And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.
To swear falsely by God's name is forbidden, and to treat His name with irreverence is forbidden as profaning it. The false oath itself is what profanes His name. No technical evasion to escape an oath's obligation makes false swearing or profanity lawful.
The command belongs to the call to be holy because God is holy, taught as practical love for others through honesty, justice, and fair treatment. Such holiness is required in order for His people to be accepted and approved by Him. In that setting it stands with the prohibition on oppressing others in any way and with sharing God's gifts by leaving the gleanings of harvest-field, orchard, and vineyard as the Lord's portion to relieve the poor and the stranger. It was spoken by Jesus Christ enshrouded in the cloudy pillar and presents the same high standard as His New Testament teachings. It was given as a lesson for the benefit of future generations, calling those who have received God's wonderful love in the gift of Christ and all heaven in Him to love one another as Christ has loved them.
The required holiness is personal faith in Jesus Christ as personal Saviour, not mere membership in a particular church. It is practiced as godliness in every circumstance, first as a blessing to one's own family and then to fellow men and to all who need mercy and relief, by learning responsibility, by loving neighbors as self, by striving daily against selfishness and self-centeredness, and by cultivating the attributes of Jesus, which are the attributes of God, while growing up to the full stature of Jesus Christ. The verse applies to concrete dishonesty such as a false oath about the cost of goods sold and a false oath used to take money from a poor man, sins to be confessed with repentance that includes making restitution in some cases.
To swear falsely by God's name is forbidden, and to treat His name with irreverence is forbidden as profaning it. The false oath itself is what profanes His name. No technical evasion to escape an oath's obligation makes false swearing or profanity lawful.
The command belongs to the call to be holy because God is holy, taught as practical love for others through honesty, justice, and fair treatment. Such holiness is required in order for His people to be accepted and approved by Him. In that setting it stands with the prohibition on oppressing others in any way and with sharing God's gifts by leaving the gleanings of harvest-field, orchard, and vineyard as the Lord's portion to relieve the poor and the stranger. It was spoken by Jesus Christ enshrouded in the cloudy pillar and presents the same high standard as His New Testament teachings. It was given as a lesson for the benefit of future generations, calling those who have received God's wonderful love in the gift of Christ and all heaven in Him to love one another as Christ has loved them.
The required holiness is personal faith in Jesus Christ as personal Saviour, not mere membership in a particular church. It is practiced as godliness in every circumstance, first as a blessing to one's own family and then to fellow men and to all who need mercy and relief, by learning responsibility, by loving neighbors as self, by striving daily against selfishness and self-centeredness, and by cultivating the attributes of Jesus, which are the attributes of God, while growing up to the full stature of Jesus Christ. The verse applies to concrete dishonesty such as a false oath about the cost of goods sold and a false oath used to take money from a poor man, sins to be confessed with repentance that includes making restitution in some cases.