions in Romans. I
counted forty four questions, but I know I did not count them all. Questions make us think. Let’s think about it. Why would Paul ask, “Let us do evil that good
may come?” Paul answered every question,
and the verses that follow are about sin in Romans chapter 3.
9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we
have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; 10 as
it is written,
“There is none righteous, not
even one;
11 There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God;
12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is none who does good,
There is not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave,
With their tongues they keep deceiving,”
“The poison of asps is under their lips”;
14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,
16 Destruction and misery are in their paths,
17 And the path of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (NASB)
11 There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God;
12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is none who does good,
There is not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave,
With their tongues they keep deceiving,”
“The poison of asps is under their lips”;
14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,
16 Destruction and misery are in their paths,
17 And the path of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (NASB)
Paul is quoting from the Old Testament and
mostly from the Psalms. There is no
truth with jealousy, deceit, cursing, bitterness, hate, and a lie. Don’t say you aren’t guilty. Paul writes “all have sinned.” (23) We all have committed these sins and still
may be committing these sins while justifying with lame excuses. While committing these sins, we continue to
think of ourselves as “good citizens.” By trying to justify our sins, we are only
fooling ourselves.
Those
lies and deceitful plans will only bring destruction, but there is a solution,
forgiveness. “Being justified as a gift by
His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom
God displayed publicly as propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because
in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I
say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and
the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (3:24-26)
The answer leads to Jesus. We can turn the question around and ask would
Jesus lie for the greater good? No,
because nothing good comes out of revenge, deceit, hatred, slander, cursing,
and dishonesty. In addition, Jesus never
sinned for any reason. Jesus taught his
followers to love. Instead of trying to
destroy someone with lies, we should “be devoted to one another in brotherly
love” (12:10) and “respect what is right in the eyes of all men.” (12:17)
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