Let your "yes" be yes… James 5:12

Kirk

Jul 29

"But above all, my brothers, 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."
- James 5:12

Related Verses

But I tell you not to swear at all:
either by heaven, for it is God's throne;

Matthew 5:34

My beloved brothers, understand this:
Everyone should be quick to listen,
slow to speak, and slow to anger,

James 1:19

Select Commentaries

But above all things - That is be especially careful on this point; whatever else is done, let not this be. The manner in which James speaks of the practice referred to here, shows that he regarded it as a sin of a very heinous nature; one that was by all means to be avoided by those whom he addressed. The habit of swearing by various things was a very common one among the Jews, and it was important to guard those who from among them had been converted to Christianity on that subject.
Swear not - See this command illustrated in the notes at Matthew 5:33-34. Nearly the same things are mentioned here, as objects by which they were accustomed to swear, which are referred to by the Saviour.

But let our yea be yea - Let there be a simple affirmation, unaccompanied by any oath or appeal to God or to any of his works. A man who makes that his common method of speech is the man who will be believed. See the notes at Matthew 5:37.

Lest you fall into condemnation - That is, for profaning the name of God. "The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain," Exodus 20:7.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Verse 12. - Exhortation against swearing, founded on our Lord's teaching in the sermon on the mount, Matthew 5:33-37 - a passage which was evidently present to St. James's thoughts. He, like his Master, "lays down rules and maxims and principles without specifying the limitations and exceptions."

The evil habit seems inveterate and universal. When Peter, therefore, 'began to curse and to swear' on that dismal night of temptation, we are not to suppose that it was something foreign to his former habits. He merely relapsed, under high excitement, into what, as a sailor and a fisherman, he had been accustomed to all his life.

Pulpit Commentary

My Pondering

It doesn't say never but swearing unto a higher power, unto God almighty should be rare like an oath of office, witness in a court of law, a wedding ceremony, or a business partnership.

There no doubt is a difference between swearing and cursing. Swearing is using God's name in vain, carelessly or recklessly. Thus the warning at the end of the passage regarding 'condemnation' as God will not be mocked, at least for long.

God the Father is true to His Word like not other as His Son, the beloved Jesus Christ personifies. They are one as we should strive by the power of His Holy Spirit. This is a big why our yes should be yes and our no be no when it comes to promises.

Our future is unknown by us yet it's secure because God is already there. So as James taught , 'as the Lord wills, it shall be so'.