POLITICS: JESUS SAID WHEN A MAN’S WORD IS ANY GOOD HE DOESN’T NEED TO SWEAR AN OATH!- Mt.5:37 – USSA News

When Jesus said, “let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.” It has nothing to do with the act of swearing of an oath being bad or evil in and of itself. But, has everything to do with the fact that as His children simply giving someone our word is to be enough.

And the letigious society we live in is proof that many people can not be trusted with a simple handshake or word on it. This is the direct result of people’s word not being enough. So that an oath must be given, a contract, so that the parties to it are protected from each other’s lack of integrity. A handshake should be stronger than a contract. And it most certainly should be regarding those who know Jesus.

This is why in Mt.5:33-37 Jesus said, “Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:

34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne:

35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.

36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.

37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.”

Jesus ends this communication saying, “for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.” The reason Jesus said this is that it is only because men choose the evil of not honoring their word that an oath or contract must be done.

And even an oath or contract is only as good as the person’s word who swore it or signed it. As so often to enforce it the wronged person must spend lots of money litigating it(hence the need for lawyers) to force the person whose word means nothing, to abide by it. When what he should do is keep his yea or nay simply because it is the right thing to do.

Like the woman who rolled over on her baby and killed it that then stole the woman’s baby who was sleeping next to her. When the woman awoke whose baby was stolen she told the woman who stole it to give it back. Ending in an argument that came before king Solomon. Who said divide the baby in half so each can have the baby.

To which the mother of the child said no do not divide the baby in half. Let the woman have the baby. By her care for the baby Solomon knew whose baby it was. But, it had to be litigated even though it was obvious to both whose the baby was. Because the woman in the wrong who stole the baby had no integrity.

David spoke of this kind of integrity in Ps.15 when he wrote, “Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?” One characteristic God says is necessary to be one who abides and lives with Him is “He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.”

This means that when you give your yea or nay to someone you honor your word. You do what you said you would even if it ends up being painful to do it. Do you see how important this is? God says the man who gives his yea or nay and abides by it just because he said he would has met the criteria to dwell in God’s holy hill. It is this man that will abide in God’s tabernacle.

Another aspect to this is that Paul taught us in 1Cor.6:1-8 that a brother is never to take a brother to law. But, must learn to settle differences amicably within the body of believers because of God’s love that has been shed abroad in each believer’s heart.

Much of the evil that men do in this world, including when a brother takes his brother to law before unbelievers, is the direct result of a man’s unwillingness to swear to their own hurt and change not.

Here’s another example of this. In a marriage 2 people give their yea to always love and cherish each other. And to never leave until death do them part. And then somehow they end up in court before unbelievers solely because one or both have made the selfish decision not to honor their word.

In 1Cor.7 Paul speaks of the person who leaves a marriage saying, “15 But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.” This shows that Paul didn’t even consider the possibility that one that would leave a marriage would be a believer. That’s heavy, right? Talk about the importance to God of keeping one’s word.

Many times people are at each other’s throats doing and thinking unspeakable evil to one another all because their word means nothing. And in some marriages while they may not bring themselves to sue for divorce, they simply stay to make the other person’s life as miserable by staying with them as possible.

This is not God’s design for marriage. Any more than it is God’s design for any relationships. Whether solely living up to an agreed upon set of rules by giving our yea. Or living up to our yea when we promise to always love and cherish our spouse.

Our yea or nay should never be broken especially by those who claim the name of Jesus. Because when they do they have done by what God’s kind of faithfulness can never do. And by this they may be taking God’s name in vain.

This means that while claiming to be joined to God, they join themselves to the father of lies. Becoming a person who’s yea or nay means nothing. Whose yea or nay as Jesus said, “comes of evil.”

This kind of person is like those Jesus spoke of when He said in John3:19-21, “19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”

This is why it is taking God’s name in vain to not be a person whose yea or nay does what you say you will or won’t do when you give your yea or nay. This is why Jesus told Israel that swearing by anything comes of evil. Because all that really should be necessary for the believer is that what they need to do to show they are children of God is to simply be a man of their word.

This is how we do what is right with our neighbor. This is how we become known as someone who can be trusted to mean what he says and says what he means. That our yea is yea and our nay is nay.

And how we show that we are children of our Father which is in Heaven. Which matters so much to God that as we saw in Ps.15 He says this is a characteristic of those who will live and abide with Him in His holy hill. Because we show that we have chosen to belong to Him by our being trustworthy and true.

As I have been teaching the last few weeks this is more about our responsibility to God and others as believers that is greater than anything required of those who lived in any other age or dispensation.

Think about how Jacob obeying his mother deceived his father to have the blessing intended for his older brother Esau. And was still referred to by God as being who He loved while He hated Esau. Think about how Peter denied Jesus 3 times, and then after Jesus went to be with the Father became a powerhouse for the gospel that could not be stopped no matter the threats made against him.

This happened before Jesus died and rose again because men were only flesh. A living soul. A body with air in it. They had no part in them that was eternal and equipped to relate to the Father in spirit and truth.

But, after Jesus’ death and resurrection men are made spiritual beings by trusting in Jesus and His resurrection. So that the person who has been saved is now equipped to handle the greater responsibilities required of him as a born again man. A child of God and not just His servant.

And if you want the power that comes with being made a spiritual being all you need to do is ask. By confessing with your mouth the Lord Jesus. And believing in your heart that He raised from the dead. By this God will create a spirit in you you never had before.

And it is by this spirit that you are equipped to relate to God and become a man of your word. Making your yea mean yea. And your nay mean nay. Without anyone having to force you to honor your word through litigation. Or by going before the king as the women did who disputed about the baby.

This power is abvailable to us through the creation of this spirit in us. And the indwelling Holy Spirit who comes to live in us and lead us spiritually into all truth. And this is only possible by the new birth Jesus spoke of in John3:1-8.

If you will confess and believe as Paul said in Rom.10:9,10 then you will become a man of your word. Whose yea is yea and whose nay is nay. Because you will be a child of God who hears His voice. And as His children will be heir to His kingdom.

Do this and you will have eternal life now. Do this and you will receive an immortal body at the resurrection. Do this and you will be sealed to God unto the day of redemption. Do this… and I will see you there or in the air!