AboutMel and Guyna Horne Expertise Anyone can read the Bible but sometimes it helps to have someone assist with the understanding (Acts 8:26-40).
Truth comes from God through his holy spirit of truth (Jn. 16:13, 1Cor. 2:12), which is available to anyone who believes, repents and seeks God fervently and wholeheartedly, with humility, faith and persistence (Mat. 7:7, Deu. 4:29, Isa. 66:2, Jas. 4:1-10, Phil. 2:12).
Truth is not limited to, or by, man’s religious organizations, church traditions, popular beliefs or personal opinions (Jn. 8:32, 14:6).
We will try to help with any question regarding scripture or Christian living.
Experience Over 40 years of personal study of the entire Bible (Deu. 8:3, Mat. 4:4, 2Tim. 3:16, Deu. 4:12, Rev. 22:18).
B.A. in Theology with continuing studies in religious history and education (2Tim 2:15, 1Ths. 5:21).
Years of informal counseling of young adults, teens, and couples based on scripture and on actual life experience in the world outside of classrooms and church buildings and including a long and happy marriage. Non-denominational.
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Followup To
Question -
if i make a vow to god can i repent for that vow because it has become too difficult for me, or will god punish me for that vow if i brake it.i don't want to brake it if i can do something else
Answer -
Hi Giavanni,
I apologize for not responding sooner. My wife and I have been ill and should have listed ourselves as unavailable. We did not expect to be ill this long.
I can give you the short, quick answer now and the longer version with scriptural backup, probably this weekend.
We should not make promises that we cannot keep. It is a form of lying. Liars are listed among those whom God says will not inherit the kingdom of God.
It is not unusual for people to want to make vows or promises to God. He offers us everything forever and in our enthusiasm we want to make offers or promises in return.
Vows made rashly or in an emotional moment are often ones that cannot be kept.
The only thing we can do, if we cannot keep the vow is to repent to God, ask his forgiveness and try to not do it again. God has patience but even he has limits as he explained to the Israelites. He also has mercy and forgiveness for those who genuinely repent.
I will try to get back to you this weekend with more. Note that I did not vow to get back to you as something may arise to prevent that but I did promise to try. :-)
In the meantime, if you have further questions, feel free to send them in.
Sincerely,
Mel and Guyna
THANK YOU VERY MUCH for your words. I am going to try to keep the vow I made. I certanly do not want to be amoung the lairs
Answer Hello Giavanni,
I promised to get back to you with additional comments on your question, but I didn't plan on it taking this long and we apologize for that.
You asked whether God requires us to fulfill our vows.
In Acts 5:1-11, we see Ananias and Sapphira being killed by God for lying about the amount they received for the sale of some land, in order to keep part of the money for themselves.
This is after Christ's death and resurrection. The apostle Peter and other “apostles” are directly involved (Acts 5:2, 13). The miraculous deaths are accomplished by the Holy Spirit of God (Acts 5:3, 9). The sin was their lying to God (Acts 5:4).
This shows that, while vows are discussed in the Old Testament (Lev. 5:4-13, 22:18-25; Num. 15:2-16, 30:2-16; Deu.23:18, 21-23; Ecc. 5:4-6) God enforced punishment for breaking vows in the New Testament, after the resurrection of Christ.
Vows are voluntary. We are not commanded to make vows (even salvation is a choice, Deu. 30:19).
Some things are not to be used for fulfillment of vows (Deu.23:18, earnings from prostitution [“whore”-female, “dog”- homosexual prostitute]).
God instituted a system of cash redemption for items vowed (Lev. 27:1-34).
In Judges 11:29-40, Jephthah made a rash vow, apparently thinking that his livestock would be the first to meet him when he returned home. But his daughter, his only child came out first.
It is not explained why he did not redeem her, but there were many times when the written copies of God's law were “lost” to Israel and perhaps he did not know about that option. There are other possibilities but the apparent lesson for us here is to avoid making rash vows, or not thinking them through before committing ourselves to them.
What if keeping a vow breaks the law of God?
In Acts 23:12-15, forty “Jews” vowed before the “chief priests and elders” to not eat or drink until they had killed Paul. God used 200 Roman soldiers to prevent this murder. The “Jews” were those teaching and enforcing God's laws at the time. Their leaders were the equivalent of today's Popes, bishops, priests, preachers and rabbis today.
To fulfill their vow would have broken God's commandment against murder (1 Jn 3:15). The only right option they had was to repent of their vow.
So, sometimes, keeping a vow would be a sin, while breaking it would be a matter of repentance.
One bit of wisdom given in Proverbs is that (paraphrased) it is like getting caught in a trap, to rashly vow a vow regarding holy things and then to ask questions after the fact (Pro.20:25).
In general, vows are not required; “if a soul swear. . .” (Lev. 5:4). The word is “if”, not “when”.
The vow that God wants us all to make is to “choose life” (Deu.30:19). To refuse that correct choice is to reject the Holy Spirit of God, which is the unpardonable sin (Lk 12:10, Heb. 6:4-6) because God cannot grant life to those who “choose death”.
Since there is only one unpardonable sin, then God will forgive us if we repent of a vow that we cannot keep.
We hope that this helps.
Feel free to write anytime.
Sincerely,
Mel and Guyna
