And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.
Parallel translations
- WEB The law is not of faith, but, “The man who does them will live by them.”
- BSB The law, however, is not based on faith; on the contrary, “The man who does these things will live by them.”
- NKJV Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.”
- NASB However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, “The person who performs them will live by them.”
- NLT This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, “It is through obeying the law that a 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
The law operates on doing, not believing, requiring that the one who keeps it live by it. Law and faith are two different principles.
Overview
Paul contrasts the law's principle, 'do this and live,' with the gospel's principle of faith. The law offers life only to those who perfectly perform it, a standard no sinner can reach. Thus law and faith cannot be combined as joint grounds of justification; one must choose grace.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Lev 18:5Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD.
- Rom 10:5–6For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
- Neh 9:29And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.
- Rom 4:14For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:
- Luke 10:25–28And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
- Rom 4:16Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
- Ezek 20:11And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them.
- Rom 4:4–5Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
- Ezek 20:13But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.
- Rom 11:6And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
- Rom 9:30–32What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.
- Matt 19:17And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 3:12 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.