Romans 3:31

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 Living Translation (NLT)Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.

Context of Romans 3:31

29Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, 30since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.

Romans 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 4:14For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect,
• Psalms 119:126It is time for You to act, O Lord, For they have regarded Your law as void.
• Jeremiah 8:8“How can you say, ‘We are wise, And the law of the Lord is with us’? Look, the false pen of the scribe certainly works falsehood.
• Matthew 5:17“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.
• Matthew 15:6then he need not honor his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.
• Galatians 2:21I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”
• Galatians 3:17And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect.
• Romans 3:4Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: “That You may be justified in Your words, And may overcome when You are judged.”
• Romans 7:7What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.”
• Romans 8:4that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
• Romans 10:4For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
• Romans 13:8Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.
• Psalms 40:8I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart.”
• Isaiah 42:21The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness’ sake; He will exalt the law and make it honorable.
• Jeremiah 31:33But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
• Matthew 3:15But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed 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

• Boasting
• Catholicity
• Works

In the dictionaries

• God
• Boasting
• Conclude
• Destruction
• Establish
• Faith
• Justifier
• Overcome
• Sin
• Bible, the

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