Here is what the Bible says about telling a lie:

“You shall not bear FALSE WITNESS against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16). A lie is forbidden by God in the Ten Commandments.

“These six things the LORD hates…a LYING tongue…A false witness who speaks LIES” (Proverbs 6:16-17, 19). God HATES LIES!

“LYING lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who deal truthfully are His delight” (Proverbs 12:22). Again, God loathes LYING! Yet He “delights in those who speak the truth.”

“A righteous man HATES LYING…” (Proverbs 13:5). This teaches us that we (those who are saved and living a RIGHTEOUS LIFE) HATE LIES too!

“Do not LIE to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds” (Colossian 3:9). LYING is one of the characteristics of the “old man” (who we were BEFORE our conversion to Christ) and thus it should never have a place in the life of the “new man” in Christ (see 2nd Corinthians 5:17). The believer in Christ is told “Therefore, PUTTING AWAY LYING, ‘Let each of you speak the truth with his neighbor,’ for we are members one of another” (Ephesians 4:25).

We could list many other verses which utterly condemn “telling a LIE.” A “white lie” is considered to be an untrue statement that is “minor” and it can “sometimes be helpful” if it is told to “make people feel better” or “help to keep peace in a relationship.” In the verses above there is not even a hint that “some lies aren’t serious and can benefit people.” There is one example in the Bible that people use to illustrate “a lie that resulted in a favorable outcome for people.” I’m referring to the lie that Rahab told to protect the two Jewish spies that were hidden in her house. “So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, ‘Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the country.’ Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, ‘Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that THE MEN WENT OUT. WHERE THE MEN WENT I DO NOT KNOW; pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them’” (Joshua 2:3-5). This was an outright lie and all lies are hateful to God. You may be thinking, “But Rahab is commended for her “work of faith” in James 2:25 which says, ‘Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also JUSTIFIED BY WORKS when she received the messengers and sent them out another way.’” Yes, “her WORKS” did prove that she was a woman of faith, BUT “her WORDS (her LIES)” were not commended. It is never “okay to tell a lie” though one may think that “the end justifies the means.” It is instructive to see her listed among those of faith in Hebrews 11:31 with these words, “By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when SHE HAD RECEIVED THE SPIES WITH PEACE.” Again, faith led her to do a great WORK of “receiving the spies,” but it was a lack of faith that led her to tell a LIE to protect them. We can surely believe God would have protected them in His own way and did not need, or sanction, the telling of a lie to preserve the lives of His messengers.

In most cases LIES are told to deceive people to gain favor with people and to enrich one’s self. I would encourage you to read about Jacob’s LIE in Genesis 27:1-36 and the LIE of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-11. How sad! These were true believers, yet they resorted to telling lies to gain riches and fame! In doing so, they were acting more like Satan, who is the “father of lies” (John 5:44) instead of their heavenly Father, “who cannot lie” (see Titus 1:2).  (DO)  (610.1)