Galatians 1:20
(Now concerning the things which I write to you, indeed, before God, I do not lie.)
Truth to Learn
There are times when it is appropriate to swear an oath and there are times when it is not.
Behind the Words
The expression, “before God, I do not lie” is more than a strong assertion. This is a declaration of a formal oath with
God as Paul’s witness standing before him.
Meaning Explained
Paul has just explained that he did not receive the gospel message from any man and certainly not from the other apostles of Jesus. However, he is teaching against the legalizers who have crept into the churches in Galatia. Their claim appears to be that they got their message either from an angel or from the apostles. These same false teachers who would make such a claim would also likely try to discredit what Paul has just written to the churches in Galatia. Therefore, Paul does an interesting thing; he swears an oath concerning the truthfulness of what he has just written.
This is consistent with other things Paul has written, for instance:
I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, (Romans 9:1)
On the surface, this oath of Paul’s appears to be in opposition to the teaching of Christ. According to Matthew’s gospel, Jesus said:
But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No.” For whatever is more than these is from the evil one. (Matthew 5:34, 37)
Jesus’ teaching at this point, however, was against the practice of the Pharisees in which they would swear an oath on almost any occasion and had numerous ways of legally rescinding the oaths. They were known to even going so far as to have the high priest declare the oath null and void. Jesus was not teaching that swearing an oath (as Paul has done here and as is done in a court of law today) is forbidden, but that frequent and frivolous swearing of oaths was wrong. In fact, even an angel is seen swearing an oath in Revelation 10:5, 6.
It is in this same manner that Paul now swears an oath before God, that he received neither his commission nor his message from the other apostles or an angelic being.
Application
Today it is not unusual to hear people say “I swear to God” and it is usually done in a flippant or frivolous manner. That’s the type of swearing that Jesus taught against and it is wrong for us to do. It is usually a person of questionable honesty who resorts to frequent swearing in order to support what is being said. When a person of great integrity swears and oath, however, it has meaning.
The next time you are tempted to swear an oath, imagine that Jesus is standing next to you and that you are looking Him in the face as you proclaim the honesty of what you are saying.
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2007 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
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