Amplified Bible
Romans 3:31
31Do we then nullify the Law by this faith [making the Law of no effect, overthrowing it]? Certainly not! On the contrary, we confirm and establish and uphold the Law [since it convicts us all of sin, pointing to the need for salvation].
Romans 3:31 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
- New International Version (NIV)Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.
Context of Romans 3:31
29Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not also the God of Gentiles [who were not given the Law]? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30since indeed it is one [and the same] God who will justify the circumcised by faith [which began with Abraham] and the uncircumcised through [their newly acquired] faith. Do we then nullify the Law by this faith [making the Law of no effect, overthrowing it]? Certainly not! On the contrary, we confirm and establish and uphold the Law [since it convicts us all of sin, pointing to the need for salvation].
Read all of Romans 3Romans 3:31 word by word
νόμον οὖν καταργοῦμεν διὰ τῆς πίστεως; μὴ γένοιτο, ἀλλὰ νόμον ἱστάνομεν.¶Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Do weκαταργέωkatargeō · to abateG2673
- thenοὖνoun · therefore/thenG3767
- the lawνόμοςnomos · lawG3551
- throughδιάdia · through/because ofG1223
- faithὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- faithπίστιςpistis · faithG4102
- God forbidμήmē · notG3361
- God forbidγίνομαιginomai · to beG1096
- yeaἀλλάalla · butG235
- we establishἵστημιhistēmi · to standG2476
Cross-references for Romans 3:31
- Romans 4:14If those who are [followers] of the Law are [the true] heirs [of Abraham], then faith [leading to salvation] is of no effect and void, and the promise [of God] is nullified.
- Psalms 119:126It is time for the Lord to act; They have broken Your law.
- Jeremiah 8:8“How can you say, ‘We are wise, And the law of the Lord is with us [and we are learned in its language and teachings]’? Behold, [the truth is that] the lying pen of the scribes Has made the law into a lie [a mere code of ceremonial observances].
- Matthew 5:17“Do not think that I came to do away with or undo the Law [of Moses] or the [writings of the] Prophets; I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
- Matthew 15:6he is not to honor his father or his mother [by helping them with their need].’ So by this you have invalidated the word of God [depriving it of force and authority and making it of no effect] for the sake of your tradition [handed down by the elders].
- Galatians 2:21I do not ignore or nullify the [gracious gift of the] grace of God [His amazing, unmerited favor], for if righteousness comes through [observing] the Law, then Christ died needlessly. [His suffering and death would have had no purpose whatsoever.]”
- Galatians 3:17This is what I mean: the Law, which came into existence four hundred and thirty years later [after the covenant concerning the coming Messiah], does not and cannot invalidate the covenant previously established by God, so as to abolish the promise.
- Romans 3:4Certainly not! Let God be found true [as He will be], though every person be found a liar, just as it is written [in Scripture], “That You may be justified in Your words, And prevail when You are judged [by sinful men].”
- Romans 7:7What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, if it had not been for the Law, I would not have recognized sin. For I would not have known [for example] about coveting [what belongs to another, and would have had no sense of guilt] if the Law had not [repeatedly] said, “You shall not covet.”
- Romans 8:4so that the [righteous and just] requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not live our lives in the ways of the flesh [guided by worldliness and our sinful nature], but [live our lives] in the ways of the Spirit [guided by His power].
- Romans 10:4For Christ is the end of the law [it leads to Him and its purpose is fulfilled in Him], for [granting] righteousness to everyone who believes [in Him as Savior].
- Romans 13:8Owe nothing to anyone except to love and seek the best for one another; for he who [unselfishly] loves his neighbor has fulfilled the [essence of the] law [relating to one’s fellowman].
- Psalms 40:8I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart.”
- Isaiah 42:21The Lord was pleased for His righteousness’ sake To make the law great and prove to be glorious.
- Jeremiah 31:33“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says the Lord, “I will put My law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they will be My people.
- Matthew 3:15But Jesus replied to him, “Permit it just now; for this is the fitting way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John permitted [it and baptized] Him.
Commentaries on Romans 3:31
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 31Do we then make void the law through faith? - By law here we may understand the whole of the Mosaic law, in its rites and ceremonies; of which Jesus Christ was the subject and the end. All that law had respect to him; and the doctrine of faith in Christ Jesus, which the Christian religion proclaimed, established the very claims and demands of that law, by showing that all was accomplished in the passion and death of Christ, for, without shedding of blood…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 31Do we then make void the law - Do we render it vain and useless; do we destroy its moral obligation; and do we prevent obedience to it, by the doctrine of justification by faith? This was an objection which would naturally be made; and which has thousands of times been since made, that the doctrine of justification by faith tends to licentiousness. The word “law” here, I understand as referring to the moral law, and not merely to the Old Testament. This…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 27-31Verses 27-31 God will have the great work of the justification and salvation of sinners carried on from first to last, so as to shut out boasting. Now, if we were saved by our own works, boasting would not be excluded. But the way of justification by faith for ever shuts out boasting. Yet believers are not left to be lawless; faith is a law, it is a working grace, wherever it is in truth. By faith, not in this matter an act of obedience, or a good work…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 31Instead, we uphold the law: Paul knows that some people will object to his teaching about faith apart from the law. It may sound as if he is setting aside the law’s demands. However, faith does not cancel the law. Faith makes it possible for people to live as the law requires. God gives the Holy Spirit to those who have faith, and the Spirit enables them to do what is right.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3131. Do we then make void the law through faith?--"Does this doctrine of justification by faith, then, dissolve the obligation of the law? If so, it cannot be of God. But away with such a thought, for it does just the reverse." God forbid: yea, we establish the law--It will be observed here, that, important as was this objection, and opening up as it did so noble a field for the illustration of the peculiar glory of the Gospel, the apostle does no more…Read the comment
Topics related to Romans 3:31
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Romans 3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
Amplified Bible — © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631
Commentaries