Lying
Is lying ever ok?
When the children of Israel prepared to leave the Wilderness and enter the Promised Land, they sent spies into Jericho to see what opposition they would face. When soldiers looked for them, a woman named Rahab hid them and told the soldiers the spies had left the town. That saved their lives, and Rahab was rewarded for her loyalty-including her lie-for the spies.
In Nazi Germany, many people lied to the Gestapo to conceal Jews who would be deported to death camps. If these people had not lied to the German authorities, these Jews would have died.
In 99.99999% of cases, lying is sin. It is a good and acceptable thing to do only to save a life or protect someone from physical danger, like a rapist or murderer. It is certainly not acceptable when you are trying to protect yourself or someone else from the consequences of wrong behavior. Paul wrote: “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully. . . .” (Eph 4:25) Exceptions to that rule are very, very rare.
