Galatians 3:17
What I am saying is this: The law that came four hundred thirty years later does not cancel a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to invalidate the promise.
Additional Resources
Referenced Verses
- Gen 15:13 : 13 Then the LORD said to Abram,“Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign country. They will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years.
- Gen 15:18 : 18 That day the LORD made a covenant with Abram:“To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River–
- Gen 17:7-8 : 7 I will confirm my covenant as a perpetual covenant between me and you. It will extend to your descendants after you throughout their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 I will give the whole land of Canaan– the land where you are now residing– to you and your descendants after you as a permanent possession. I will be their God.”
- Gen 17:19 : 19 God said,“No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. I will confirm my covenant with him as a perpetual covenant for his descendants after him.
- Exod 12:40-41 : 40 Now the length of time the Israelites lived in Egypt was 430 years. 41 At the end of the 430 years, on the very day, all the regiments of the LORD went out of the land of Egypt.
- Num 23:19 : 19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a human being, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen?
- Num 30:8 : 8 But if when her husband hears it he overrules her, then he will nullify the vow she has taken, and whatever she uttered impulsively which she has pledged for herself. And the LORD will release her from it.
- Job 40:8 : 8 Would you indeed annul my justice? Would you declare me guilty so that you might be right?
- Ps 33:10 : 10 The LORD frustrates the decisions of the nations; he nullifies the plans of the peoples.
- Isa 14:27 : 27 Indeed, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has a plan, and who can possibly frustrate it? His hand is ready to strike, and who can possibly stop it?
- Isa 28:18 : 18 Your treaty with death will be dissolved; your agreement with Sheol will not last. When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by, you will be overrun by it.
- Luke 1:68-79 : 68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, because he has come to help and has redeemed his people. 69 For he has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, 70 as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from long ago, 71 that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us. 72 He has done this to show mercy to our ancestors, and to remember his holy covenant– 73 the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham. This oath grants 74 that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, may serve him without fear, 75 in holiness and righteousness before him for as long as we live. 76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High. For you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 77 to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins. 78 Because of our God’s tender mercy the dawn will break upon us from on high 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
- John 1:17 : 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ.
- John 8:56-58 : 56 Your father Abraham was overjoyed to see my day, and he saw it and was glad.” 57 Then the Judeans replied,“You are not yet fifty years old! Have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them,“I tell you the solemn truth, before Abraham came into existence, I am!”
- Acts 7:6 : 6 But God spoke as follows:‘Your descendants will be foreigners in a foreign country, whose citizens will enslave them and mistreat them for four hundred years.
- Rom 3:3 : 3 What then? If some did not believe, does their unbelief nullify the faithfulness of God?
- Rom 3:25 : 25 God publicly displayed him at his death as the mercy seat accessible through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness, because God in his forbearance had passed over the sins previously committed.
- Rom 4:13-14 : 13 For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not fulfilled through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14 For if they become heirs by the law, faith is empty and the promise is nullified.
- 1 Cor 1:12 : 12 Now I mean this, that each of you is saying,“I am with Paul,” or“I am with Apollos,” or“I am with Cephas,” or“I am with Christ.”
- 1 Cor 1:17 : 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel– and not with clever speech, so that the cross of Christ would not become useless.
- 1 Cor 7:29 : 29 And I say this, brothers and sisters: The time is short. So then those who have wives should be as those who have none,
- 1 Cor 10:19 : 19 Am I saying that idols or food sacrificed to them amount to anything?
- 2 Cor 1:20 : 20 For every one of God’s promises are“Yes” in him; therefore also through him the“Amen” is spoken, to the glory we give to God.
- 2 Cor 9:6 : 6 My point is this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously.
- Gal 3:15 : 15 Inheritance Comes from Promises and not Law Brothers and sisters, I offer an example from everyday life: When a covenant has been ratified, even though it is only a human contract, no one can set it aside or add anything to it.
- Gal 3:21 : 21 Is the law therefore opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that was able to give life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.
- Gal 5:4 : 4 You who are trying to be declared righteous by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace!
- Eph 4:17 : 17 Live in Holiness So I say this, and insist in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.
- Col 2:4 : 4 I say this so that no one will deceive you through arguments that sound reasonable.
- Heb 6:13-18 : 13 Now when God made his promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself, 14 saying,“Surely I will bless you greatly and multiply your descendants abundantly.” 15 And so by persevering, Abraham inherited the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and the oath serves as a confirmation to end all dispute. 17 In the same way God wanted to demonstrate more clearly to the heirs of the promise that his purpose was unchangeable, and so he intervened with an oath, 18 so that we who have found refuge in him may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God to lie.
- Heb 7:18 : 18 On the one hand a former command is set aside because it is weak and useless,
- Heb 11:13 : 13 These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth.
- Heb 11:17-19 : 17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He had received the promises, yet he was ready to offer up his only son. 18 God had told him,“Through Isaac descendants will carry on your name,” 19 and he reasoned that God could even raise him from the dead, and in a sense he received him back from there.
- Heb 11:39-40 : 39 And these all were commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised. 40 For God had provided something better for us, so that they would be made perfect together with us.
- 1 Pet 1:11-12 : 11 They probed into what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he testified beforehand about the sufferings appointed for Christ and his subsequent glory. 12 They were shown that they were serving not themselves but you, in regard to the things now announced to you through those who proclaimed the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven– things angels long to catch a glimpse of.
- 1 Pet 1:20 : 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was manifested in these last times for your sake.
- Gal 5:16 : 16 But I say, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.
Similar Verses (AI)
These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.
- Gal 3:18-192 verses84%
18 For if the inheritance is based on the law, it is no longer based on the promise, but God graciously gave it to Abraham through the promise.
19 Why then was the law given? It was added because of transgressions, until the arrival of the descendant to whom the promise had been made. It was administered through angels by an intermediary.
- Gal 3:14-163 verses82%
14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, so that we could receive the promise of the Spirit by faith.
15 Inheritance Comes from Promises and not Law Brothers and sisters, I offer an example from everyday life: When a covenant has been ratified, even though it is only a human contract, no one can set it aside or add anything to it.
16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his descendant. Scripture does not say,“and to the descendants,” referring to many, but“and to your descendant,” referring to one, who is Christ.
- Rom 4:13-164 verses80%
13 For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not fulfilled through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.
14 For if they become heirs by the law, faith is empty and the promise is nullified.
15 For the law brings wrath, because where there is no law there is no transgression either.
16 For this reason it is by faith so that it may be by grace, with the result that the promise may be certain to all the descendants– not only to those who are under the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all
- Gal 3:21-255 verses78%
21 Is the law therefore opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that was able to give life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.
22 But the scripture imprisoned everything under sin so that the promise could be given– because of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ– to those who believe.
23 Sons of God Are Heirs of Promise Now before faith came we were held in custody under the law, being kept as prisoners until the coming faith would be revealed.
24 Thus the law had become our guardian until Christ, so that we could be declared righteous by faith.
25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.
- 74%
31 Do we then nullify the law through faith? Absolutely not! Instead we uphold the law.
- Heb 7:18-192 verses74%
18 On the one hand a former command is set aside because it is weak and useless,
19 for the law made nothing perfect. On the other hand a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.
- 1 Chr 16:16-172 verses71%
16 the promise he made to Abraham, the promise he made by oath to Isaac!
17 He gave it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as a lasting promise,
- 71%
29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to the promise.
- 71%
17 In the same way God wanted to demonstrate more clearly to the heirs of the promise that his purpose was unchangeable, and so he intervened with an oath,
- 70%
9 Then God said to Abraham,“As for you, you must keep the covenantal requirement I am imposing on you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.
- Gal 3:7-126 verses70%
7 so then, understand that those who believe are the sons of Abraham.
8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the gospel to Abraham ahead of time, saying,“All the nations will be blessed in you.”
9 So then those who believe are blessed along with Abraham the believer.
10 For all who rely on doing the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written,“Cursed is everyone who does not keep on doing everything written in the book of the law.”
11 Now it is clear no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous one will live by faith.
12 But the law is not based on faith, but the one who does the works of the law will live by them.
- 70%
4 You who are trying to be declared righteous by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace!
- 70%
17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it carries no force while the one who made it is alive.
- Ps 105:9-102 verses69%
9 the promise he made to Abraham, the promise he made by oath to Isaac!
10 He gave it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as a lasting promise,
- 69%
7 I will confirm my covenant as a perpetual covenant between me and you. It will extend to your descendants after you throughout their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
- 69%
13 Now when God made his promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself,
- Gal 4:21-233 verses69%
21 An Appeal from Allegory Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not understand the law?
22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.
23 But one, the son by the slave woman, was born by natural descent, while the other, the son by the free woman, was born through the promise.
- 68%
13 When he speaks of a new covenant, he makes the first obsolete. Now what is growing obsolete and aging is about to disappear.
- Rom 3:20-212 verses68%
20 For no one is declared righteous before him by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.
21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God(although it is attested by the law and the prophets) has been disclosed–
- 68%
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, no one would have looked for a second one.
- 68%
16 yet we know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.
- 68%
6 But Melchizedek who does not share their ancestry collected a tithe from Abraham and blessed the one who possessed the promise.
- 68%
21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.”
- 68%
9 For this is what the promise declared:“About a year from now I will return and Sarah will have a son.”
- 68%
16 who has become a priest not by a legal regulation about physical descent but by the power of an indestructible life.
- Rom 3:27-282 verses68%
27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded! By what principle? Of works? No, but by the principle of faith!
28 For we consider that a person is declared righteous by faith apart from the works of the law.
- 68%
7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! Certainly, I would not have known sin except through the law. For indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else if the law had not said,“Do not covet.”
- 68%
21 I do not set aside God’s grace, because if righteousness could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing!