THE BOOK OF JAMES

(“Mean What You Say”)

James 5:12 (NASU)

“But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.” (James 5:12)

1. LIAR! LIAR!

(1) Fallen men are habitual liars.¹ From blatant lies, to half truths, most lost people have trouble being totally honest all the time. But before we pass judgment on non-believers, let’s remember we Christians are often all too willing to justify proverbial “white lies”, or shade the truth to our advantage, or participate in a deception by remaining silent (c.f. Psalm 116:11).

(2) You and I may not consider lying to be as serious a sin as (say) murder or homosexuality – but remember, lying made God’s top ten list, because the ninth commandment says: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (c.f. Exodus 20:16).

Elsewhere David said: “The wicked … go astray as soon as they are born, (and if we inquire as to how do they do that? The answer is, by) speaking lies” (c.f. Psalm 58:3, NKJV). The Book of Jonah says Nineveh was a wicked city that deserved to be destroyed by God (c.f. Jonah 1:2; 3:4) – while the Book of Nahum tells us why, saying that it was a “… bloody city, completely full of lies …” (c.f. Nahum 3:1). Jesus once told certain unbelieving Jews: “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father …” – He then went on to say that the devil is “a liar and the father of lies” (c.f. John 8:44), which means his children are also liars.

If we want to know what God thinks of lying, we only need to remember that when Ananias and Sapphira lied about what they had done with a certain piece of property, God struck both of them dead (c.f. Acts 5:1-11) – that Scripture puts liars in the same category with the “lawless and rebellious”, the “ungodly” and “unholy”, “murderers … homosexuals and kidnappers” (c.f. I Timothy 1:9-10) – and that the Book of Revelation says “all liars (will have) their part … in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (c.f. Revelation 21:8).

Thankfully, there is no longer any “condemnation for (liars) who are (now) in Christ Jesus” (c.f. Romans 8:1). BUT, we still need to realize what a serious offense lying is to our God and Savior – and that we Christians can “fall under judgment” (c.f. James 5:12) if we persist in being less than truthful in our speech, or if we are less than trustworthy when it comes to keeping our promises and fulfilling our obligations.

(3) Because fallen men and women are so prone to lie – so prone to shade the truth – so prone to use our words to deceive others – society has been forced to impose oaths in an often futile attempt to compel people to be truthful and keep their promises. From the signing of peace treaties, to legal contracts – from swearing in witnesses in a court of law, to the taking of an oath of office – from marriage vows, to the Hippocratic oath – all these efforts to try and insure that people will be honest and truthful are necessitated by the recognition that fallen human beings tend to be dishonest.¹ What’s more, the penalties often attached to these oaths and contracts – should they ever be broken – is further evidence that fallen human beings cannot always be trusted to be truthful and honest on their own.

(4) In this morning’s text (verse twelve), James briefly addresses the issue of truthfulness and honesty in our speech, by telling Christians “not (to) swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath” – but rather, our “yes” should always mean “yes”, and our “no” should always mean “no” – otherwise, he says, we “may … fall under (God’s) judgment” (c.f. James 5:12).

James is NOT forbidding the taking of all oaths – like when we’re called upon to testify in a court case, or at the time of our marriage. Instead, he’s simply saying that our speech should always be honest and truthful – that our lives should always be characterized by integrity and credibility – so that a simple “yes” or “no” from us will suffice, because others realize we are people who speak the truth and keep our word.²

Our God is a “God of truth” (c.f. Psalm 31:5) – and our Savior is “the truth” (c.f. John 14:6) – therefore, part of being “conformed to the image of” Christ (c.f. Romans 8:29), and reflecting the “likeness” of our Creator (c.f. Genesis 1:26), involves becoming people who have a reputation for being truthful in our speech, keepers of our promises, and trustworthy in all our business and social interactions with others.

(B) CHRISTIANS SHOULD BE YES MEN

(1) Turning to our text, James begins by saying: “But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth …” (c.f. James 5:12).

(a) The phrase “above all” (c.f. James 5:12) tells us what James thought about his statement in verse twelve – that in his view, the subject matter was especially important³ – even more so, perhaps, than what he just said about being patient in the face of injustice and inequity – even more important than what he just said about not complaining against one another (c.f. James 5:7-11). To be sure, it IS important for us to use our wealth wisely (c.f. James 5:1-6) – to be patient when we suffer unjustly at the hands of others – and not give in to the temptation to start complaining against our brothers and sisters in Christ when things aren’t going well. BUT (James says), it’s even more important not to go around “swearing by heaven or earth” IN ORDER TO TRY AND PROVE THAT WE ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE TRUTHFUL AND DEPENDABLE.

It’s unlikely you and I would have given the practice of swearing oaths by heaven and earth (c.f. James 5:12) such a high priority – but James did. And since we believe he was writing under the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit (c.f. II Peter 1:20-21), we had probably better up our interest level so we can pay special attention to what he has to say to us about this matter.

(b) The fact James addresses his readers as “my brethren” (c.f. James 5:12) reminds us he’s talking to Christians first and foremost of all, rather than lost men and women – that he’s talking specifically to followers of Christ, rather than the world of mankind in general. Hence, he’s telling believers “not to swear by heaven or earth” – he’s telling you and me to “let our yes be yes, and our no be no” (c.f. James 5:12).

By calling them “brethren” (c.f. James 5:12), James is also identifying himself with his readers – which means he’s not speaking down to them, but as one of them – that he’s speaking with compassion, not condescension – that he realizes he, too, needs to guard his own mouth and always strive to speak honestly and truthfully – that he, too, needs to make sure his “yes” always means yes, and his “no” always means no.

(2) Continuing on in our text, James says: “But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath …” (c.f. James 5:12).

(a) I hope you’ve already figured out by now that James is NOT talking about the kind of “swearing” that takes the Lord’s name in vain (c.f. Exodus 20:7) – or that’s rough and vulgar and crude in nature – what we sometimes call “cursing”,³ that includes things like “dirty language, double entendres, filthy jokes, and a plethora of four-letter words.”⁴ Scripture certainly prohibits this kind of talk in other places – calling it “unwholesome” (which literally means, “rotten, worthless,⁵ or corrupt”⁵) – as well as “unedifying” (which refers to words that have absolutely no value when it comes building people up, or making them better individuals)⁶ (c.f. Ephesians 4:29; Colossians 3:8).

Along these line, Scripture says our speech ought to always be “seasoned with salt”, and full of “grace” (c.f. Colossians 4:6) – that we should “let (our) words be few” (c.f. Ecclesiastes 5:2) – and that we should only speak words that come from a mind (c.f. Matthew 15:19) that’s been “dwelling on things” that are “true (and) honorable … right (and) pure … lovely (and) of good repute … “(of) excellence (and) worthy of praise” (c.f. Philippians 4:8).

(b) As for the kind of swearing James IS talking about, it clearly has to do with the use of “oaths” (c.f. James 5:12) – and specifically, with calling on “heaven and earth” (c.f. James 5:12) (or anything in heaven or on the earth – like, “my mother’s grave”, or “the hair of my chinny chin chin”,⁷ or “God is my witness”,) (i.e. calling on these things) to bear witness to our veracity, in order to try and convince people we are telling the truth, or that they can depend on us to keep our word.

The custom of swearing oaths was a major part of life in biblical times – not only among pagans, but also among the Jews – hence, many Jewish converts carried this practice over into the church.² What’s more, over time the Jews had developed an elaborate system of binding and non-binding oaths, which Jesus castigated them for in Matthew chapter twenty-three, when He told the Pharisees: ¹⁶“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated’ … ¹⁸and, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated’” (c.f. Matthew 23:16, 18). The point being that if a person swore an oath by the temple or the altar in the temple, they were not obligated to keep their promise – BUT if they swore an oath by the gold of the temple or the offering on the altar, then they were obligated.

(c) Now this all sounds rather strange to us, in part because we are not in the habit of swearing an oath by temples or altars IN ORDER TO TRY AND CONVINCE PEOPLE THEY CAN TRUST US, and that we really do mean what we’re saying.⁸ But that doesn’t mean we don’t swear at all. We just swear by other things – we say stuff like, “I swear to God (I’m telling you the truth)” – or, “To be perfectly honest …” (as if we weren’t being honest before?) – or, “If I’m lying, I’m dying” (we better hope God doesn’t take us literally about that!) – or, “You can ask anybody, and they’ll tell you …” – or, “Cross my heart”⁹ – “Scout’s honor”⁹ – (hopefully you get the point).

The Jewish culture had their oaths – and you and I have ours. Which means we have phrases of our own that we use whenever we feel someone needs a little more convincing that we’re being truthful – we have oaths of our own (although we may not have thought of them that way before) (we have oaths of our own) that we use whenever we think we need to convince someone else that we are a person who can be trusted.

But James says, “Don’t do that! Don’t swear by anything in heaven or on earth! Don’t call upon any animate or inanimate objects, in heaven or on the earth, to bear witness to your truthfulness or your dependability! JUST MEAN WHAT YOU SAY! If you make a promise, keep it! If you’re going to speak about something, make sure it’s the truth! If you tell someone you’re going to do a certain thing, make sure you do it!” If we don’t already have an inward honesty and integrity, that’s a result of the work of God’s grace in our heart, then all the oath swearing in the world isn’t going to make us truthful or dependable!

(d) Let’s back up for a moment. We said earlier that Scripture does not forbid the taking of all oaths. In fact, there are numerous instances in Scripture of godly people taking oaths, without any hint they were sinning against God.¹⁰

For example, Abraham required his chief servant to take an oath,¹⁰ saying (in part): ²“… Please place your hand under my thigh, ³and I WILL MAKE YOU SWEAR BY THE LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live, ⁴but you will go to my country and to my relatives, and take a wife for my son Isaac (from there)” (c.f. Genesis 24:2-4).

Likewise, in the Book of Joshua, the two Israelite spies swore an oath to Rahab¹⁰ – for we read (Rahab speaking): ¹²“‘Now therefore, please SWEAR TO ME BY THE LORD, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s household, and give me a pledge of truth, ¹³and spare my father and my mother and my brothers and ... sisters, with all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.’ ¹⁴So the men said to her, ‘Our life for yours if you do not tell this business of ours (that was their pledge of truth); and it shall come about when the Lord gives us the land that we will deal kindly and faithfully with you’” (c.f. Joshua 2:12-14).

Elsewhere, we find Jonathan swearing an oath to David that he would faithfully report his father’s attitude toward David (c.f. I Samuel 20:12-13) – we find Ezra the priest making the leaders and people among the exiles swear an oath to put away their foreign wives (c.f. Ezra 10:5) – we find Paul swearing an oath to the Corinthians that he was telling the truth (c.f. II Corinthians 1:23; 11:31) – while in the Book of Revelation we even find an angel swearing an oath that there would be no more delay regarding certain events that were to come to pass (c.f. Revelation 10:5-6).¹¹ In every instance, however, these oaths were sworn by asking God to bear witness – not some object (or person) in heaven or on the earth (c.f. James 5:12).

(e) Interestingly, Old Testament Scripture told God’s covenant people that if they were going to swear an oath, it was to only be by His name – and under no circumstances were they to swear falsely by failing to keep their oath. Hence, the Book of Deuteronomy says: “You shall fear ONLY the Lord your God; and you shall worship Him and SWEAR BY HIS NAME” (c.f. Deuteronomy 6:12) – and again: “You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve Him and cling to Him, and you shall SWEAR BY HIS NAME” (c.f. Deuteronomy 10:20) – while the Book of Leviticus God says: “You shall NOT SWEAR FALSELY BY MY NAME, so as to profane the name of your God …” (c.f. Leviticus 19:12). (We should note in passing that even God has sworn oaths – albeit, always by Himself. Hence, the Book of Hebrews says (for example): ¹³“… when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, HE SWORE BY HIMSELF, ¹⁴saying, ‘I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you’” – c.f. Hebrews 6:13-14).

(f) To call upon God to bear witness to the truthfulness of our speech, or the dependability of our promises, is a very serious matter – because it involves invoking His judgment upon us if we default on our promise, or our speech is found to be false.¹⁰ This is one reason why the Jews came up with a system that (supposedly) allowed them to swear by things like the gold of the temple, or a sacrifice on the altar (c.f. Matthew 23:16, 18) – because they thought by doing so, they were avoiding the judgment that might befall them if they swore falsely by God’s name. Hence, almost anything “in heaven or on earth” (c.f. James 5:12) was fair game – as long as the Lord’s name was not directly invoked.

Jesus blew the validity of this practice out of the water, however, when He said (in His Sermon on the Mount): ³³“… you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ ³⁴But I say to you, make no oath at all (that is, make no oath), either by heaven (why not?), FOR IT IS THE THRONE OF GOD, ³⁵or by the earth (why not?), FOR IT IS THE FOOTSTOOL OF HIS FEET, or by Jerusalem (why not?), FOR IT IS THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING. ³⁶Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. ³⁷But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; (because) anything beyond (this) is … evil” (c.f. Matthew 5:33-37). (Obviously, James drew upon this part of Jesus’ Sermon in this morning’s text – c.f. James 5:12.)

(g) Since heaven is God’s throne, and the earth His footstool (c.f. Isaiah 66:1; Acts 7:49) – and since everything in heaven and on earth belongs to God (c.f. Exodus 19:5; Job 41:11; Psalm 50:10-12) – there is nothing we can take an oath by that does not bring Him into the equation. As one writer said: “Swearing by anything in God’s dominion brings Him into the transaction.”¹² Hence, it doesn’t matter who or what we invoke to be a witness to our truthfulness or dependability, because any such oath invokes God to bear witness – and that, in turn, invokes His judgment upon us if we fail to keep our oath.

(3) All of which brings us to the last phrase in our text, where James says: “… do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment” (c.f. James 5:12).

(a) As we just pointed out, James is reiterating Jesus’ words in His Sermon on the Mount when he calls for simple, straightforward, honest speech¹² (c.f. Matthew 5:33-37). As followers of Christ, our “yes” should always mean “yes” – our “no” should always mean “no” – and our honesty and integrity should be such that we don’t need to add an oath of any kind to prove it. As one writer said: “People of integrity have no need to swear elaborate oaths to convince others of their truthfulness.”¹³

Nor – and this is an aspect of the text we haven’t developed – (nor) should we ever swear falsely in order to deceive people¹³ (like the proverbial used car salesman who swears the vehicle we’re looking at was only driven by an eighty-year old widow on Sundays – or the person who asks us for a personal loan, who promises up one side and down the other that he’ll pay it back next Tuesday). Sometimes people swear oaths to convince others their telling the truth, when they have no intention of following through – in which case, oaths actually become a tool of deliberate deception.

Back to our point, however – we’ve noted several times that neither Jesus nor James prohibits the swearing of oaths under special circumstances – like in a court of law, or when becoming a United States citizen, or even when a man is ordained to the office of elder or deacon in Christ’s church. Ordinarily, though, oath swearing is not necessary – nor should it be practiced by Christians – because our lives should be increasingly characterized by Christ-like honesty and integrity.¹³ Our light should be shining so brightly in the area of our speech (c.f. Matthew 5:16) that every knows we mean what we say.

(b) As for the “judgment” spoken of in our text (c.f. James 5:12) – since James is addressing Christians (whom he calls “my brethren” – c.f. James 5:12) – and since Scripture says elsewhere that there is “… no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (c.f. Romans 8:1) – and since God’s grace is such that He will not lose even one of those He has redeemed through faith in Christ (c.f. John 17:2; Philippians 1:6) – and since Scripture tells us that nothing will ever separate from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus (c.f. Romans 8:34-39) – therefore, the “judgment” (c.f. James 5:12) of which James speaks is a judgment of discipline, and not eternal destruction – a judgment of correction, not eternal condemnation.

On the one hand, then, we can breath a sigh of relief that we will not lose our salvation if (and when) we swear an oath we shouldn’t. On the other hand, however, we ought not presume on God’s grace by taking the practice of swearing oaths lightly – but rather strive, by Christ’s enabling grace, to obey the command in this morning’s text, lest we find ourselves being disciplined (perhaps even severely) by our Heavenly Father.

Perhaps you remember the verse I quoted last time (several weeks ago) from First Corinthians chapter eleven, that’s speaking to Christians when it says: “… when we are judged, we are (being) DISCIPLINED by the Lord so that we will NOT BE CONDEMNED along with the world” (c.f. I Corinthians 11:32). Not everyone agrees,¹³ but that’s the kind of “judgment” I think James has in mind in our text (c.f. James 5:12).

(c) Be that as it may, many people feel it’s necessary to add oaths to their speech, in order to convince others they’re being truthful and honest. That’s the kind of world we live in – but it’s not the kind of people we are supposed to be. James says Christ’s disciples don’t need oaths – nor should we add them to our speech. Rather, we should always say what we mean – our “yes” should always mean yes, and our “no” should always mean no (c.f. James 5:12).

Therefore, as the Book of Ezra says: “Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be done with zeal …” (c.f. Ezra 7:23).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

¹MacArthur: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary;

James; p. 263.

²IBID; p. 264.

³The New Geneva Study Bible; Footnote on James 5:12; p.

1965.

⁴MacArthur: Ibid; p. 265.

⁵BCS: Strong’s Concordance; Word #4550 & 4595.

⁶IBID; Word #3619.

⁷http://www.shol.com/agita/pigs.htm

⁸Kistemaker: New Testament Commentary; James, Epistles

of John, Peter and Jude; p. 173.

⁹Blanchard: Truth For Life; p. 346.

¹⁰MacArthur: Ibid; p. 266.

¹¹IBID; p. 267.

¹²IBID; p. 270.

¹³IBID; p. 271.