It seems that in our ungodly society some lies are more tolerable than others.  The resignation of Damian Green is a case in point.

Damian Green resigned as First Secretary of State after he was found to have made “inaccurate and misleading” statements about his knowledge that pornography was found on his House of Commons office computer in 2008 – in common parlance, lies.

This was a breach of the Ministerial Code. It is good that such codes contain such high standards, but it appears to contrast with other standards.  It is well-known that many political promises are ‘more honoured in the breach than in the observance’.  It appears that breach of promises made to the electorate are apparently not in the same league as lies contrary to the Ministerial Code.

Jesuitism is the readiness to promote the correct standards while circumventing them by sleight of hand and ambiguous statements.  This is rife in public life so that the public do not know what or whom to believe any more because of lies and fake news.  God will yet bring liars into judgment.

Jesus Christ: ‘Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment’ Mat 12:36.

The apostle John: ‘All liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death’ Rev 21:8. 

This demonstrates the urgency, necessity and relevance for the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins to be preached throughout our land, instead of the useless ‘salvation by works’ teaching that is peddled but not actually believed by so many religionists.

The godly are the children of truth 1Jn 1:4, born again by the Spirit of truth Jn 14:17, Jn 15:26 and Jn 16:13, using the Word of truth Eph 1:13 to bring them to the belief of the truth 2Th 2:13 so that they obey the truth 1Pe 1:22.

The apostle John wrote: ‘We are of God.  He that knows God hears us; he that is not of God does not hear us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error’ 1Jn 4:6.

It is interesting that the three recent cabinet ministers who have resigned in recent months have each been eurosceptics.  Michael Fallon resigned as Secretary of State for Defence saying his conduct with women had sometimes “fallen short” of “the high standards that we require of the armed forces.”  Pritti Patel resigned as Secretary of State for International Development for holding meetings in breach of the ministerial code.

Dishing the dirt is another arrow in the quiver of those practised in the dark arts of political manipulation.  This is yet another reason for becoming more practised in the subject of the forgiveness of sins.

Update:

26 Feb 2019: lying to the police can land you in prison. Like worldly ecclesiastics, civil law takes its own authority very seriously and will punish any challenge to it. It is time for liars to realise that God will hold them to account as surely as worldly authorities uphold their own dignity and they can hardly complain about it. They have had ‘fair warning’.

21 Mar 2019: UN Human Rights Council President thinks that highlighting lies is ‘not showing respect‘.

1 May 2019: a Labour MP was jailed for lying about a speeding offence, was expelled by the Labour party, and was the first MP to be recalled by a recall petition. She has discovered the widespread effect of lying. The difference from other lies is in, to whom it was made. It seems that politicians can lie to the public but if they lie to legal authorities, it will be held against them. Let liars take warning. It will be better to practice telling the truth so that it becomes a habit and then the habit can build a truthful character.

28 Nov 2019: the Tory and Labour parties cannot tell the truth about their ‘fully costed spending plans’ in their General Election manifestos. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) says that they are “not credible”.

9 Feb 2021: 10 years in jail for telling lies about international travel during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Lord Sumption, the retired Supreme Court judge asks the rhetorical question: “Does Mr Hancock really think that non-disclosure of a visit to Portugal is worse than the large number of violent firearms offences or sexual offences involving minors, for which the maximum is seven years?” Rhetorical questions are not good enough, even from a top lawyer. What if a solitary non-disclosure led to the infection and death of 50 people? This shows the poor standard of debate in modern Britain.

17 Feb 2021: lying is the flavour of the month. The Assault on Truth by Peter Oborne is about political lying especially by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. I don’t know if it gets to the heart of the matter or just scratches the surface by highlighting the plain and public lies among politicians that observers witness regularly. He has listed the lying that has “gone through the roof” in the House of Commons, where until recently there were serious repercussions for doing so. This is the selective secular outrage that misses the mark. The media is the modern pulpit preaching false doctrine and influencing the country to more effect than politicians lying to each other over the despatch box. The Bible warns against “speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron” 1Tim 4:2, to all who read it and not just politicians.