Read the Westminster Standards in a year.

Confession of Faith

Chapter 22: Of Lawful Oaths and Vows

No man may vow to do anything forbidden in the Word of God, or what would hinder any duty therein commanded, or which is not in his own power, and for the performance whereof he hath no promise of ability from God.1 In which respects, popish monastical vows of perpetual single life, professed poverty, and regular obedience, are so far from being degrees of higher perfection, that they are superstitious and sinful snares, in which no Christian may entangle himself.2


  1. Acts 23:12

    When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.

    Acts 23:14

    They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have killed Paul.

    Mark 6:26

    And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he did not want to break his word to her.

    Numbers 30:5

    But if her father opposes her on the day that he hears of it, no vow of hers, no pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. And the Lord will forgive her, because her father opposed her.

    Numbers 30:8

    But if, on the day that her husband comes to hear of it, he opposes her, then he makes void her vow that was on her, and the thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she bound herself. And the Lord will forgive her.

    Numbers 30:12-13

    But if her husband makes them null and void on the day that he hears them, then whatever proceeds out of her lips concerning her vows or concerning her pledge of herself shall not stand. Her husband has made them void, and the Lord will forgive her. Any vow and any binding oath to afflict herself, her husband may establish, or her husband may make void. (ESV)

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  2. Matthew 19:11-12

    But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”

    1 Corinthians 7:2

    But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.

    1 Corinthians 7:9

    But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

    Ephesians 4:28

    Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

    1 Peter 4:2

    so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.

    1 Corinthians 7:23

    You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men. (ESV)

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Copyright © Tim Hopper. Based on Calendar of Readings in the Westminster Standards by Dr. Joey Pipa. Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.