Christian Conduct

Oaths

Matthew 5:33 "Again, you have heard that it has been said to the ancients ‘You shall not swear falsely’, and ‘You shall make atonement for your oaths to Yahweh’. 34 Now I say to you not to swear at all, not by the heaven, because it is the throne of Yahweh, 35 nor by the earth, because it is a footstool for His feet, nor upon Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great king, 36 nor should you swear by your head, because you are not able to make one hair white or black. 37 Now your word must be yea, yea, no, no, and what is in excess of these is from of evil."

Oaths were taken very seriously in the ancient world, and rituals were fulfilled in order to officiate them. The ritual conducted in Genesis chapter 15, where Abraham split certain animals in half and the essence of Yahweh passed between them, was one such ritual officiating an oath, and there are Mesopotamian inscriptions revealing that very ritual to have been a custom of the people at that time. However swearing oaths to men, one must compromise one's allegiance to God. Therefore Christians should not swear oaths at all. At James 5:12 the apostle wrote:

“But before all, my brethren, do not swear, not even on heaven nor on the earth nor any other oath, but it must be from you the yes “Yes” and the no “No”, in order that you would not fall under judgment.”

For this reason, Christians for many centuries refused to consider contracts or allegiances. Rather, they conducted all of their business on a handshake and their word, where yes was yes and no was no.

Vengeance

Matthew 5:38 You have heard that it has been said ‘An eye for an eye’ and ‘A tooth for a tooth’. 39 Now I say to you, not to oppose evil, but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn for him also the other. 40 And to him desiring for you to be judged and to receive your cloak, give up to him also the shirt. 41 And whoever shall press you for one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to him asking you, and you should not turn away from him wishing to borrow from you.

Since both the exacting vengeance and the distribution of reward belong to our God, Christians should not take such things upon themselves. Yet rarely in our history have we shown such faith. If we believed God's word, we would never seek vengeance against a brother, either by suit or by violence.

(This does not refer to Yahweh's enemies. We are not to suffer evil from the enemies of our God. We must resist them. Here, as always throughout the discourse given on the Mount, the subject of the conversation is still the students of Christ and the children of Israel.)