On Scripture

It's been said that "a man is only as good as his word." That is a true saying, and nobody exemplifies that like God. Jesus Christ is called "the Word of God," and we know that he is infallibly good. Jesus was and is without sin, and we have that confirmed to us by the fact and reality that God raised him from the dead. Sinners don't raise from the dead. If they are raised then they die again. Jesus never died again and is still very much alive. He is in fact the Word of God, and he proves that God is all good because his Word is all good. But what about us? We are called to be reflections of God's glory in Christ if we are indeed in Christ. We shouldn't speak things that we don't back up, and we shouldn't speak things that we don't mean. Jesus told us plainly, "But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more [other] than these cometh of evil" (Mat. 5:37). The message there is "Say what you mean and mean what you say, and shut up about the rest." Jesus warned the people not to follow after the example of the Pharisees, who were also God's people: "All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not" (Mat. 23:3). Jesus also rebuked the same Pharisees on the same topic: "Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me" (Mat. 15:7,8). I don't think we want to be reckoned with that crowd.

Talking is so easy, and it is also easy to forget that our words are worth far more than their weight in determining our eternal destiny. Jesus didn't leave that stone unturned either. Again the Pharisees were the target of his scathing rebuke: "O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned" (Mat. 12:34-37). That's heavy-duty stuff I must say, but it is the truth. No wonder the scripture tells us, "The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips" (Prov. 12:13). The bigger the words, the greater the condemnation if we fail them. If we make major life commitments in word, especially involving other people; and we go back on our words, that becomes a major snare to us. We may conveniently forget, but God conveniently does not forget. We simply cannot outrun the eyes, the ears, and the judgment of God. That is why we have scriptures like these that admonish us on such issues: "Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few... When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?" (Eccl. 5:2,4-6). One of the greatest exhortations of all time is what readily comes to mind: "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord" (Heb. 12:14). What we say and what we do about what we say is a very large element of holiness, or the lack thereof. Amen.