Limitless Word
gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
Galatians 5:23 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
  • KJV Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
  • BSB gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
  • NASB gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
  • NLT gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

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 fruit continues with gentleness and self-control, and Paul notes no law stands against such things. The Spirit's fruit fulfills, rather than violates, God's good intent.

Overview

Paul completes the list of the Spirit's fruit and observes that no law condemns these virtues; indeed, they embody what the law always aimed at. This reinforces that Spirit-led living, not law-keeping, produces real righteousness. Where the Spirit reigns, the believer freely lives out the goodness the law could never produce by command.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 5

  • 1 Tim 1:9as knowing this, that law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
  • Acts 24:25As he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was terrified, and answered, “Go your way for this time, and when it is convenient for me, I will summon you.”
  • Titus 2:2that older men should be temperate, sensible, sober minded, sound in faith, in love, and in perseverance:
  • Titus 1:8but given to hospitality, a lover of good, sober minded, fair, holy, self-controlled;
  • 1 Cor 9:25Every man who strives in the games exercises self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (7)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Galatians videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Galatians 5:23YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on GalatiansMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 5:23 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.