Again, you have heard that it was said to those of old,’ You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, or it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair, white, or black. Let what you say be simply ‘yes’ or ‘no’; anything more than this comes from evil (or the evil one).
Matthew 5.33-37
Continuing with Jesus’s teaching from his sermon on the Mount, in this portion of scripture, Jesus addresses our ‘words.' Words matter. Jesus tells us that our yes and our no are to be sufficient. Jesus is specifically talking about making oaths. A definition of our English word ‘oath’ is: “a solemn promise, often invoking a divine witness, regarding one's future action or behavior.”
You’ve no doubt heard the adage don’t make promises you can’t keep. I think Jesus is saying the same thing. There are many plans in the mind of a man, but the Lord directs our steps. In other words, we are not in control of every event that involves us. We can plan, but plans can fold when we begin to incorporate others.
Ellicott’s Commentary on this portion of scripture highlights two thoughts I’d like to consider with you,
“….the context shows that the sin which our Lord condemned was the light use of oaths in common speech, and with no real thought as to their meaning. Such oaths practically involved irreverence and were therefore inconsistent with the fear of God. The real purpose of an oath is to intensify that fear by bringing the thought of God’s presence home to men at the very time they take them, and they are therefore rightly used when they attain that end. Practically, it must be admitted that the needless multiplication of oaths, both evidential and promissory, on trivial occasions, has tended, and still tends, to weaken awe and impair men’s reverence for truth, and we may rejoice when their number is diminished. In an ideal Christian society no oaths would be needed, for every word would be spoken as by those who knew that the Eternal Judge was hearing them.”
There is this scripture from Ecclesiastes 5:6 that Solomon in all his wisdom offers to us,
“Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry at your voice and destroy the work of your hands?”
Hebrews 6:13 tells us that when God made a promise to Abraham because there was no one greater than him, he swore by himself. This reminds me of God’s purity. His word is truth, his word is pure, and there is nothing duplicitous about his words. It is impossible for God to lie.
Our biblical standard and overall admonition is to be like our Father with our words. James reminds us the tongue is a fire. James calls it a world of unrighteousness, able to stain the whole body and sets on fire the entire course of life. Only the Holy Spirit can tame our tongues. Psalm 139:4: “Even before there is a word on my tongue you know it…”. And the Holy Spirit works to check every word that proceeds out of our mouth.
The book of Proverbs gives us a list of the things God hates, and we find lying on that list. As his children, we are to hate lying. There is a duplicity in our speech when we lie. Jesus, from the gospels, tells us if the light that is in us is dark, how great is the darkness. Lies are darkness, and they can flow from pride and fear. One desires to appear grander than they are, so they manipulate the truth; the other is driven by fear of exposure. Perhaps pride holds fear as well. We live in a culture that minimizes lies. White lies, little lies, etc., all have one common factor: they are still lies. The danger of lying is that, ultimately, we could become a ‘liar.’
Let us never lose the awareness that Satan is the Father of lies, and there is no truth in Him. Casual speech offers fulfillment of the proverb, “in the multitude of words sin is not lacking.” Awareness of what we say, when we say it, and to whom we are speaking holds us accountable to the one who ultimately judges every idle word.
We are created like no other species of being. We are speaking spirits with the same power, with the same creative ability our Father holds through speaking… and God said.. and it was. Jesus holds his audience captive with His words of authority and power. What he said came to pass because He is the one who changes not. He is the same today as He was in the beginning and will be when he appears again. His mouth holds a two-edged sword. It divides light from dark and truth a lie. He is the truth.
The standard for every child of God is to grow up and become as He is. Yes is yes, and no is no. We don’t offer them without careful contemplation of all that a yes or no would hold. We hold watch over our mouths.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus and charged them to speak the truth in love and not to allow any corrupt communication to come out of their mouths. We are to love truth with the same passion our Father has.
Let our yes be yes, and our no be no. Anything more than that comes from the evil one.