Swearing False Oaths, Part 1 (TMF:2177)

Tuesday, September 12, 2023
Peace to Live By: Swearing False Oaths, Part 1 (TMF:2177) - Daniel Litton
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       So now we are picking back up in chapter 5. Starting in verse 12: “But above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation“ (ESV). James starts our section here noting that what he is about to say is the most important thing to be said of his recent comments. And notice, as James has done quite a bit in his epistle here, he moves right back to our speech, the things we say with our mouths. Now, in James’ context for his original readers and listeners at the time, he obviously was talking to Jewish believers in Jesus. He even references Jesus’ comments on this topic, and all of this is tied into the Jewish culture. So, the background is that basically some Jews back then had the habit of swearing false oaths by other names (names other than God’s name) and thought that that was okay to do. They thought the only oath that you had to keep was when you swore by God’s name.