Is it morally wrong to commit to do something?

Question: My friend claims that it is morally wrong to commit to do something, but that you always have to say "I'll try to do..." To me when they say "I'll try" it sounds like they are giving a half-hearted attempt to do something. But he says that he fully intends to do it and they just can't say "I'll do..." because if something happens and he can't do it, then it is a lie. In the Bible I found this verse: "Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one." --- Matthew 5:37. From this verse I feel like it is saying that we should say that we will or won't do anything and that our maybe's come from the devil. Am I missing something? Are there any other scriptures that you can lead me to?

Good question. First, let me say that the point of Matthew 5:37 was to preclude the use of oaths or promises as a guarantee that you are telling the truth not to rule out the use of tentative words like maybe, perhaps, and hopefully. Jesus basically says, that we should always be telling the truth. All promises and oaths indicate that honesty is not our normal way of speaking and living. It is also true that the verse in Matthew 5 may be emphasizing caution and commitment. Be careful what you say 'yes' to and what you say 'no' to. It is important to know what God wants you to do (and not to do) and it is important to be a person of your word. If I have a reputation for being a person who does what I say I'll do, then a simple “Yes” or “no” is sufficient. Saying that, I do understand that there are sometimes things that are beyond our control that happen and change our ability to do what we say. For instance, "I'll help at the school tomorrow" and then, you get the flu and cannot help out. You were still sincere when you committed, but were not able due to circumstances beyond your control.

I think the scriptural principle that your friend is alluding to when he warns against definitive statements, is found in James 4:13-17
13Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"— 14yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." 16As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. (ESV)

Here it is clear that the purpose is not to forbid being decisive, or committed, but to forbid the arrogance of thinking we can plan our life (either strategically or tactically) while effectively excluding God and his plan for us from the process. The key is not to be legalistic, but to consistently seek God's will and do what you commit to do, in the strength and grace that Jesus provides.

Your friend sounds sincere in his/her concern, but seems to have missed the real intent of this passage. When my son asks me if I will pick him up after practice, I am not going to say, "I'll try." If an earthquake or a car breakdown prevents me from getting him, I am sure it is not sin and I know he is not viewing me as lacking in integrity. When my wife asks me if I will be home for dinner, I don’t hesitate to say yes, though there are times when other things prevent me – and we are not at odds because of it. The Bible doesn’t teach us to avoid commitment, but to keep the commitments that we make; honoring God and loving people in the process.

Is Jeremiah 29:11 a promise for us today?

Ken's full question was: "I often see Jer. 29:11 quoted with the implication that it's a promise for all people. However, since the context is God's promise to the exiles from Jerusalem to Babylon, is this really applicable to you and me?"

What a thoughtful question! It reveals that you are looking at context when considering how to interpret or apply a given passage. Context is very important! It is good to see people thinking about what they are reading the Bereans in Acts 17:11. You are right that Jeremiah 29:11 is frequently quoted as a promise for all people and that it was a specific prophetic promise to those who were going into the Babylonian exile. For those unfamiliar with this passage, here it is …

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. (ESV)

Is it any wonder that we would want to apply such an awesome promise to people today? But can we do it with integrity? First we step back and look as you did at the larger context of the paragraph that contains this verse…

10"For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

The context can be expanded even wider and we see that the problem for the Jews was that they hadn’t believed God warning of judgment and now that they have been judged they seem to have given in to despair. God here speaks encouragement to them so that they might repent and be eventually restored. To determine if this applies to us today we need to consider what is the same and what is different in our situations. Let’s start with …

What is not the same: We are not ancient Jews in Babylon with a 70 year horizon for returning the land of Israel. Yet Christians have often seen both the bondage of Israel in Egypt and the Babylonian exile of the Jews as typical (a “type” is a precursor, a foreshadowing of something yet to come) of our personal bondage to sin before we have been set free by faith in Christ’s sacrifice.

What is the same? First, God’s character never changes. The OT declares repeatedly that His loving-kindness/steadfast love never fails (e.g., Psalm 136), while the NT affirms the same (e.g., John 3:16-17; Hebrews 13:8). So we can accurately conclude that the beneficent attitude God had towards his OT people is still present in his attitude towards his NT people. Second, man’s need never changes. We all are sinners and need God’ gracious involvement in our lives. Have we mourned over our failures and the sinful things we have done and wondered if God still can use me? We may not be physically deported to modern-day Iraq, but we live in the midst of a very anti-God culture that in many ways is Babylonian…and yes, God still has plans for us! Finally, there are conditions (v.12-13) that were attached to the Jews being able to experience God’s plans for their welfare. Those same conditions would seem to apply to all people today as well. If we are to experience God’s plan for us we must first call on Him (acknowledge our need), coming and praying, seeking God with all our heart and there is the assurance that He will hear us and be found by us (e.g., Matthew 6:31-33; Luke 11:8-10; John 6:35-40; Acts 2:21).

What is better? W e have to ask, “If this was how God dealt with his people under the old covenant, then how much better is his dealing with his people under the new covenant?” Hebrews 8:6 says that we now have a better covenant, mediated by Christ, which is “enacted on better promises.”

In conclusion, the promise found in Jeremiah, may be applied to our lives (because of what is the same and what is better) though we are outside of its immediate context. However, it doesn’t guarantee us a life free from sorrows and hardships. Jesus told us we would have a tough go in this world if we desire to live a godly life (e.g., 2 Tim. 3:12). But though it all we will experience the glory of God’s intimate involvement in our lives… even in the midst of Babylon… if we call to Him, seeking Him and His kingdom with all our hearts! Not only will re experience Christ’s love, peace, and joy in this life, one day He will restore us completely and welcome us into his eternal kingdom thus proving that his ultimate will for us is good.

New Questions?

If you have new questions that you would like answered, simply comment on this post and we will add your question and the answer back in as its own post.

I know the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, but how should we interpret it? Literally or figuratively?

Good question! I would say, “Yes!”

Why? Because the Bible contains not only historically accurate narrative, and theologically specific letters, but also large sections of symbolic poetry (is “symbolic poetry” redundant?) and visionary prophetic material. So if I were to say we should take the Bible “literally,” I would be misinterpreting the intentionally symbolic genres. On the other hand, if I were to say that we should interpret the Bible “figuratively” then I would miss the obvious meaning of the historically precise narratives and the doctrinally instructive letters. What then is the solution? We can interpret the Bible “literarily” as it was intended to be understood.

The Bible contains a number of different genres of literature and each needs to be interpreted in keeping with its genre so as to understand it as it was intended to be understood. Sections intended to be symbolic will then be interpreted that way and sections that are intended to recount historical events will be interpreted accordingly. Fee & Stuart’s How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth, and Duvall & Hays' Grasping God's Word are good resources to get started in this area. Also, our IML presents a 3-term series of Bible Survey & Literature classes as a great way to grasp the big picture of the whole Bible as well as learn how to accurately approach interpreting and applying the different sections of the Bible, the Word of God.

Where does the Bible suggest that speaking in tongues is a gift for all people and what is the belief of Beaverton Foursquare regarding this gift?

Good question!

First, let me state the doctrinal position of the Foursquare Church on the Baptism of the Spirit, and the gifts and fruit of the Spirit The following is an excerpt from the official Foursquare Doctrinal statement. . The full doctrinal statement can be found on the ICFG website.

“Baptism in the Holy Spirit:
We believe that the baptism in the Holy Spirit empowers believers to exalt Jesus, to live lives of holiness, and to be witnesses of God’s saving grace; we expect the Spirit’s incoming to be after the same manner as that in which He came upon believers in the days of the Early Church (Acts 1: 5, 8; 2:4).
Our denomination’s founder wrote, “. . . the believer may have every reason to expect His incoming to be after the same manner as that in which He came upon Jew and Gentile alike in Bible days, and as recorded in the Word, that it may be truly said of us as of the house of Cornelius: the Holy Ghost fell on them as on us at the beginning.
Scripture References
1. “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever–the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” (Jn.14:16,17)
2. “for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:5,8)
3. “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:4)
4. “Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 8:17)
5. “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.” (Acts 10:44-46)
6. “And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.” (Acts 19:6) “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16)

The Gifts and Fruit of the Spirit:
We believe that the Holy Spirit bestows enabling ministry gifts upon believers, and that these gifts will build up the Body of Christ through edification and evangelism(1 Corinthians 12:1-11); as evidence of a Spirit-filled life, believers should show spiritual “fruit”: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance (Galatians 5:22-25).”
Scripture References
1. “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant:...But earnestly desire the best gifts...” (1 Cor. 12:1,31) “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.” (1 Cor. 12:11)
2. “Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel.” (1 Cor. 14:12) “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” (Rom. 11:29)
3. “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.” (Rom. 12:6-8)

I think it would be good for us to understand that today many believe that there is a difference between the “gift of tongues” and a Christian’s “praying in the Spirit” or “spiritual prayer language.” On one hand, the gift of tongues/spiritual language seems to be given situationally, for public use, with the gift of interpretation, and not necessarily to all believers. On the other hand, the blessing of praying in tongues/spiritual language seems to be available to all believers and has the function of powerful intercession and personal edification. There are many Christians who regularly pray in “tongues”, but have never manifested the public gift of tongues with interpretation.

It also seems normative in the New Testament that when the Holy Spirit came upon men and women in power, they would personally speak/pray/praise in a spiritual language/tongues(Mark 16:17; Acts 2:11ff; 10:46; 19:6). However, there are few today who would use tongues/spiritual language as a litmus test for Christianity.

The Apostle Paul discussed spiritual gifts (including tongues/spiritual language) being divinely given to individuals as the Holy Spirit wills (1 Corinthians 12). He teaches that these gifts are given as needed for the edification of the church corporately (1 Corinthians 14). He also makes a special point in to discuss the benefits of personal prayer and praise in a spiritual language, going as far as saying, "I want you all to speak in tongues . . .(14:5) I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you "(14:18). And of special note is 1 Corinthians 13, right in the heart of the discussion!

James 1:9-10 How are the rich to glory in their humble position?

Your complete question was: "In James 1:9-10, the author writes that those who humble circumstances should rejoice in their honored position. Ok, I understand--first shall be last, last shall be first, being in a humble circumstance is a noble thing. However, it then goes on to say that a rich man ought to glory in his humble circumstance. I don't understand--is it tongue in cheek?"
While some take it to be an ironic statement, I think it best to take it straight. Let me share a couple of quotes from two good commentaries on this passage.

Douglas Moo makes the point in The Tyndale New Testament Commentary series, "Two related ideas may be suggested. First, the rich Christian should remember that, however 'exalted' he may seem in the eyes of the world, his status before God is different. He must consciously maintain this perspective on his true, spiritual position in order to experience the blessings of God's good pleasure. . . A second, related, idea is that humiliation may suggest the believer's own identification with Jesus Christ, who 'humbled himself' (Philippians 2:8) and who was considered of no account in the world.

The Expositor's Bible Commentary also says, "The wealthy believer, then, is exhorted to glory "in his low position." Since the context deals with trials, the low position may be a description of the humbling experience of suffering persecution for Christ's sake. The very same treatment that exalts the poor man and gives him a new sense of worth also humbles the rich man. Suffering shows him that, instead of having a lasting lease on life, his life on this earth is no more permanent than "a wild flower" (cf. Isa 40:6-8.) Some interpreters understand James to say that it is the rich man's wealth that passes away, not the man himself (Ropes, p. 148). But it should be noted that the subject of the verb "pass away," is not riches but "the one who is rich." Again, in v. 11b it is the rich man who will "fade away." Suffering and persecution reveal how tentative and short life really is."
Hopefully this information is helpful to you!

What is an Apostle?

Part 2 of Curiouscat's question: What exactly is an apostle (Paul says Jesus appeared to "The Twelve" but neither Thomas nor Judas was there, right?). Was Paul technically the 12th apostle and the replacement for Judas? Was Matthias really an apostle? Andronicus and Junias (Rom 16:7)are also called apostles, but I don't see those names anywhere else in lists of the apostles. There are other places, too, where apostles seem to mean more than twelve.

The term apostles was originally used to refer to the 12 disciples specially chosen by Jesus (Matthew 10:1-4; Mark 3:13-19; Luke 6:13-16) whom He then empowered to go out and preach the good news of the Kingdom of God with signs and miracles as well. Paul later goes so far as to describe the "things that mark an apostle-signs, wonders and miracles-were done among you with great perseverance.(2 Cor 12:12 NIV). Traditionally there were considered to be 12 apostles for the Jewish people and then Paul as the apostle to the gentiles (Romans 1:1-6). Later in the New testament, the term apostle seems to be used in a broader sense.

The word for apostle, apostolos, comes from the classical greek word apostello which means to send. It differs from the word pempo which means to send, in that in apostello the tie between the sender and the sendee is noted while pempo is just a verb for "to send". The term apostello connotes the idea that an envoy has the full powers of, and is the personal representative of the one sending him, in this case God. A close connection between the sender and the recipient is established. But the word used in the text is apostolos which is first a verbal adjective and then a noun. Apostolos was first used to refer to a cargo ship or a fleet of ships that had been sent out. Later it came to refer to a band of colonists sent overseas. It would seem that whenever the term is used there are two ideas that are always present: 1) an express commission, with the full authority of the sender; 2) being sent overseas.

In Acts 14:14, we find that Barnabas and Paul were considered apostles, and probably had been, since their commissioning via prayer, fasting and the laying on of hands (Acts 13:1-4) by the elders of the church that they had established in Antioch and as they were sent out by the Holy Spirit. At this point, in Acts 14, they are planting churches and then appointing elders in each of the churches. They appointed the elders in each church, with prayer and fasting, committing them to the Lord in whom they believed (14:21-23).

Apostles as seen in the New Testament church are those who, after working locally, are commissioned and sent overseas to minister. An apostle is a missionary church planter, a healer, a preacher, and a teacher. They appoint elders in the churches that they plant and work to develop faithful indigenous leadership. Their ministry is characterized by the powerful gifts of the Holy Spirit.