“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” (Matthew 5:33–37, ESV)
Yes or No?
Just tell the simple truth.
That we would feel the need to say, “I swear what I’m about to tell you is true,” is born out of the fact that men’s hearts are evil from birth.
But the gospel has changed our hearts; it has given us flesh for stone.
Our ‘yes’ means just that, yes!
And our ‘no’ means just that, no!