The closest thing to a condoned lie in the Bible is when Rahab told the king of Jericho that she
did not know where the Israelite spies went. It turns out that they she hid them on her roof beforehand.
The result of this episode? Rahab and her family ends up getting saved when the Israelites invade
their city (Jericho). Let’s study this a little more. It's found in Joshua chapters 1, 2, and 6.
Moses had died (Joshua 1:1). God tells Joshua to move into the land He was going to give them
(1:2-4). To scout the land in front of them, Joshua sends two spies into the promised land, and
specifically to the city Jericho (2:1). The king of Jericho learns about this, and tries to find the men (2:2-
3). He specifically goes to Rahab the Harlot and tells her to hand the spies over (2:3). Rahab lies to
them (2:4-5). The spies are safe, and promise to spare her and her family (2:14). In chapter six, the
Israelites conquer Jericho (6:21). Rahab was saved (6:25).
In Hebrews 11:31, the author writes about Rahab: “By faith the harlot Rahab perished not (was
saved) with them that believed not (the rest of Jericho’s residents), when she had received the spies with
peace.”
People look at these two passages (indeed, any two passages where a sin is committed and good
follows) and do the following logic*:
1. Someone sins.
2. God later blesses that person.
3. Therefore, God condoned that person's sin (in extreme situations).
What people forget, in this instance and the last one I went over, is that nowhere in the Bible
is Rahab praised, blessed, or rewarded (etc.) for sinning. The writer of Hebrews doesn’t say, “Rahab is
awesome because she sinned to save the spies.” No, she was praised for her faith. Look at her
awesome speech in Joshua 2:9-13. Look at the fear of the Lord and her faith in God. She is being
commended for that. Her lie was unfortunate, but was not the focus of Hebrews 11:31.
Are there other instances of people sinning in the Bible and later being blessed? Yes, there is.
David commits adultery with Bathsheba and murders her husband (2 Samuel 11:2-17). I think we can
all agree he lived a long and generally happy life. Elisha tells a lie to the Syrians looking to capture him
(2 Kings 6:13-20). Elisha was one of the great prophets, and he lived a long and wonderful life. But if
you read the Bible, you will find that nowhere does it condone those sins. The sin never causes the
blessing. Sin happens, and sometimes amazing things come out of it.
But nowhere does God permit us to sin. We sin anyway, and in God’s providence He uses it for
good. But to use the famous words of Paul, “God forbid” us from deliberately sinning so that God’s
grace and goodness can be made known (Romans 6:1-2).
To summarize, does God condone sinning if it achieves a higher purpose (saving lives, for
instance)? My personal answer is no. But again, there are two sides to the issue. Some say that yes, it is
okay in extreme conditions. I’ll give you some articles for both sides.
In my next and (most likely) final post on this issue, I’ll go over an interesting position I came
across.
*For you logicians out there, forgive me if I did something wrong with my example. Anyhoo, the first
two steps (the premises) were true. But step three (the conclusion) did not follow from the premises.
It’s wrong because God blesses that person for other reasons (faith, obedience, etc.), not for that sin. It’s
been awhile since I’ve looked at a logic book, but I think this mistake in general terms is called a non
sequitur.
P.S. Articles that say sin (specifically lying) can be okay:
http://www.gotquestions.org/right-to-lie.html
Articles that say sin is never okay:
http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=6&article=733
http://www.bibleteacher.org/Lying.htm (this is the best article for this side of the issue)
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