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

19For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. 20My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.

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 2:18Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down.
• Psalms 33:10The Lord frustrates the plans of the nations and thwarts all their schemes.
• Mark 7:9Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition.
• Romans 8:31What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?
• Galatians 2:16Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.”
• Galatians 3:21Is there a conflict, then, between God’s law and God’s promises? Absolutely not! If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it.
• Galatians 5:2Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you.
• Romans 10:3For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law.
• Romans 11:6And since it is through God’s kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God’s grace would not be what it really is—free and undeserved.
• Hebrews 7:11So if the priesthood of Levi, on which the law was based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, why did God need to establish a different priesthood, with a priest in the order of Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron?
• Isaiah 49:4I replied, “But my work seems so useless! I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose. Yet I leave it all in the Lord’s hand; I will trust God for my reward.”
• Jeremiah 8:8“‘How can you say, “We are wise because we have the word of the Lord,” when your teachers have twisted it by writing lies?
• 1 Corinthians 15:2It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.

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