What I mean is this: The law that came 430 years later does not revoke the covenant previously established by God, so as to nullify the promise.
Parallel translations
- WEB Now I say this. A covenant confirmed beforehand by God in Christ, the law, which came four hundred thirty years after, does not annul, so as to make the promise of no effect.
- KJV And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.
- NKJV And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect.
- NASB What I am saying is this: the Law, which came 430 years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise.
- NLT This is what I am trying to say: The agreement God made with Abraham could not be canceled 430 years later when God gave the law to Moses. God would be breaking his promise.
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, coming 430 years later, cannot annul the covenant God confirmed with Abraham. The earlier promise remains in force.
Overview
Paul argues that the Mosaic law, given centuries after the promise, does not nullify or replace it. God's covenant of promise stands prior and supreme, and the law cannot void it. Therefore salvation rests on the promise received by faith, not on the later-given law.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 37
- Rom 4:13–14For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world was not given through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.
- Gen 15:13Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
- Heb 11:39–40These were all commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised.
- Exod 12:40–41Now the duration of the Israelites’ stay in Egypt was 430 years.
- 2 Cor 1:20For all the promises of God are “Yes” in Christ. And so through Him, our “Amen” is spoken to the glory of God.
- Heb 6:13–18When God made His promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself,
- Rom 3:3What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness?
- John 1:17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
- Gal 5:4You who are trying to be justified by the law have been severed from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
- Isa 14:27The LORD of Hosts has purposed, and who can thwart Him? His hand is outstretched, so who can turn it back?
- Gal 3:15Brothers, let me put this in human terms. Even a human covenant, once it is ratified, cannot be canceled or amended.
- Col 2:4I say this so that no one will deceive you by smooth rhetoric.
- 1 Cor 1:17For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with words of wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
- Gen 15:18On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—
- 1 Cor 7:29What I am saying, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none;
- 1 Pet 1:11–12trying to determine the time and setting to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.
- Eph 4:17So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.
- Isa 28:18Your covenant with death will be dissolved, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be trampled by it.
- Gen 17:19But God replied, “Your wife Sarah will indeed bear you a son, and you are to name him Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
- Ps 33:10The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations; He thwarts the devices of the peoples.
- 1 Cor 1:12What I mean is this: Individuals among you are saying, “I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.”
- Gal 3:21Is the law, then, opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come from the law.
- 1 Cor 10:19Am I suggesting, then, that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything?
- 2 Cor 9:6Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
- Job 40:8Would you really annul My justice? Would you condemn Me to justify yourself?
- Num 23:19God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
- John 8:56–58Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see My day. He saw it and was glad.”
- Heb 11:17–19By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac on the altar. He who had received the promises was ready to offer his one and only son,
- Heb 7:18So the former commandment is set aside because it was weak and useless
- Luke 1:68–79“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has visited and redeemed His people.
- Acts 7:6God told him that his descendants would be foreigners in a strange land, and that they would be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
- Rom 3:25God presented Him as the atoning sacrifice through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins committed beforehand.
- Gen 17:7–8I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
- Heb 11:13All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
- 1 Pet 1:20He was known before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in the last times for your sake.
- Num 30:8But if her husband prohibits her when he hears of it, he nullifies the vow that binds her or the rash promise she has made, and the LORD will absolve her.
- Gal 5:16So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
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