Galatians 3:21

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

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.

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • Gal 2:21 : 21 I do not set aside God’s grace, because if righteousness could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing!
  • Rom 3:20-22 : 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– 22 namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction,
  • Rom 7:7-9 : 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.” 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of wrong desires. For apart from the law, sin is dead. 9 And I was once alive apart from the law, but with the coming of the commandment sin became alive 10 and I died. So I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life brought death! 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it I died. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good. 13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? Absolutely not! But sin, so that it would be shown to be sin, produced death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.
  • Rom 9:31 : 31 but Israel even though pursuing a law of righteousness did not attain it.
  • Rom 10:3-6 : 3 For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes. 5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is by the law:“The one who does these things will live by them.” 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says:“Do not say in your heart,‘Who will ascend into heaven?’”(that is, to bring Christ down)
  • Gal 2:17 : 17 But if while seeking to be justified in Christ we ourselves have also been found to be sinners, is Christ then one who encourages sin? Absolutely not!
  • Gal 2:19 : 19 For through the law I died to the law so that I may live to God.
  • Rom 3:31 : 31 Do we then nullify the law through faith? Absolutely not! Instead we uphold the law.
  • Matt 5:17-20 : 17 Fulfillment of the Law and Prophets“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter will pass from the law until everything takes place. 19 So anyone who breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever obeys them and teaches others to do so will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven!
  • Rom 3:4 : 4 Absolutely not! Let God be proven true, and every human being shown up as a liar, just as it is written:“so that you will be justified in your words and will prevail when you are judged.”
  • Rom 3:6 : 6 Absolutely not! For otherwise how could God judge the world?
  • Phil 3:6-9 : 6 In my zeal for God I persecuted the church. According to the righteousness stipulated in the law I was blameless. 7 But these assets I have come to regard as liabilities because of Christ. 8 More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things– indeed, I regard them as dung!– that I may gain Christ, 9 and be found in him, not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness– a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness.
  • Heb 11:7 : 7 By faith Noah, when he was warned about things not yet seen, with reverent regard constructed an ark for the deliverance of his family. Through faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Gal 3:17-20
    4 verses
    81%

    17What 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.

    18For 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.

    19Why 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.

    20Now an intermediary is not for one party alone, but God is one.

  • Gal 3:10-12
    3 verses
    80%

    10For 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.”

    11Now it is clear no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous one will live by faith.

    12But the law is not based on faith, but the one who does the works of the law will live by them.

  • Rom 3:20-22
    3 verses
    78%

    20For no one is declared righteous before him by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.

    21But now apart from the law the righteousness of God(although it is attested by the law and the prophets) has been disclosed–

    22namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction,

  • Gal 3:22-24
    3 verses
    77%

    22But the scripture imprisoned everything under sin so that the promise could be given– because of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ– to those who believe.

    23Sons 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.

    24Thus the law had become our guardian until Christ, so that we could be declared righteous by faith.

  • Gal 2:21
    77%

    21I do not set aside God’s grace, because if righteousness could come through the law, then Christ died for nothing!

  • Rom 3:30-31
    2 verses
    76%

    30Since God is one, he will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.

    31Do we then nullify the law through faith? Absolutely not! Instead we uphold the law.

  • Rom 3:27-28
    2 verses
    76%

    27Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded! By what principle? Of works? No, but by the principle of faith!

    28For we consider that a person is declared righteous by faith apart from the works of the law.

  • Gal 2:16-17
    2 verses
    76%

    16yet 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.

    17But if while seeking to be justified in Christ we ourselves have also been found to be sinners, is Christ then one who encourages sin? Absolutely not!

  • Rom 4:13-16
    4 verses
    75%

    13For 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.

    14For if they become heirs by the law, faith is empty and the promise is nullified.

    15For the law brings wrath, because where there is no law there is no transgression either.

    16For 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

  • Rom 7:7
    75%

    7What 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.”

  • Rom 10:4-5
    2 verses
    74%

    4For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes.

    5For Moses writes about the righteousness that is by the law:“The one who does these things will live by them.”

  • Gal 2:19
    74%

    19For through the law I died to the law so that I may live to God.

  • Acts 13:39
    73%

    39and by this one everyone who believes is justified from everything from which the law of Moses could not justify you.

  • Rom 6:15
    72%

    15The Believer’s Enslavement to God’s Righteousness What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Absolutely not!

  • Gal 3:14-15
    2 verses
    72%

    14in 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.

    15Inheritance 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.

  • Rom 7:13
    72%

    13Did that which is good, then, become death to me? Absolutely not! But sin, so that it would be shown to be sin, produced death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.

  • Gal 4:21
    72%

    21An Appeal from Allegory Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not understand the law?

  • Gal 3:5-6
    2 verses
    72%

    5Does God then give you the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law or by your believing what you heard?

    6Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,

  • Rom 8:2-3
    2 verses
    72%

    2For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.

    3For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,

  • Rom 4:2
    71%

    2For if Abraham was declared righteous by works, he has something to boast about– but not before God.

  • Rom 3:6
    71%

    6Absolutely not! For otherwise how could God judge the world?

  • Phil 3:9
    71%

    9and be found in him, not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness– a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness.

  • Gal 3:2
    71%

    2The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard?

  • Rom 5:13
    71%

    13for before the law was given, sin was in the world, but there is no accounting for sin when there is no law.

  • Gal 5:4
    71%

    4You who are trying to be declared righteous by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace!

  • Rom 2:13
    71%

    13For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous before God, but those who do the law will be declared righteous.

  • Rom 9:30-31
    2 verses
    71%

    30Israel’s Rejection Culpable What shall we say then?– that the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness obtained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith,

    31but Israel even though pursuing a law of righteousness did not attain it.

  • Rom 1:17
    70%

    17For the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel from faith to faith, just as it is written,“The righteous by faith will live.”

  • Rom 7:9-10
    2 verses
    70%

    9And I was once alive apart from the law, but with the coming of the commandment sin became alive

    10and I died. So I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life brought death!