Romans 4:15

Romans 4:15 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.
• New International Version (NIV)because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
• New King James Version (NKJV)because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.

Context of Romans 4:15

13God promised to Abraham, and to his descendants, that the world would belong to them one day. God did not promise that because Abraham obeyed any rules. God promised it because Abraham believed in him. That is why God accepted Abraham as right with him. 14People cannot get what God promised because they obey rules. If they could get it like that, then faith in God would be worth nothing. And what God promised would be worth nothing. The rules in Moses' Law say that God will punish people who do not obey those rules. But without any rules, there is nothing for people to obey. 16So God gives us his promise as a gift, because he is very kind. We receive it when we trust him. If we believe in God like Abraham did, then God accepts us. That is God's promise to all of Abraham's family. If we believe in God, we can call Abraham our ancestor. We can all receive what God has promised. It is not only for those who have Moses' Law to obey. 17In the Bible, God said to Abraham, ‘I have chosen you to become the ancestor of many different people.’ That is what God himself promises, because Abraham believed in him. God is the one who causes dead people to become alive again. He speaks about things that are not yet there as if they were already there.

Romans 4:15 word by word

ὁ γὰρ νόμος ὀργὴν κατεργάζεται· οὗ δὲ οὐκ ἔστιν νόμος, οὐδὲ παράβασις.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Becauseγάρgar · forG1063
• the lawνόμοςnomos · lawG3551
• workethκατεργάζομαιkatergazomai · to workout/produceG2716
• wrathὀργήorgē · wrathG3709
• whereοὗhou · whitherG3757
• noοὐou · noG3756
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• noοὐδέoude · norG3761
• transgressionπαράβασιςparabasis · transgressionG3847

Cross-references for Romans 4:15

• Romans 1:17The good news explains how God accepts people as right with himself. He does this when they believe in Christ. It is only because of their faith. Nothing else. This is what was written in the Bible long ago: ‘Everyone that God accepts as right will live, because they trust him.’
• Romans 2:5But you refuse to change the way that you live. You are not sorry about the wrong things that you have done. As a result, you cause God to become even angrier with you. So he will punish you even more on the day when he will judge everyone. On that day, he will show how angry he is against people who do bad things. Everyone will know that he judges people in a right way.
• Romans 3:19So, we know that God's Law belongs to the Jews. God told them to obey everything that his Law teaches. As a result, nobody can say: ‘God should not punish me.’ Everybody in the world must stand in front of God and he will judge them.
• Romans 5:13Before God gave his Law to Moses, people did wrong things. Sin was already there in the world. But at that time, God did not say that people were guilty, because there was no law for them to obey.
• Romans 7:7So someone might say, ‘God's Law must be bad.’ No! Certainly, it is not bad! Without that law, I would not have known what sin really is. One rule says, ‘You must not want to take things for yourself that belong to other people.’ Without that command, I would not have known that it is wrong to want other people's things.
• Numbers 32:14Moses continued to say, ‘Now you are turning against God, as your fathers did. You are as bad as them! You will cause the Lord to be even more angry with the Israelites.
• Deuteronomy 29:20The Lord will never forgive that person. He will be very angry with him. The Lord will punish him in all the terrible ways that are written in this book. The Lord will destroy him completely so that his family name comes to an end.
• 2 Kings 22:13He told them, ‘Go to the temple. Ask the Lord about the message in this book that Hilkiah has found. I need to know what I should do, as well as all the people of Judah. The Lord has become very angry with us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words in this book. They have not done the things that it tells us we should do.’
• Jeremiah 4:8So wear rough sackcloth! Weep and cry aloud. Say, “The Lord is still very angry with us.” ’
• Lamentations 2:22You asked our enemies to come round us as people come to a special feast. They killed our people because you were angry. Nobody could hide or run away. They all died. We saw the enemy kill our own children.’
• Ezekiel 7:19They will throw their silver away in the streets. They will think that their gold has no value, like dirt. Their silver and their gold will not be able to save them on the day of the Lord's great anger. When they are hungry, their money will not buy them any food. It is their riches that have caused them to do wicked things.
• Zephaniah 1:18Their money will not save them, on the day when the Lord is angry. He watches. And he is angry when his people love other gods. So he will send fire on the earth. Yes, he will quickly kill all the people who live in Judah.
• John 3:36Anyone who believes in the Son has life with God for ever. But anyone who refuses to obey the Son will never have life with God. God will continue to be angry with people like that.’
• John 15:22I have come and I have spoken my message to them. If I had not done that, they would not have been guilty of their sin. But now they cannot say, “We have not done anything wrong.”
• Acts 17:30In past times people did not know the true things about God. Because of this, God did not punish them. But now God tells people everywhere, “Stop doing bad things and turn to me!”
• 1 Corinthians 15:56Death only has power to hurt us because of our sins. And it is the authority of God's Law that gives power to sins.

Commentaries on Romans 4:15

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15Because the law worketh wrath - For law , any law, or rule of duty. No law makes provision for the exercise of mercy, for it worketh wrath, , punishment, for the disobedient. Law necessarily subjects the transgressor to punishment; for where no law is - where no rule of duty is enacted and acknowledged, there is no transgression; and where there is no transgression there can be no punishment, for there is no law to enforce it. But the Jews have a law…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15Because the law - All law. It is the tendency of law. Worketh wrath - Produces or causes wrath. While man is fallen, and a sinner, its tendency, so far from justifying him, and producing peace, is just the reverse. It condemns, denounces wrath, and produces suffering. The word “wrath” here is to be taken in the sense of punishment. Romans 2:8. And the meaning is, that the Law of God, demanding perfect purity, and denouncing every sin condemns the sinner…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 13-22Verses 13-22 The promise was made to Abraham long before the law. It points at Christ, and it refers to the promise, Ge 12:3. In Thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. The law worketh wrath, by showing that every transgressor is exposed to the Divine displeasure. As God intended to give men a title to the promised blessings, so he appointed it to be by faith, that it might be wholly of grace, to make it sure to all who were of the like precious…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 15where there is no law, neither is there transgression: Paul always uses the word transgression to mean not obeying a plain commandment of God (see also 2:23; 5:14; Galatians 3:19; 1 Timothy 2:14). So, transgression can only exist where the law exists. This is why violating the law always brings punishment. The law that God gave to the Israelites had detailed requirements. This made the people more accountable for sin than before their law existed. When…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 13-1513-15. For the promise, &c.--This is merely an enlargement of the foregoing reasoning, applying to the law what had just been said of circumcision. that he should be the heir of the world--or, that "all the families of the earth should be blessed in him." was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law--in virtue of obedience to the law. but through the righteousness of faith--in virtue of his simple faith in the divine promises.Read the comment

Topics related to Romans 4:15

• Abraham
• Bigotry
• Catholicity
• Faith
• Justification
• Salvation
• Works

In the dictionaries

• Flesh
• Impute
• Quicken
• Raise
• Reckon
• Sin
• Stagger
• Unbelief
• Void
• Accountability

Commentaries on Romans 4

• 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