Anakalypsis / Unveiling the Word

Galatians 2:21

I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

KJV

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

Greek NT

Non abjicio gratiam Dei. Si enim per legem justitia, ergo gratis Christus mortuus est.

Vulgate

I do not make void the grace of God: for if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for nought.

ASV

I cast not away the grace of God. For if justice be by the law, then Christ died in vain.

Douay-Rheims

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In the original Greek

14 distinct Greek words appear in this verse.

Χριστός
christos
noun · 530×
γάρ
gar
conjunction · 1036×
διά
dia
preposition · 633×
δικαιοσύνη
dikaiosune
noun · 92×
δωρεάν
dorean
adverb · 9×
εἰ
ei
conditional · 491×
θεός
theos
noun · 1311×
νόμος
nomos
noun · 196×
οὐ
ou
particle · 1626×
χάρις
charis
noun · 155×
ἀθετέω
atheteo
verb · 16×
ἀποθνήσκω
apothnesko
verb · 112×
ἄρα
ara
particle · 36×
ὁ
o
article · 19778×

Historic Christian voices

9 passages from patristic writers, Reformers, and church catechisms citing this verse.

Be not deceived with strange doctrines, nor with old fables, which are unprofitable. For if we still live according to the Jewish law, we acknowledge that we have not received grace. For the divinest prophets lived according to Christ Jesus.
I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. This is the strongest argument against the righteousness of the law. If you could be made righteous by performing the law, then you have no need of Christ. But since you cannot do this, you need Christ. To mix law with grace, works with faith, is to frustrate the grace of God…
'O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?' See Gal. iii. 1. Paul now turns from defence to rebuke. He calls the Galatians foolish — not because they lacked intelligence, but because they had been led astray from the truth of the Gospel by the cunning of fals…
Without grace, can man know anything? Without God's grace, can man do or wish any good? Without grace, can man love God above all things? Without grace, can man keep the commandments of the Law? Without grace, can he merit eternal life? Without grace, can man prepare himself for grace? Without grace, can he rise from sin? Without grace, can man avoid sin? Having received grace,…
We teach that sinful man is justified before God (that is, absolved from all his sins and from the sentence of death) only by the grace of God, for the sake of Christ, through faith alone, without any merit of his own. For "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" and "are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus." Christ took…
Justification is a free gift, purchased by the blood of Christ and received by faith alone. Spurgeon thunders against any system that mixes human merit with divine grace. If justification is by works, then Christ died in vain; if it is by grace, then boasting is excluded. The sinner contributes nothing to his justification except the sin from which he needs to be saved. God dec…

Cross-references

  • 1Cor 15:2 — By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
  • 1Cor 15:14 — And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
  • 2Cor 6:1 — We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
  • Gal 2:16 — Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the
  • Gal 2:18 — For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
  • Gal 3:18 — For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
  • Gal 3:21 — Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
  • Gal 3:21 — Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
  • Gal 5:2 — Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
  • Gal 5:4 — Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
  • Heb 7:11 — If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and no
  • Heb 7:11 — If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and no
  • Isa 49:4 — Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God.
  • Mark 7:9 — And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
  • Mark 7:9 — And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
  • Ps 33:10 — The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.
  • Rom 3:4 — God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
  • Rom 3:31 — Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
  • Rom 4:14 — For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:
  • Rom 8:31 — What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
  • Rom 10:3 — For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
  • Rom 11:6 — And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
  • Rom 11:6 — And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
  • Titus 2:11 — For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,