I remember a conversation I once had with a preacher. It was his contention that the righteous gentiles who hid Jews from the Nazis committed sins as deadly as the Nazis who killed the Jews when they lied to protect them. Lying to save a life is as bad in God’s eyes as taking a life.
I will never understand that kind of thinking.
That’s because its not thinking!
What that preacher was talking about was that breaking any of the law is breaking all of the law, as far as sin. See James 2:10 and I John 3:4. If those righteous gentiles were Christian, their sins were forgiven. Everyone sins, it’s impossible not to.
That story gets at the Jewish vs. Christian understanding of the ‘Ten Commandments’. To Jews, bearing false witness is prohibited in a Jewish court. For non-Jews, the Seven Commandments of the Children of Noah command the establishing of courts of *justice*.
re: Lying to save a life is as bad in God’s eyes as taking a life.... I will never understand that kind of thinking.
I’m with you. Rahab the harlot in the Bible is never condemned for engaging in deception and hiding the Jewish spies in Jericho. She risked her very life in doing so. She is counted among the examples of great faith in the book of Hebrews chapter 11. Rahab ended up marrying one of the Jewish men in the tribe of Judah, and her descendants include King David and Jesus. She is one of only 4 women noted in Jesus’ genealogy. She is considered by many to be a heroine of the Christian faith. I agree.