Will Your Morality allow Kingdom Living?

 

The common thought among “religious people” is that our morality is what saves us. That if we live good and upright lives before a watchful God, then, as a natural consequence, God will bless us in this life and the next.

Now, this isn’t necessarily untrue, but if I examine my own heart and motivations, well, morality is something I fall short of.

So, let’s examine this idea in light of Deuteronomy 6, arguable one of the more important chapters in the entire Old Testament.

Let’s take a specific example, like taking oaths. Just to refresh our memories, an oath before God or swearing by God’s name means, well, you’d better be doing what you say you’re about to do or “so help me God.”

The most obvious example of taking an oath in the 21^st century is when a person takes an oath in a courtroom to swear to tell the truth, “so help me God.”

Basically, one is recognizing that there are higher powers involved when one takes an oath or swears by that higher power.

They know whether you are telling the truth or not.

God references this in Deuteronomy 6. Let’s have a look: (NASB)

10 “Then it shall come about when the LORD your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied, 12 then watch yourself, that you do not forget the LORD who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 13 You shall fear only the LORD your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name. 14 You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you, 15 for the LORD your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; otherwise the anger of the LORD your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth.

What God is warning against is false swearing or false oath to other gods.

The whole idea is all about knowing from whom comes provisions and salvation and the truth of God. That starts in verse 12, when God says, “Then watch yourself,” lest you forget who is the One that brought you out of bondage into the Promise Land.

It is an interesting verb: “fear.” So, taking an oath isn’t just a recognition of God, but the idea that God controls life and death.

Which explains the stern warning at the end: “He (God) will wipe you off the face of the earth.”

The emphasis in the passage isn’t so much on what you are taking an oath about, but on remembering that God takes all this very, very seriously.

So seriously, in fact, that if you take an oath falsely or swear by another god or gods, well, there will be consequences and they will be serious.

This is proven out later in the Old Testament when Israel rebelled and went whoring after other gods. According to the prophets, God did indeed wipe them off the face of the earth.

But not entirely. God did restore their fortunes and the relationship, even in exile and to the next generation.

So, the application is along the lines of “it isn’t so much what you do, but Who you believe is watching what you do.”

This is why Jesus said that taking any oath at all is problematic in Matthew 5: (NASB)

 33 “Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT MAKE FALSE VOWS, BUT SHALL FULFILL YOUR VOWS TO THE LORD.’ 34 But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING. 36 Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.

Jesus isn’t saying you won’t take oaths or vows, we all do. And we all break them, but God has interceded for us in His Son, so that when we break those oaths, and break them we will, then God will see His Son in our lives and restore our relationship to Himself.