I don’t want to be misunderstood; I agree entirely with Paul when he says:

For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

So salvation is by grace through faith. We can’t achieve it by ourselves, we cannot do it by law-keeping, we cannot in any way get rid of our past guilt, we cannot create a circumstance in which God owes us salvation—none of that. But having come to Christ, through faith, how should we then lives our lives? Is there a way of life for a Christian after one has come to the faith? Is there a way we should go and a way we should not go? Is there a way of obedience to Christ and a way of disobedience to Christ? Does it make any difference which one of those ways we walk? Well, Jesus, in his Sermon on the Mount, said this:

Enter in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many there be who go in there: Because narrow is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads unto life, and few there be that find it.

One day when I was praying forgive us of our debts as we forgive our debtors it dawned on me that I was praying in the first-person plural. I was not merely asking God to forgive me, but you as well—us. I think there must be a kind of communion among all of us who know God, and when I ask him to forgive us then it would be very foolish of me not to forgive at the same time. How can I pray to God and say, Lord, forgive Bob and I of our sins, but I want you to understand that I’m not going to forgive Bob. I’m going to hold a grudge against Bob, but I expect you to forgive him. It doesn’t really work that way.

Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus said unto him, I say not unto you, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, who would take account of his servants.

Then follows a short parable of Jesus’ that, I think, is very revealing along this line. Let’s continue in Matthew, chapter 18.

Have you ever wondered why some people refuse to swear in court? So when swearing in witnesses and jurors, the court often asks someone to swear or affirm. Well, it grows out of this statement in Matthew, chapter five:

Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

Now, the whole idea of an oath—as to solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth—is to make it possible to prosecute you if you lie. In other words, it is to distinguish between an official statement under the law and a mere assertion you make that has not been bound under the law. The truth is that there is no substantive difference between affirming and swearing—it is only a matter of the words involved. The essential nature of the statements are identical. What principle is Jesus declaring here in his Sermon on the Mount?