Adding Vows to God's Covenant Is Sin

[Christ4Me]

This has to do with not only the New Covenant, but with the marriage covenant God performs.

Galatians 3:15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.

Paul refers to a man's covenant that after it has been confirmed, no one can add to or take away from. The same is with God's covenant that He performs be it the New Covenant or the marriage covenant.

Couples have added their extra vows of love in their marriage ceremony that has no business being in there. It is not their vows of love that binds the two together, God is the One binding those two together and all they have to do is agree with Him in doing this.

Is love boastful? No.

Is it not by Christ we have our beings and do good by His grace & by His help? Yes.

Then what need for added vows of love in the marriage ceremony that God performs? where is the respect to what God is doing for the couples in marriage?

What need for commitment or promises to Christ for the things Jesus said He will do & finish as long as we believe in Him to do it?

Do we trust Him as our Good Shepherd to live by faith in Him or not?

It is weird that we recognize when it comes to a man's covenant that no one can add or take away from it once it has been confirmed, but not when it comes to God's covenant.

We live in a society that has influenced us to prove our sincerity by swearing on a Bible or making a promise or a vow or a commitment, but no matter what the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak; therefore what is impossible with man is possible with God when we live by faith in Jesus Christ apart from the law.

Problems in your marriage? Judging each other by your extra vows?

Thinking about quitting Christianity because it is too hard to keep that commitment?

Then deny yourself as able to keep them and ask Jesus for forgiveness, and to set you free from those man made yoke of bondages, and live by faith in Him to help you live as His.

Galatians 3:1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? 2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

Galatians 5:1Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.... 5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.

Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: 7 Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. 8 For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. 9 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; 10 That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ. 11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

John 6:28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

 

[farouk]

This has to do with not only the New Covenant, but with the marriage covenant God performs.

Galatians 3:15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.

Paul refers to a man's covenant that after it has been confirmed, no one can add to or take away from. The same is with God's covenant that He performs be it the New Covenant or the marriage covenant.

Couples have added their extra vows of love in their marriage ceremony that has no business being in there. It is not their vows of love that binds the two together, God is the One binding those two together and all they have to do is agree with Him in doing this.

Is love boastful? No.

Is it not by Christ we have our beings and do good by His grace & by His help? Yes.

Then what need for added vows of love in the marriage ceremony that God performs? where is the respect to what God is doing for the couples in marriage?

What need for commitment or promises to Christ for the things Jesus said He will do & finish as long as we believe in Him to do it?

Do we trust Him as our Good Shepherd to live by faith in Him or not?

It is weird that we recognize when it comes to a man's covenant that no one can add or take away from it once it has been confirmed, but not when it comes to God's covenant.

We live in a society that has influenced us to prove our sincerity by swearing on a Bible or making a promise or a vow or a commitment, but no matter what the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak; therefore what is impossible with man is possible with God when we live by faith in Jesus Christ apart from the law.

Problems in your marriage? Judging each other by your extra vows?

Thinking about quitting Christianity because it is too hard to keep that commitment?

Then deny yourself as able to keep them and ask Jesus for forgiveness, and to set you free from those man made yoke of bondages, and live by faith in Him to help you live as His.

Galatians 3:1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? 2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

Galatians 5:1Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.... 5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.

Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: 7 Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. 8 For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. 9 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; 10 That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ. 11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

John 6:28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

@Christ4Me Faith is indeed a work of God, as some of those verses particularly bear out.

 

[farouk]

@Christ4Me Ephesians 2.1-10 is another passage which clearly shows that faith is indeed a work of God.

 

[michaelvpardo]

Wedding vows are oathes before God. Making them isn't sin, but breaking them is. Jesus said let your yes be yes and your no be no and that any more than this was of the evil one. You have to ask, "why?"
The answer is "presumption. " James, the brother of the Lord, expands on this a little in his epistle.

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. James 4:13-14
James addresses "boasting" specifically, but the point is that you don't know what will happen in life. The Lord is in control, but you aren't. The law of Moses says to keep your vows and to not keep them is sin, so making vows about what you will do or won't do is presumptuous if they aren't conditionall upon His will (and grace.)

30 Then Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: 2 If a man makes a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. Numbers 30:1-2
If you read the entire passage, you'll see the law for vows to be different for women, because their fathers had the authority to cancel their vows until they were married and then their husband's received that same authority.

Make vows to the Lord your God, and pay them;
Let all who are around Him bring presents to Him who ought to be feared. Psalms 76:11

The story of Jepthah, a judge of Israel in the book of judges, gives us an example of someone making a vow and keeping it despite the evil consequence. God calls this righteous because He keeps His word and wants us to keep our word, but the "evil one" takes advantage of the commandment to harm us.

Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle?
Who may dwell in Your holy hill?
2 He who walks uprightly,
And works righteousness,
And speaks the truth in his heart;
3 He who does not backbite with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend;
4 In whose eyes a vile person is despised,
But he honors those who fear the Lord;
He who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
5 He who does not put out his money at usury,
Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be moved. Psalm 15:1-5

Marriage is a covenant and when men (and women) enter into a covenant they do so by making vows. Oathes are similar, but are promises binding on those who make them.

 

[Christ4Me]

Wedding vows are oathes before God. Making them isn't sin, but breaking them is.

Jesus said let your yes be yes and your no be no and that any more than this was of the evil one.

I am referring to the extra vows of profession of love given by each spouse to the other and not the agreement given by the pastor by His words.

You have to ask, "why?"
The answer is "presumption. " James, the brother of the Lord, expands on this a little in his epistle.

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. James 4:13-14
James addresses "boasting" specifically, but the point is that you don't know what will happen in life. The Lord is in control, but you aren't. The law of Moses says to keep your vows and to not keep them is sin, so making vows about what you will do or won't do is presumptuous if they aren't conditionall upon His will (and grace.)

You will not find any examples of added extra vows in scriptures given by the couple professing their love and what each will do for the other tomorrow and for the rest of their time as married to the other.

30 Then Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: 2 If a man makes a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. Numbers 30:1-2

If you read the entire passage, you'll see the law for vows to be different for women, because their fathers had the authority to cancel their vows until they were married and then their husband's received that same authority.

Make vows to the Lord your God, and pay them;
Let all who are around Him bring presents to Him who ought to be feared. Psalms 76:11

The story of Jepthah, a judge of Israel in the book of judges, gives us an example of someone making a vow and keeping it despite the evil consequence. God calls this righteous because He keeps His word and wants us to keep our word, but the "evil one" takes advantage of the commandment to harm us.

Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle?
Who may dwell in Your holy hill?
2 He who walks uprightly,
And works righteousness,
And speaks the truth in his heart;
3 He who does not backbite with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend;
4 In whose eyes a vile person is despised,
But he honors those who fear the Lord;
He who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
5 He who does not put out his money at usury,
Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be moved. Psalm 15:1-5

Jesus had testified to how godly people performed their vows unto the Lord and that means having finished them rather than making open ended vows where they can never say they finished it or had paid them, but in Matthew 5:33-37, He says for His followers to not even swear by it because we cannot make one hair white or black, meaning we cannot do God's work in is to be good and to do good when that would be boasting in the flesh by that oath in ding good tomorrow.

Marriage is a covenant and when men (and women) enter into a covenant they do so by making vows. Oathes are similar, but are promises binding on those who make them.

If you reconsider that comment by what you had posted earlier in this post, a couple enter into that marriage covenant that God performs by agreeing to that marriage covenant. By adding extra vows of love to that marriage covenant, they can never pay or finish that vow because it is open ended. Boasting of their love for each other and the good they will do for tomorrow and the rest of their future days together in holy matrimony is also sin. And when they do not perform the good they had vowed to do because of bad days, they have broken their vows.

By the vows of love and doing good is the knowledge of sin for why Jesus said to His followers not to do this.

Indeed, to live by faith in Him to finish His work in us each and every day to help us lay aside every weight & sin in loving one another with His love is the way to go & live. So married couples that had added those extra vows of love and in doing good in the future days ahead, should ask the Lord for forgiveness and to set them free from those extra vows of boastful love & doing good and just remain in the agreement to the marriage covenant in trusting the Lord Jesus Christ to help them to follow Him in loving one another by His love He will provide so that their joy may be full.

 

[michaelvpardo]

I am referring to the extra vows of profession of love given by each spouse to the other and not the agreement given by the pastor by His words.



You will not find any examples of added extra vows in scriptures given by the couple professing their love and what each will do for the other tomorrow and for the rest of their time as married to the other.



Jesus had testified to how godly people performed their vows unto the Lord and that means having finished them rather than making open ended vows where they can never say they finished it or had paid them, but in Matthew 5:33-37, He says for His followers to not even swear by it because we cannot make one hair white or black, meaning we cannot do God's work in is to be good and to do good when that would be boasting in the flesh by that oath in ding good tomorrow.



If you reconsider that comment by what you had posted earlier in this post, a couple enter into that marriage covenant that God performs by agreeing to that marriage covenant. By adding extra vows of love to that marriage covenant, they can never pay or finish that vow because it is open ended. Boasting of their love for each other and the good they will do for tomorrow and the rest of their future days together in holy matrimony is also sin. And when they do not perform the good they had vowed to do because of bad days, they have broken their vows.

By the vows of love and doing good is the knowledge of sin for why Jesus said to His followers not to do this.

Indeed, to live by faith in Him to finish His work in us each and every day to help us lay aside every weight & sin in loving one another with His love is the way to go & live. So married couples that had added those extra vows of love and in doing good in the future days ahead, should ask the Lord for forgiveness and to set them free from those extra vows of boastful love & doing good and just remain in the agreement to the marriage covenant in trusting the Lord Jesus Christ to help them to follow Him in loving one another by His love He will provide so that their joy may be full.

A pastor can't make vows for you. The pastor is not responsible for your words. Marriage covenants, like all covenants made between men, are vows or oathes between them to establish peace. God's covenants are somewhat different as He makes them and the Father isn't a man (God is Spirit), but became one in the person of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnation of God. (God in flesh,)

 

[michaelvpardo]

Yet you say, “For what reason?”
Because the Lord has been witness
Between you and the wife of your youth,
With whom you have dealt treacherously;
Yet she is your companion
And your wife by covenant.
15 But did He not make them one,
Having a remnant of the Spirit?
And why one?
He seeks godly offspring.
Therefore take heed to your spirit,
And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.
Malachi 2:14-15
You'll notice that in marriage, the Lord is witness to the marriage covenant, not the initiator of the covenant. Marriage represents the relationship between God and His people, but God's covenants are initiated by Him and we only enter into them by faith and confession in agreement with His word. That's actually how we're justified.
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:8-10

 

[Christ4Me]

Yet you say, “For what reason?”
Because the Lord has been witness
Between you and the wife of your youth,
With whom you have dealt treacherously;
Yet she is your companion
And your wife by covenant.
15 But did He not make them one,
Having a remnant of the Spirit?
And why one?
He seeks godly offspring.
Therefore take heed to your spirit,
And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth.
Malachi 2:14-15

Malachi 2:14 Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. 15 And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.

Who is the he that make one?

Matthew 19:5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

Therefore God is the one that performs the marriage covenant that both parties, the man and the woman agrees to in entering in that covenant thereby their yes be yes and their no be no which in that case, they are not agreeing to be joined in that marriage covenant that God performs.

You'll notice that in marriage, the Lord is witness to the marriage covenant, not the initiator of the covenant.

I disagree.

Marriage represents the relationship between God and His people, but God's covenants are initiated by Him and we only enter into them by faith and confession in agreement with His word. That's actually how we're justified.
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:8-10

In the Old Covenant, this was an agreement between His chosen people to do and God as this was on God's chosen people to perform to gain salvation by in living as His people too. Failing that...

The New Covenant is God's turn and by agreeing to trust Him to do this is why God is performing it as long as we believe Him to do this, finishing His work in us to His glory when we trust him more than just as our Savior that we are saved since having believed in Him, but to trust Him as our Good Shepherd & friend to help us to follow Him all the way Home to the marriage Supper above for when the Bridegroom comes for the abiding saints.

 

[michaelvpardo]

Malachi 2:14 Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. 15 And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.

Who is the he that make one?

Matthew 19:5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

Therefore God is the one that performs the marriage covenant that both parties, the man and the woman agrees to in entering in that covenant thereby their yes be yes and their no be no which in that case, they are not agreeing to be joined in that marriage covenant that God performs.



I disagree.



In the Old Covenant, this was an agreement between His chosen people to do and God as this was on God's chosen people to perform to gain salvation by in living as His people too. Failing that...

The New Covenant is God's turn and by agreeing to trust Him to do this is why God is performing it as long as we believe Him to do this, finishing His work in us to His glory when we trust him more than just as our Savior that we are saved since having believed in Him, but to trust Him as our Good Shepherd & friend to help us to follow Him all the way Home to the marriage Supper above for when the Bridegroom comes for the abiding saints.

The Lord doesn't make you one with all women. You don't marry them all, but just one. That one is the result of choice and covenant made by vow or oath.
You may understand God's covenants and miss the nature of men's covenants completely. You might profit from studying covenants between men. They are typically blood oathes (I swear or forfeit my life.)

 

[Christ4Me]

The Lord doesn't make you one with all women. You don't marry them all, but just one. That one is the result of choice and covenant made by vow or oath.
You may understand God's covenants and miss the nature of men's covenants completely. You might profit from studying covenants between men. They are typically blood oathes (I swear or forfeit my life.)

Galatians 3:15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.

Marriage is God's covenant that a man and a woman agrees to for God to join them as one flesh. That is why no one can add to that marriage covenant with their vows of love and cannot take away from.

And besides, did you not say it is evil to make plans for tomorrow and that it was evil boasting? Then vows of love which is not supposed to be boastful, are making vows as in plans for tomorrow, is it not? So why not ask Jesus to set them free and rest in His promises to give them all the love they need to love each other through good times & bad times?

 

[michaelvpardo]

Galatians 3:15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.

Marriage is God's covenant that a man and a woman agrees to for God to join them as one flesh. That is why no one can add to that marriage covenant with their vows of love and cannot take away from.

And besides, did you not say it is evil to make plans for tomorrow and that it was evil boasting? Then vows of love which is not supposed to be boastful, are making vows as in plans for tomorrow, is it not? So why not ask Jesus to set them free and rest in His promises to give them all the love they need to love each other through good times & bad times?

Actually if you read and compare scripture to scripture, there is no specific commandment to women to love their husband's (though love is a rule among all Christians), but to the contrary, wives are exhorted to submit to and respect their husband's, while husbands are exhorted to love and care for their wives.

33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. Ephesians 5:33
I recommend that you carefully read the whole passage from verses 22 to 33, to verify what I've stated here, but we have this specific teaching regarding marital relationship because God placed a specific curse upon that relationship in Genesis chapter 3.

16 To the woman He said:
“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
In pain you shall bring forth children;
Your desire shall be for your husband,
And he shall rule over you.” Genesis 3:16
Please note that this curse is upon the woman and not the man (men have a significantly different curse upon them.)
Hopefully you can understand that the word "desire" in this passage is not specifically about sexual attraction, but the desire to control or "rule."

Marriage is a reflection of God's covenant with His people, but it is not His covenant between man and woman. Couples covenant between each other with God as their witness when they make vows before Him.

Vows before God are not to be broken. Doing so is transgression, and that's the whole point of making them.

Love is not enough to sustain a relationship. If a couple is not submitted to God and His word, and committed to each other, their marriage is likely to fail. Traditional marriage vows generally include the words "for better or for worse."

The for better part is easy, but sickness, loss of children, jealousy because of improper relationships outside the marriage, drug or alcohol abuse, and all types of sin can be the "for worse part." Love is not enough if one or both parties want to end the pain of failed emotion by separation and dissolution of the marriage.

Unfaithfulness and betrayal take many forms and the only legitimate reason God gives for divorce is sexual immorality (and even that may be forgiven through love.)
You do understand that if love (agape) were automatic in Christians, we would have no exhortation to do so, right?

 

[Christ4Me]

Actually if you read and compare scripture to scripture, there is no specific commandment to women to love their husband's (though love is a rule among all Christians), but to the contrary, wives are exhorted to submit to and respect their husband's, while husbands are exhorted to love and care for their wives.

Proverbs 5:18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. 19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.

You do understand that if love (agape) were automatic in Christians, we would have no exhortation to do so, right?

I understand. Indeed, we loved Him only because He first loved us, but yes, we are commanded to love others with His love and by His help.

1 John 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us. 20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?