What does Paul mean by 'before God I lie not' in Galatians 1:20?
Paul is affirming that his message to the Galatian Gentiles is true and not false. He says before God that he is not lying, just as he told the Corinthians he brought no corrupt or adulterated message. The phrase emphasizes that his gospel is truthful and not something false.
Les explains that Paul is writing to the Gentiles up in Galatia, and in Galatians 1:20 Paul says, “the things which I write unto you, behold, before God I lie not.” Les connects this to what Paul said in Corinthians: he did not bring a corrupt message or something adulterated. It is the same thought in different language: Paul is not bringing something false. After verse 20, verse 21 moves to Paul going into the regions of Syria and Cilicia after Jerusalem and the three years with the Lord at Sinai, ready to fulfill the commission to the Gentiles from Acts 9. Cilicia was near the Mediterranean, and Tarsus there was Saul’s hometown area.
Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.