We will continue to devote each Lord’s Day weekend in 2022 at hiswordtoday.org to present a portion of the Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF). For those unfamiliar with the WCF, a brief explanation is appropriate.
The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it became and remains the “subordinate standard” of doctrine (to Scripture) in the Church of Scotland and has been influential within Presbyterian churches worldwide.
It is to that “most precise and accurate summary of the content of biblical Christianity” that we will give our time and attention to each Lord’s Day in the year of our Lord, 2021. I trust you will be edified and encouraged each week by The Westminster Confession of Faith.
Chapter Twenty Two: Of Lawful Oaths and Vows. Part 2.
3. Whosoever taketh an oath ought duly to consider the weightiness of so solemn an act, and therein to vow nothing but what he is fully persuaded is the truth.a Neither may any man bind himself by oath to anything but what is good and just, and what he believes so to be, and what he is able and resolved to perform.b Yet it is a sin to refuse an oath touching anything that is good and just, being imposed by lawful authority.c
a. Exod 20:7; Jer 4:2. • b. Gen 24:2-3, 5-6, 8-9. • c. Exod 22:7-11; Num 5:19, 21; Neh 5:12.
4. An oath is to be taken in the plain and common sense of the words, without equivocation or mental reservation.a It cannot oblige to sin; but in anything not sinful, being taken, it binds to performance, although to a man’s own hurt:b nor is it to be violated, although made to heretics or infidels.c
a. Psa 24:4; Jer 4:2. • b. 1 Sam 25:22, 32-34; Psa 15:4. • c. Ezek 17:16, 18-19; Josh 9:18-19 with 2 Sam 21:1.
I encourage you to read the portions of Scripture listed in this post. Have a blessed Lord’s Day.
Soli deo Gloria!
His Word Today 