Romans 4:14

14 si enim qui ex lege heredes sunt exinanita est fides abolita est promissio

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.

Romans 4:14 In-Context

12 et sit pater circumcisionis non his tantum qui sunt ex circumcisione sed et his qui sectantur vestigia quae est in praeputio fidei patris nostri Abrahae

13 non enim per legem promissio Abrahae aut semini eius ut heres esset mundi sed per iustitiam fidei

14 si enim qui ex lege heredes sunt exinanita est fides abolita est promissio

15 lex enim iram operatur ubi enim non est lex nec praevaricatio

16 ideo ex fide ut secundum gratiam ut firma sit promissio omni semini non ei qui ex lege est solum sed et ei qui ex fide est Abrahae qui est pater omnium nostrum