Galatians 2:21

Galatians 2:21 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
• New International Version (NIV)I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
• English Standard Version (ESV)I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
• New King James Version (NKJV)I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”

Context of Galatians 2:21

19When I tried to obey the laws in the Scriptures, those laws killed me. As a result, I live in a relationship with God. I have been crucified with Christ. 20I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live I live by believing in God’s Son, who loved me and took the punishment for my sins. I don’t reject God’s kindness. If we receive God’s approval by obeying the laws in the Scriptures, then Christ’s death was pointless.

Galatians 2:21 word by word

οὐκ ἀθετῶ τὴν χάριν τοῦ θεοῦ· εἰ γὰρ διὰ νόμου δικαιοσύνη, ἄρα Χριστὸς δωρεὰν ἀπέθανεν.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• I doἀθετέωatheteō · to rejectG114
• notοὐou · noG3756
• the graceὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the graceχάριςcharis · graceG5485
• of Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• forγάρgar · forG1063
• ifεἰei · ifG1487
• righteousnessδικαιοσύνηdikaiosunē · righteousnessG1343
• byδιάdia · through/because ofG1223
• the lawνόμοςnomos · lawG3551
• thenἄραara · thereforeG686
• ChristΧριστόςChristos · ChristG5547
• is deadἀποθνήσκωapothnēskō · to dieG599
• in vainδωρεάνdōrean · freelyG1432

Cross-references for Galatians 2:21

• Galatians 2:18If I rebuild something that I’ve torn down, I admit that I was wrong to tear it down.
• Psalms 33:10The Lord blocks the plans of the nations. He frustrates the schemes of the people of the world.
• Mark 7:9He added, “You have no trouble rejecting the commandments of God in order to keep your own traditions!
• Romans 8:31What can we say about all of this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
• Galatians 2:16Yet, we know that people don’t receive God’s approval by any effort to follow the laws in the Scriptures, but only by believing in Jesus Christ. So we also believed in Jesus Christ in order to receive God’s approval by faith in Christ and not by our own efforts. People won’t receive God’s approval by their own efforts.
• Galatians 3:21Does this mean, then, that the laws given to Moses contradict God’s promises? That’s unthinkable! If those laws could give us life, then certainly we would receive God’s approval because we obeyed them.
• Galatians 5:2I, Paul, can guarantee that if you allow yourselves to be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you.
• Romans 10:3They don’t understand ⌞how to receive⌟ God’s approval. So they try to set up their own way to get it, and they have not accepted God’s way for receiving his approval.
• Romans 11:6If they were chosen by God’s kindness, they weren’t chosen because of anything they did. Otherwise, God’s kindness wouldn’t be kindness.
• Hebrews 7:11The people established the Levitical priesthood based on instructions they received. If the work of the Levitical priests had been perfect, we wouldn’t need to speak about another kind of priest. However, we speak about another kind of priest, a priest like Melchizedek, not a Levitical priest like Aaron.
• Isaiah 49:4But I said, “I have worked hard for nothing. I have used my strength, but I didn’t accomplish anything. Yet, certainly my case is in the Lord’s hands, and my reward is with my God.”
• Jeremiah 8:8“ ‘How can you say that you are wise and that you have the Lord’s teachings? The scribes have used their pens to turn these teachings into lies.
• 1 Corinthians 15:2In addition, you are saved by this Good News if you hold on to the doctrine I taught you, unless you believed it without thinking it over.

Commentaries on Galatians 2:21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21I do not frustrate - · I do not contemn, despise, or render useless, the grace of God - the doctrine of Christ crucified; which I must do if I preach the necessity of observing the law. For if righteousness - If justification and salvation come by an observance of the law, then Christ is dead in vain; his death is useless if an observance of the law can save us; but no observance of the law can save us, and therefore there was an absolute necessity for…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21I do not frustrate the grace of God - The word rendered “frustrate” ( ̓͂ athetō) means properly to displace, abrogate, abolish; then to make void, to render null; Mark 7:9; Luke 7:30; 1 Corinthians 1:19. The phrase “the grace of God,” here refers to the favor of God manifested in the plan of salvation by the gospel, and is another name for the gospel. The sense is, that Paul would not take any measures or pursue any course that would render that vain or…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 20-21Verses 20-21 Here, in his own person, the apostle describes the spiritual or hidden life of a believer. The old man is crucified, Ro 6:6, but the new man is living; sin is mortified, and grace is quickened. He has the comforts and the triumphs of grace; yet that grace is not from himself, but from another. Believers see themselves living in a state of dependence on Christ. Hence it is, that though he lives in the flesh, yet he does not live after the…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 21Paul's opponents in Galatia might have argued that his message made God's grace to Israel meaningless because it was connected to the law (see Romans 3:12, 31). However, it was actually Paul’s opponents who made God's grace meaningless by denying the need for Christ's death.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2121. I do not frustrate the grace of God--I do not make it void, as thou, Peter, art doing by Judaizing. for--justifying the strong expression "frustrate," or "make void." is dead in vain--Greek, "Christ died needlessly," or "without just cause." Christ's having died, shows that the law has no power to justify us; for if the law can justify or make us righteous, the death of Christ is superfluous [Chrysostom].Read the comment

Topics related to Galatians 2:21

• Justification
• Suffering
• Works

In the dictionaries

• Christ
• God
• Christ, Messiah
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Add
• Blame
• Bondage
• Conference
• Crucify
• Forward

Commentaries on Galatians 2

• 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
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• 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