The Ninth Commandment is applicable to the Courts of Law.

The last five commandments express that respect for the rights of others which is implicit in true love.

To break these commandments is to rob a man of the things most precious to him, his life (‘you shall not kill”), his home or honour (‘you shall not commit adultery’), his property (‘you shall not steal’), and now his reputation (‘you shall not bear false witness against your neighbour’).

This commandment is not only applicable to the lawcourts. It does include perjury. But it also includes all forms of scandal, slander, idle talk and tittle-tattle, all lies and deliberate exaggerations or distortions of the truth.

We can bear false witness by listening to unkind rumours as well as by passing them on, by making jokes at somebody else’s expense, by creating false impressions, by not correcting untrue statements, and by our silence as well as by our speech.

To read samples of the content of John Stott's book (from which this material originates), please click this... ninth commandment link ... then click on the title "Basic Christianity".