Lance Armstrong Is A Liar

“All liars will have their part in the lake of fire.”

“Thou shall not lie.” --- God


Lance Armstrong cheated and then lied about it.

I used to be a huge Lance fan. His story (which turned out to be a lie) was so compelling. An elite athlete…sidelined by cancer…fought and beat cancer…came back and won a record 7 times. Winning the Tour de France is an incredible athletic accomplishment. Winning it 7 times is historic. Coming back from cancer and winning 7 times is legendary. Now, it is all a lie.

What makes the story worse is that for years Armstrong was accused and denied the accusations with incredible consistency and vehemence. He sued people who accused him of doping. He was ruthless to those who said he was taking peds. He publicly denied that he used steroids over and over and over again. Now, in an interview with Oprah, he has admitted the lie publicly.

Lance Armstrong is a cheater, a deceiver and a LIAR. Lying is a sin against God. Lying is serious to the Lord. The Bible says that all liars deserve to be thrown into the waves of fire that make up the place called hell.

I am glad I am not Lance Armstrong. You probably are too.

I have never lied about taking performance-enhancing drugs in order to win the Tour de France. You probably haven’t either. But, but, but, but….I HAVE LIED…about other things.

The sad truth is that I haven’t just told one lie in my life, I’ve told more than one. And you know, YOU KNOW, that you have lied too. Hasn’t everyone? Do you think there is one person on this planet that has never told even one lie? No way! We have all told lies. The fact that everyone has told lies does not lessen the offense to the Lord. If everyone were a murderer it wouldn’t make murder less serious. The same is true with our lies.

Let’s try and quantify our lying for just a moment. If we were to estimate the number of lies we have told, would it be: in the hundreds or thousands? It’s hard to truly remember them all, but they are numerous…aren’t they?

So, what do we call someone who has told numerous lies? A human being. Of course, but more specifically someone who tells multiple lies is a LIAR. We don’t just tell lies we are liars. Those who commit sins are sinners.

This is a direct violation against the law of a Holy God. He is infinite in His Holiness, Righteousness and Justice. That means that even the little white lie is cosmic treason and rebellion against a Holy God. When we break His law we deserve the just punishment for our crime.

The Bible says that the punishment for our sin is certain and eternal death. (Romans 6:23) The Bible says that “all liars will have their part in the lake of fire (hell).” (Revelation 21:8)

If God gave us liars what we deserve it would be the punishment of an eternity in hell. That is what we deserve.

Well, maybe we can make up for our lies. Maybe Lance Armstrong can do enough good deeds to pay for his lies. He has, after all, done some incredible good. The Livestrong Foundation has done some great work in battling cancer. Lance should be applauded for his charity and philanthropic works. But, does his good deeds absolve him of his status as a liar? Not with God.

Think of it like this: if a murder comes to the judge and says, “Judge, I know I murdered by I have done all of these good things, and I promise that I will do even more good things in the future…can’t you let me go free because of my goodness?” No good Judge can let a murderer go free of his crime.

God is a just and righteous Judge. He cannot let sin go unpunished.

Uh oh! We are lying sinners and deserve the punishment of God, and there is nothing we can do about it. That is the truth. But, God is also amazing in Love. He loves sinners so much that He has done something for us that we could not do for our self. God has a solution to the problem of our sin, something only God could accomplish.

Sin had to be punished and paid for. We could never pay it to satisfy the demands of justice. Jesus could and did. Jesus, the sinless Son of God, came to pay for our crimes. He did this because He loves you and to satisfy the demands of justice.

It’s like this; suppose there is someone guilty of a crime. They are before the judge and the just penalty is 1 trillion dollars. The guilty man has no money; there is no way he can pay the fine for his crime. The Judge cannot and will not let the man go without the fine being paid. Then a stranger comes into the court. He walks up the judge. He has the full amount that he earned through his own hard work. He pays the judge the full amount for the crime of the guilty. The judge accepts the payment and offers freedom to the guilty.

When Jesus died on the cross He was paying for our crimes of sin against God. He paid, with His life’s blood, for our sin against a Holy God. He took what we deserved. And He rose from the dead on the third day. He lives. And because of Jesus, the demands of justice have been met and God extends the love of His grace towards sinners. It is His free gift of forgiveness that He offers to us.

What do sinning liars have to do? Simply receive the free gift that Jesus purchased on the cross. The Bible says the way we receive the gift of forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life is by repentance and faith. (Ephesians 2:8-9; Acts 3:19)

Repent means to turn. Turn from yourself and your sin and turn TO Jesus Christ.

Believe means to entrust your entire life into the hands of Jesus. You give Him complete control of you. Faith is not just going to church or assenting to certain facts. True faith is giving everything you are over to Jesus to be the LORD and BOSS of your life.

This is the only hope for Lance Armstrong. It is the only hope for all of us liars.

Please consider this and turn to Christ in repentance and faith today.


If you have never done this and would like to, one way you can express your desire to repent and believe is to say a prayer like this:
Dear God,
I admit to you that I am a sinner. I am guilty of sin and deserve Your punishment. I realize that Jesus died for my sin on the cross and that He rose from the dead. I desire to turn from my sin and trust you as my Lord and Savior. I want to give my life over to You today. Thank you for saving me, forgiving me, and coming to live in me. Thank you for the promise of heaven.
I ask this in Jesus’ name,
Amen


(if you have just done this, please let me know)