Romans 4:14

14 For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless,

Read Chapter Compare

PREVIOUS Romans 4:13 NEXT Romans 4:15

Romans 4:14 in Other Translations

KJV

14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:

ESV

14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.

NLT

14 If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless.

MSG

14 If those who get what God gives them only get it by doing everything they are told to do and filling out all the right forms properly signed, that eliminates personal trust completely and turns the promise into an ironclad contract! That's not a holy promise; that's a business deal.

CSB

14 If those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made empty and the promise is canceled.

Romans 4:14 Meaning and Commentary

Romans 4:14

For if they which are of the law be heirs
That is, if the Jews who are under the law, and are seeking for righteousness and life by the works of it, should, on the account of their obedience to it, be heirs of the grace of life and of glory,

faith is made void;
for if the right to the inheritance is by the works of the law, there is no room for faith; that can be of no use or service;

and the promise made of none effect:
if salvation is by works, it is to no purpose for God to promise, or men to believe; for the thing promised depends not upon God's promise, but upon man's obedience to the law; and if that is not perfectly observed, as it cannot possibly be, then the promise of God stands for nothing, and is in course made void. The apostle here argues from the absurdities which follow upon the doctrine of justification by works, as he does from the different effects of the law, in the following verse.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Romans 4:14 In-Context

12 And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

13 It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.

14 For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless,

15 because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.

16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.

Cross References 1

1. Galatians 3:18

Romans 4:14

Share

Settings

Romans 4:14 in Other Translations

Romans 4:14 Meaning and Commentary

Romans 4:14 In-Context

Cross References 1