For if those who live by the law are heirs, faith is useless and the promise is worthless,
Parallel translations
- WEB For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void, and the promise is made of no effect.
- KJV For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:
- NKJV For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect,
- NASB For if those who are of the Law are heirs, then faith is made void and the promise is nullified;
- NLT If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless.
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
If the inheritance depended on the law, faith and the promise would be emptied. Law and promise cannot both be the basis of salvation.
Overview
Paul reasons that if the law's adherents were the heirs, then faith would be pointless and God's promise nullified. A promise rests on God's gracious word, not on human performance. By excluding the law as the ground of inheritance, Paul preserves the freeness of grace that the gospel proclaims.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Gal 3:18–24For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God freely granted it to Abraham through a promise.
- Heb 7:19(for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
- Phil 3:9and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith.
- Gal 2:21I do not set aside the grace of God. For if righteousness comes through the law, Christ died for nothing.
- Rom 3:31Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Certainly not! Instead, we uphold the law.
- Rom 4:16Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may rest on grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.
- Isa 55:11so My word that proceeds from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper where I send it.
- Heb 7:28For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.
- Num 30:12But if her husband nullifies them on the day he hears of them, then nothing that came from her lips, whether her vows or pledges, shall stand. Her husband has nullified them, and the LORD will absolve her.
- Ps 119:126It is time for the LORD to act, for they have broken Your law.
- Gal 5:4You who are trying to be justified by the law have been severed from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
- Num 30:15But if he nullifies them after he hears of them, then he will bear her iniquity.”
- Jer 19:7And in this place I will ruin the plans of Judah and Jerusalem. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, by the hands of those who seek their lives, and I will give their carcasses as food to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.
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
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 4:14 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.