(continued from the previous entry in this series)

Principle 5 is easy to explain and illustrate.

When it comes to what Scripture teaches about promises, one of the main questions people wish to settle is this: Is it true, as one would initially tend to assume, that you should always keep every promise you’ve made, no matter what it is? The answer is no, because some promises are nullified by a higher authority, and some are morally wrong to keep.

However, this does not automatically mean that you have not sinned in a situation where you must break a promise. In many cases, you have already sinned in making the promise in the first place, only that to keep the promise would be to commit another sin, and you cannot undo one sin by committing another one.

For example, if for some reason I promised to rob a bank for you or to murder someone for you, then of course I must not keep that promise. I have already sinned in making such a promise in the first place, and it would be an even greater sin to keep it.

Or, if you make a promise to someone in the name of your company when you have no authority to make such a promise, then you have already done wrong by making the promise, but it would also be wrong to keep a promise that you had no right to make. In this case, the company has prior claims over whether you could carry out the promise. In fact, to protect its reputation, which you have now jeopardized, it might honor your illegitimate promise anyway, but it is certainly not obligated to do so. In some cases, and when possible, the right thing to do might be to honor the promise with your personal resources.

God always has prior claims over every promise. Secondarily, some human authority figures may have prior claims over your promises, such as parents, husbands, fathers, pastors, and employers.

Nevertheless, it does not follow that you should always break every promise that you have no right to make. For example, for you as a Christian to marry an unbeliever would be a great sin, but it would be another great sin for you to divorce the unbeliever once you have married him. This is because although God preceptively opposes this sinful marriage, it is still God himself who oversees it, and what he has joined together, let no man put asunder (1 Corinthians 7:12–13; see also The Sermon on the Mount).

There are applicable principles in Scripture to every situation that you will face, and to every promise that you make. It will tell you what is right and what is wrong in each case, and even once you have done wrong, it will tell you the next step to follow.

Our discussion on principles 4 and 5 should not complicate things so much that principles 1–3 become obscured. In fact, principles 1 and 2 should be enough to guide most of your decisions about making and keeping promises — that is, don’t make rash or unnecessary promises (many promises are unnecessary — if you intend to do something, just do it), but once you’ve made a promise, keep it. There are exceptions, but exceptions are rare, although they can happen. Of course, then, the best thing to do is to avoid making promises that you have no right to make, or that you cannot or should not keep.

Then, some promises might not be outright sinful, but they are unwise, and the Bible says that you should beg to be released from them. One such example is when you co-sign someone’s loan:

My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge for another, if you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth, then do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor's hands: Go and humble yourself; press your plea with your neighbor! Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids. Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler. (Proverbs 6:1–5)

Before he retired, my father’s profession had a lot to do with contracts, documents, and their ramifications. And ever since I was only several years old, he has repeatedly told me that I should never guarantee someone’s loan.

He was speaking from experience, but Scripture is the only true and reliable guide. Yet in this instance, my father did something that was scriptural, namely, he taught me this correct (and what seems to many an "adult") principle at a very early age. In Proverbs, the writer is teaching his child some of the basic lessons of living, and this is one of them — never guarantee someone’s loan, and if you have already done it, beg to get out of it.

It is never too early to warn your child against drunkenness, adultery, co-signing, and other things that unbelievers and irresponsible believers consider "adult" lessons. Start teaching your child these things when he is three or four, and repeat it a couple of times each month until he leaves home as a adult, and it just might stick.

In any case, from now on you should never be in a situation where you would need to be released from a guarantee, for why would you even consider co-signing someone’s loan after reading this passage? Just don’t do it. And if you insist on doing it, then be prepared to pay for the whole thing, for you have trapped yourself, and your family with you.

(end of series)

Recommended:

Vincent Cheung, The Sermon on the Mount

Vincent Cheung, Commentary on Ephesians

Gordon Clark, Essays on Ethics and Politics

John Murray, Principles of Conduct

Related (but inconsistent in quality):

Alexander Hill, Just Business: Christian Ethics for the Marketplace

Michael Zigarelli, Management by Proverbs: Applying Timeless Wisdom in the Workplace

Scott Rae, Beyond Integrity: A Judeo-Christian Approach to Business Ethics

Wayne Grudem, Business for the Glory of God

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