“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.’ “You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold? “And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.’ “You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering? “Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it. “And whoever swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it. “And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it." [Matthew 23:16-22 NASB]
According to the tradition of the Pharisees, oaths were completely and irrevocably binding - if they were binding oaths. Any oaths made in the name of God were binding, but others were not. So the practice was to swear an oath by the Temple, which was not a binding oath. Then they could break the oath without penalty.
By using these duplicitous practices, they could give the front of religious devotion, while lying, cheating and stealing. Jesus has previously said, "“Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ “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. “Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. “But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil." [Matthew 5:33-37 NASB]
A Christian's life should be so far above reproach that he can simply make a statement and be believed. It used to be the practice in court to place a hand on the Bible, and swear "to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God." The anti-Christian lobby had the Bible and "so help me God" removed, because it was considered discriminatory. For once, I agree with their result, if not their motives. If we follow Christ, our word alone should be evidence that we are telling the truth, without swearing an oath.
It should go without saying, although Paul said it anyway, "Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices," [Colossians 3:9 NASB]
Whenever you lie, you are giving authority to Satan in your life. Jesus said, "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 NASB] Whenever you speak a lie, you are taking on the nature of the devil.
It should be our goal to lay aside falsehood, and speak the truth. Paul wrote, "if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 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 4:21-25 NASB]
James echoed Jesus' words when he said, "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 NASB]
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