SWEARING TO GOD: JAMES 5:12

Verse 12: 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.

I’m certain that we all understand that when James uses the word “swear” he isn’t referring to vulgar language, but instead to the taking of an oath. The point James is making is that there is no reason for the believer to swear to the genuineness of what they are bearing witness to. Jesus stated likewise:

 “But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.” (Matthew 5:34–35)

In the past, it was a practice for witnesses in the United States courts of law to attest to their truthfulness by swearing on the Bible in this manner: “I solemnly swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God.” But now it is no longer politically correct to use a Bible or to swear by God as your witness of the truth in our culture. Back then, many believers took James’ command to heart and simply stated they affirm that what they state is the whole truth, instead of swearing by God as their witness.

Note that the Greek construction of do not swear expresses “the cessation of some act that is already in progress.”1 Therefore, what James is saying is that we should stop claiming the holiness of heaven, the God Who created earth or anything else as witnesses to our truth-telling. Just say “yes” to mean yes and “no” to mean no, without any ambiguity or half-truths. This is consistent with Our Lord’s teaching:

“But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.” (Matthew 5:37)

Our Lord concluded that anything beyond these statements “is of evil.” For there is a tendency of some to swear to an untruth and by pretense to claim God as their witness—this is evil. So, whether our answer is either ‘yes’ or ‘no’ it is to be the absolute truth. Anything else is considered a lie—“a statement of what is known to be false with intent to deceive.”2

In addition to Our Lord’s instruction, the Scriptures have much to say about falsehoods, deception and lying.

Lying is emphatically condemned in the Bible (Exodus 20:16; Ephesians 4:25). It is wrong because it is contrary to the nature of God (Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18) and because it shows that a person is not in touch with reality (Romans 1:25; 1 John 1:6).3

The Origin of the Lie

The first recorded instance of a lie is in Genesis 3:4-5 where the serpent (the devil, Satan) lied to Eve in tempting her to disobey God, telling her that she would not die, as God had warned, if she ate the forbidden fruit. Satan argued that God just didn’t want her eyes opened so she would “be like God, knowing good and evil.”

During Our Lord’s earthly ministry, He characterized Satan as the father of lies in His debate with the scribes and Pharisees:

“You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)

This should cause every believer to stop and consider this: Since Jesus Christ stated that there is no truth in Satan and that Jesus is the essence and personification of truth (John 14:6)—how then can we even contemplate as His representatives ever speaking anything but the truth? We must think this through thoroughly—it can and does have a great affect upon our witness of the gospel and among fellow believers. We need to follow the Apostle Paul’s directive:

And put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. (Ephesians 4:24–25)

Summary

James has provided us here with another example of the error of the tongue to add to those which he has previously warned: boasting (3:5ff); slander (4:11); complaining (5:9); and now false testimony. James encourages honest testimony by his cautionary note that there are consequences: “so that you may not fall under judgment.” This is a restatement of Our Lord’s condemnation of untruthfulness—for He hears all and believers who are dishonest in what they say will be judged—divinely disciplined. James emphasized this in 2:12: So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.

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[1] Dana, H.E. and Mantey Julius R., (1957). A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament. Toronto, Ontario: The Macmillan Company, p.302.

[2] Flavelle, A. (1996). Lie, Lying. In New Bible Dictionary (D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer, & D. J. Wiseman, Eds.). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, p. 687.

[3] Youngblood, R. F. (1995). Lie. In Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Bruce, F. F., & Harrison, R. K., Thomas Nelson Publishers, eds.)  Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc.

 

© 2023 David M. Rossi