The Third Mandate, on Truth

1 Again he said to me: “Love truth, and let nothing but truth come out of your mouth, so that the Spirit which God made to dwell in this flesh⁠a may be found true in the sight of all people; and so the Lord who dwells in you will be glorified; for the Lord is true in every word, and with Him there is no falsehood. 2 So those who lie treat the Lord with contempt, and rob the Lord, for they do not return to Him the deposit they received. For they received from Him a spirit free from lies. If they return a lying spirit, they have defiled the Lord’s command and have become thieves.” 3 When I heard these things, I wept bitterly. But seeing me weep, he said, “Why do you weep?” I said, “Because, Sir, I do not know if I can be saved.” “Why so?” he said. “Because, Sir,” I said, “I have never spoken a true word in my life, but I always lied deceitfully with everyone and dressed up my falsehood as truth before everyone; and no one ever contradicted me, but everyone trusted my word. How then, Sir,” I said, “can I live, since I have done these things?” 4 “You are right to think so,” he said, “for you, as a servant of God, ought to have walked in truth; and no alliance with evil should live with the Spirit of truth, nor grieve the Spirit that is holy and true.” “Sir,” I said, “I have never heard words as plain as these.” 5 “Now then,” he said, “you hear them. Keep them, so that even the lies you told in your past dealings might become believable, now that these are found true; for they too can become trustworthy. If you keep these things, and from now on speak nothing but truth, you will be able to secure life for yourself. And whoever hears this command and abstains from falsehood—that most harmful habit—will live for God.”