I Swear

Passage: Matthew 5:33-37

Lord’s Day 37 speaks to an issue we don’t think about often: the swearing of oaths. In our culture there are both formal (i.e., courtrooms) and informal (e.g., barroom tales and fish stories) settings in which we swear by something greater than ourselves. We do so to underscore the truth of our words. The Catechism points out that there are occasions in which it is acceptable to do so. However, for Christians the default should be to avoid swearing by anything.

According to the Catechism, it’s okay to swear by God’s name or by God’s Word “when the government demands it or necessity requires it.” In other words, if you are called to testify in court, you can put your hand on the Bible and swear to the truth of your testimony with a clear conscience. You haven’t violated God’s Law. There may be other circumstances under which you might say, “With God as my witness, what I’m saying is true.” Biblical precedent can be found in such places as Joshua 9:15 and Romans 1:9. Deuteronomy 6:13 says, “Take your oaths in the name of the LORD”. The underlying message is this: “If you have to take an oath, only do it in God’s name.”

However, Jesus himself prohibits taking any oath at all. In Matthew 5 he says, “Simply let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ be ‘no.’” There are two important reasons for this. The first is is that if you are one of his followers, you should always speak the truth. Your integrity and your track record should be all the evidence you need to convince anyone that you're telling the truth. No Christian should need to swear by anything because by nature we should all be truth-tellers. If the people you deal with are inclined to doubt you, you should ask yourself why.

The second reason Jesus prohibits taking an oath that invoking God’s name is such a serious act that the violation thereof becomes a violation not against the person you’re talking to but against God himself. An oath in God’s name is utterly binding, and can get you into a great deal of trouble. This is illustrated in two Old Testament examples: Joshua’s covenant with the Gibeonites in Joshua 9:1-21; and Jephthah’s oath in Judges 11. In both instances, people swear oaths before God that end up binding them to courses of action they later regret deeply (read both if you want to find out what happens). The preponderance of Scriptural evidence, including Jesus’ own words, lead to this conclusion: avoid swearing any kind of oath. If you are compelled to make an oath, do it only in God’s name. And if you do, be sure not to break it.