Now, that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “the righteous one will live by faith.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Now that no man is justified by the law before God is evident, for, “The righteous will live by faith.”
- KJV But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.
- BSB Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.”
- NKJV But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.”
- NLT So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
No one is justified before God by the law, because 'the righteous will live by faith.' Scripture itself establishes faith as the way of life.
Overview
Paul cites Habakkuk to confirm that righteousness and life come by faith, not legal observance. The Old Testament's own witness rules out justification by the law. This quotation became a cornerstone of the gospel's defense, prized in the Reformation as a summary of salvation by faith.
Cross-references & the web
Quotation
- Hab 2:4Behold, his soul is puffed up. It is not upright in him, but the righteous will live by his faith.
Cross-references · 19
- Hab 2:4Behold, his soul is puffed up. It is not upright in him, but the righteous will live by his faith.
- Rom 1:17For in it is revealed God’s righteousness from faith to faith. As it is written, “But the righteous shall live by faith.”
- Heb 10:38But the righteous will live by faith. If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”
- Gal 2:16yet knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the law, because no flesh will be justified by the works of the law.
- Eccl 7:20Surely there is not a righteous man on earth, who does good and doesn’t sin.
- Ps 130:3–4If you, Yah, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand?
- Isa 53:6All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
- Job 42:6Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”
- Rev 5:9They sang a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the book, and to open its seals: for you were killed, and bought us for God with your blood, out of every tribe, language, people, and nation,
- Isa 6:5Then I said, “Woe is me! For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell among a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of Armies!”
- Ps 19:12Who can discern his errors? Forgive me from hidden errors.
- Isa 64:6For we have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteousness is like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
- 1 Jn 1:8–10If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
- Job 9:3If he is pleased to contend with him, he can’t answer him one time in a thousand.
- 1 Kgs 8:46If they sin against you (for there is no man who doesn’t sin), and you are angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near;
- Job 40:4“Behold, I am of small account. What shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth.
- Rev 7:14–15I told him, “My lord, you know.” He said to me, “These are those who came out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes, and made them white in the Lamb’s blood.
- Ps 143:2Don’t enter into judgment with your servant, for in your sight no man living is righteous.
- Jas 3:2For in many things we all stumble. If anyone doesn’t stumble in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Christ became a curse for us to redeem us from the law's curse, that we might receive the Spirit and be sons — justified by faith in him, not by works.
How Galatians 3:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.