Can you take back a promise to God?

eleos1954 said:

His Word teaches not to make vows to Him .... refrain from it. The only unforgivable sin is blasphemy.

Deuteronomy 23:21-23
“If you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin. But if you refrain from vowing, you will not be guilty of sin. You shall be careful to do what has passed your lips, for you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God what you have promised with your mouth.

Ecclesiastes 5:4-6
When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay. Let not your mouth lead you into sin, and do not say before the messenger that it was a mistake.

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TzephanYahu said:

Hi @Docbrown1985

Love the name btw.



The Bible is very clear on this matter. If you make a vow, you stick to it. And if if you make a vow to God you most certainly see it through.

There's no scripture that justifies not following a vow, other than a father/husband invalidating his daughter's/wife's vow on the day he hears it. The only scripture I know of in the NT about the matter is the Messiah teaching to not make a vow at all.

Consider Israel and the Gibeonites in Joshua 9, or Jephthah's vow in Judges 11. It would be easier for them to break these vows than keep them, but they knew the severity of breaking vows before God to be far worse. And when Israel's kings broke their vows, it didn't go well with them soon after. Finally consider Psalm 15, which describes the kind of man that will enter New Jerusalem, which includes "who keeps his word, whatever the cost".

Now, you'll probably be thinking "but what about forgiveness in Messiah? Surely by His grace I can be forgiven a vow". Yeah, possibly. But do you really want to be that guy? The one who leans on grace to break his word? That isn't saintly or holy behaviour.
Now, of course the Messiah is very gracious to us. And I don't know of your situation, heart and vow. But if He does forgive you for not keeping this vow, I would advise you to not make another vow again. For just as we want to trust in His words to us, He wants to trust our words to Him.

Therefore, from here on, let your prayers be filled with thanksgiving, praise and supplication, but no vows. If you can fulfil your vow, do it. If the vow was utterly foolish, pray and seek forgiveness with sincerity and humility and be sure to watch your words in the future.

It's not all doom and gloom though. Let's flip this for a moment. The Creator of the universe hears and respects our vows? Incredible! He could easily ignore them all, but He gives us the respect to make vows and trusts in us when we do. Simply amazing. Praise Yahweh.

Peace.

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MikeinSeattle said:

Fulfilling vows was a command of the old covenant. The covenant was replaced by a new and better covenant when Christ decreed that the the temple was now desolate and then He broke the bread at the supper and there proclaimed this is the new covenant in my blood. His command as He then said was "love one another as I have loved you". Galations says that if you try to go back to the law and start keeping the various ordinances of it as if they are binding then you become accursed and you are cut off from Christ.

This being the case the only conclusion I can come to is that we do not have to keep promises we make to God. Since we are not bound to do anything else in the old covenant law.

If there is any other reason why we need to keep promises we make to God then I do not know what it is.

That being said, I would say that you are asking for trouble if you go around making and breaking promises to God. Matt 5 says "do not swear by heaven or earth."

There is a point in the new testament where someone (i think it was Timothy) was said to be fulfilling a vow to God. And it is after Christ had ascended. But again I do not know what to make of this since we are now free from the law.

One thing seems certain to me. In the old covenant there was a way for people to be released from foolish oaths they had made. That being the case it seems to me beyond question that in the new covenant there should much more be freedom from foolish oaths.

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Hazelelponi said:

Leviticus 5 beginning in verse 4:

"Or if anyone utters with his lips a rash oath to do evil or to do good, any sort of rash oath that people swear, and it is hidden from him, when he comes to know it, and he realizes his guilt in any of these; when he realizes his guilt in any of these and confesses the sin he has committed, he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation for the sin that he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering."

So... you made a rash oath which you cannot fulfull... and you know now that it is a sin.

That's good. Your also remorseful of it, and have learned a lesson through your fear.

Jesus Himself is the Lamb, and He paid the price for our sin. Because of that payment:

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

"Go and sin no more - your sins are forgiven you." John 8:11

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Hazelelponi said:

It means you didn't know it was a sin.

Might have sorta known, isn't the same as knowing it was a sin.

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Hazelelponi said:

If you have OCD you have to go by the letter, and don't let intrusive thoughts judge you.

And the letter says Jesus paid the price for your sin, and that to be forgiven even after your saved all you have to do is ask for it, and He will forgive you.

Feelings are meaningless in this faith, God gave His Word, and that word is all we need to know. His promises are always true, and He promised us forgiveness.

You can trust in the promises of God - even when you can't trust your own thoughts.

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