In the sermon last Sunday, I addressed the seriousness with which the Bible speaks against lying and the importance God places on our being rooted in truth. Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:25 to “put off falsehood and speak truth to one another.” One question I did not address is “Is it ever right to lie?” Christians often point to the story of the Hebrew midwives in Exodus 1 who deceived Pharaoh in order to spare the lives of the Hebrew baby boys, or to the story of Rahab in Joshua 2 who lied to protect the Hebrew spies hidden in her house. Both the midwives and Rahab are commended in the Bible for their fear of the Lord and their faith, yet both intentionally lied.
So the questions is, “Are there times when it is right to lie?” I like the way that John Piper answers (or doesn’t answer) that question in his sermon on this passage. He says,
It is possible to be a person who never intentionally lies and yet be a hardened sinner, living in darkness and cut off from Christ in unbelief; and it is possible to be a person who fears the Lord, walks by faith, and yet feel constrained in extreme, life-threatening situations to oppose evil by lying intentionally.
Piper goes on to say that the Bible clearly teaches in these two cases that those who feared and trusted God also intentionally lied to “oppose evil” and spare lives. It is also clear that in both cases, the people involved are commended: the midwives for fearing the Lord and Rahab for her faith and for welcoming the spies (see Hebrews 11:31). But in neither case is the lying itself specifically commended or condoned.
Thus, I don’t think you can make a biblical case that there are times when it is “morally right” to lie. Once again, I think John Piper says it well:
I’ve struggled a long time with how to think and teach about these borderline cases. And I have concluded that pastorally the wisest thing for me to do is to acknowledge that in the fear of God and in the walk of faith worthy saints have chosen to oppose the effects of evil by concealing the truth from wicked men. (John Piper’s sermon on Ephesians 4:25)
