At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. 16: 11)
A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish.
Proverbs 19:9
The doctrine of the final judgment teaches us that every last person will be judged according to their works (Matt. 16:27; 2 Cor. 11:15; 2 Tim. 4:14). This even includes Christians, as the apostle Paul plainly teaches. Now there is a sense in which the ultimate judgment for Christians (with regard to Heaven and Hell) was paid by Christ on the cross, and so we are not judged in that way according to our works (2 Tim. 1:9). Christians are therefore not judged at the last in order to determine what their ultimate destiny will be. There is no condemnation for those who are Christ (Rom. 8:1).
At the same time, God will evaluate our lives, and we will render an accounting to Him.
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).
But this ultimate judgment is not just something that happens there, outside of history. There are also all kinds of foreshadowings. Coming back to the theme of this proverb, which is the destiny of liars, we know that liars are thrown into the lake of fire (Rev. 21:8). In this life, God is not mocked, and a man reaps what he sows (Gal. 6:7). In many cases, the crops start to be gathered into the barns of sorry consequences in this life.
“If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; Doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? And he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? And shall not he render to every man according to his works?” (Proverbs 24:12)
There is absolutely no reason why God needs to wait until the last day in order to direct the consequences of our actions to return to us. In this proverb, the action is that of bearing false witness, which would be perjury, and speaking lies, which would be free lance work out in the general public. Sometimes liars are bribed to lie in a courtroom setting, and other times they just do their work on discernment blogs pro bono.
I have lost track of all the times that individuals, professing Christians, would tell the most shameless lies about me, and who would, in the same breath, call me to repentance in the name of Jesus. I was apparently supposed to repent of whatever it was they were lying about. It has been at times quite the breathtaking display. One comfort has been that God is just, and God notes all of it. Taking all this into account, we must remember that it is far better to be lied about than to lie. Comparatively, to be lied about and slandered is by far the more privileged position.
