Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Romans 4:14
For if they which are of the law [be] heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:
14. of the law ] Lit. out of the law. On the Gr. construction see on Rom 3:26 ( ad finem). “ Law ” here is without article, and possibly its reference is general; q. d. “If those who in any sense claim on grounds of a law, &c.” But it is far better to read (in English) “ the law.” The lack of the article is quite natural where the thing is conspicuous and well known.
heirs ] i.e. of the world, as promised to Abraham.
faith ] Gr. the faith; i.e., probably, “the faith in question;” justifying faith, and Abraham’s in particular.
made void of none effect ] Both verbs in Gr. are in the perfect; and the probable point is q. d., “If the Law becomes the condition of heirship, ipso facto the faith and the promise are void;” they have been cancelled by the mere fact of a legal condition.
the promise ] i.e. “that he” (Abraham, in his seed) “should be heir of the world.” In other words, that Messiah, the Son of Abraham, (and thereby His “Israel”), should enjoy a sacred victory and dominion.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For if they which are of the law – Who seek for justification and acceptance by the Law.
Faith is made void – Faith would have no place in the scheme; and consequently the strong commendations bestowed on the faith of Abraham, would be bestowed without any just cause. If people are justified by the Law, they cannot be by faith, and faith would be useless in this work.
And the promise … – A promise looks to the future. Its design and tendency is to excite trust and confidence in him who makes it. All the promises of God have this design and tendency; and consequently, as God has given many promises, the object is to call forth the lively and constant faith of people, all going to show that in the divine estimation, faith is of inestimable value. But if people are justified by the Law; if they are rendered acceptable by conformity to the institutions of Moses; then they cannot depend for acceptance on any promise made to Abraham, or his seed. They cut themselves off from that promise, and stand independent of it. That promise, like all other promises, was made to excite faith. If, therefore, the Jews depended on the Law for justification, they were cut off from all the promises made to Abraham; and if they could be justified by the Law, the promise was useless. This is as true now as it was then. If people seek to be justified by their morality or their forms of religion, they cannot depend on any promise of God; for he has made no promise to any such attempt. They stand independently of any promise, covenant, or compact, and are depending on a scheme of their own; a scheme which would render his plan vain and useless; which would render his promises, and the atonement of Christ, and the work of the Spirit of no value. It is clear, therefore, that such an attempt at salvation cannot be successful.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 14. For, if they which are of the law be heirs] If the Jews only be heirs of the promise made to Abraham, and that on the ground of prior obedience to the law, then faith is made void-is entirely useless; and the promise, which was made to faith, is made of none effect.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
i.e. If they that trust to the fulfilling of the law, be heirs of the promise of God, and so the inheritance come by works; then faith is to no purpose, neither is there any use of it; and so also the promises which are made to believers are vain and useless. This is the sun, of this verse; a more particular explication follows.
If they which are of the law: compare this with Gal 3:9,10. There the apostle sorts them that seek righteousness and salvation into two kinds. First, some are of faith, and they are such as seek salvation in that way. Again, others are of the works of the law, and they are such as seek salvation by means thereof. These phrases, of the law, and of the works of the law, are all one.
Be heirs; that is, of the promises of God; of the heavenly rest, of which, as before, Canaan was a type.
Faith is made void; i.e. if they which seek the inheritance of the law can by the law obtain it, then there is no use of faith: to what end should we by faith go out of ourselves to seek righteousness and salvation in Christ, if we could obtain it by the legal obedience? See the like, Gal 5:4.
And the promise made of none effect; i.e. the promise itself, which was made to Abraham and his seed, that also is ineffectual, and brought to nought; no man shall be saved by it; forasmuch as the law can bring no man to the obtaining of what is promised.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. For if they which are of the lawbe heirsIf the blessing is to be earned by obedience to thelaw.
faith is made voidthewhole divine method is subverted.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Be heirs (). No predicate in the Greek (). See on Ga 4:1. If legalists are heirs of the Messianic promise to Abraham (condition of first class, assumed as true for argument’s sake), the faith is emptied of all meaning (, perfect passive indicative of ) and the promise to Abraham is made permanently idle ().
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “For if they which are of the law be heirs,” (ei gar hoi ek nomou kleronomoi) “For if those out of the law, (law deeds) are become heirs;” Paul turns to the hypothetical method argument to show that “if” any one becomes saved by keeping the law, thru deeds of the law, then “faith” is a farce, or doesn’t avail anything, Gal 5:6.
2) “Faith is made void,” (kekenotai he pistis) “Faith has been emptied, made void,” or rendered as of none effect. In effect he asserts that faith in Christ is useless, unnecessary, superfluous; if by keeping the law one can become a child of God, and an heir; such faith as Abraham had would help no one! Act 16:31; Rom 4:4-5.
3) “And the promise made of none effect,” (Kai katergetai he epangelia) “And the promise has been destroyed or rendered useless, of none effect,” if out of merely keeping, guarding, or observing the law one could acquire salvation and become an heir of God, with right of ruling with him on earth, during the Millennium, the promise given to Abraham by faith would be in effect farcical, or a sham, Gal 3:18.
There simply are not two or three plans of Salvation and methods of securing rewards set forth for people in the Bible. Act 4:12; Act 10:43; Joh 8:24; Joh 14:6; Rom 1:16; Rom 11:6; Gal 3:26; Eph 1:7; Eph 2:8-10; Col 2:10; Tit 3:5.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
14. For if they who are of the law, etc. He takes his argument from what is impossible or absurd, that the favor which Abraham obtained from God, was not promised to him through any legal agreement, or through any regard to works; for if this condition had been interposed — that God would favor those only with adoption who deserved, or who performed the law, no one could have dared to feel confident that it belonged to him: for who is there so conscious of so much perfection that he can feel assured that the inheritance is due to him through the righteousness of the law? Void then would faith be made; for an impossible condition would not only hold the minds of men in suspense and anxiety, but fill them also with fear and trembling: and thus the fulfillment of the promises would be rendered void; for they avail nothing but when received by faith. If our adversaries had ears to hear this one reason, the contest between us might easily be settled.
The Apostle assumes it as a thing indubitable, that the promises would by no means be effectual except they were received with full assurance of mind. But what would be the case if the salvation of men was based on the keeping of the law? consciences would have no certainty, but would be harassed with perpetual inquietude, and at length sink in despair; and the promise itself, the fulfillment of which depended on what is impossible, would also vanish away without producing any fruit. Away then with those who teach the common people to seek salvation for themselves by works, seeing that Paul declares expressly, that the promise is abolished if we depend on works. But it is especially necessary that this should be known, — that when there is a reliance on works, faith is reduced to nothing. And hence we also learn what faith is, and what sort of righteousness ought that of works to be, in which men may safely trust.
The Apostle teaches us, that faith perishes, except the soul rests on the goodness of God. Faith then is not a naked knowledge either of God or of his truth; nor is it a simple persuasion that God is, that his word is the truth; but a sure knowledge of God’s mercy, which is received from the gospel, and brings peace of conscience with regard to God, and rest to the mind. The sum of the matter then is this, — that if salvation depends on the keeping of the law, the soul can entertain no confidence respecting it, yea, that all the promises offered to us by God will become void: we must thus become wretched and lost, if we are sent back to works to find out the cause or the certainty of salvation.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(14) Is made void.Literally, emptied of its meaning, becomes an empty name, and the promise is rendered nugatory. There is nothing left for either to do, if the votaries of law, simply as such, are to be the inheritors of the Messianic kingdom.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(14-17) This Messianic kingdom cannot have anything to do with law; for if it had, faith and the promise would cease to have any office. Faith and law cannot co-exist. They are the opposites of each other. The proper effect of law is punishment; for law only exposes sin. Faith, on the other hand, is the real key to the inheritance. It sets in motion grace; and grace, unlike law, excludes no one. It is open alike to the legal and to the spiritual descendants of Abraham; in other words (as the Scripture itself testifies), to all mankind, as the representative of whom Abraham stands before God.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. They of the law Those who claim heirship in virtue of a fulfilment of the law.
Promise of none effect The promise is God’s side of the Abrahamic compact by which he is the sun and shield of the faithful, which promise is not only to Abraham, out to his seed, (Rom 4:16.)
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void, and the promise is made of none effect. For the law works wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there transgression.’
The promises were offered to Abraham for his ready acceptance through faith. Thus faith was the basis of his heirdom. That being so, if that heirdom goes to those who rely on observing the Law for salvation, faith is basically cancelled out. It is no longer required. It is rendered ineffectual, being replaced by law-keeping. And the consequence of that is that the promise which was offered to faith would also have been made of none effect. This would be so because those attempting to keep the Law would inevitably fail to fully keep the Law (as described in chapters 1-3). Thus they will be under wrath. For the Law works wrath, that is, it makes men’s sins specific and thus multiplies them. And a holy God will not fulfil His promises to those who are under His wrath. Compare Gal 3:10, ‘cursed are all those who do not continue in the book of the Law to do them’ (cited from Deu 27:26). On the other hand because there was no Mosaic Law in the time of Abraham, those who lived then would not come under the constant wrath that resulted from the continual breaking of ‘the Law’, as it did not then exist. They would be ‘without transgression’, that is, not guilty of breaking the Law of Moses. The idea is not that they were sinless. It is that their approach to God was not based on Law but on faith.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rom 4:14. For if they which are of the law be heirs The Apostle here speaks of the performance of the law, with reference to a moral impossibility: for it seems evident from what follows, that the law is to be considered as insisting on an obedience absolutely perfect: so that those good men who were justified under it, were not justified by it, but by the dispensation of grace under which Abraham was; which, though not a part of the covenant of God by Moses, was not, and could not be abrogated by it. See Gal 3:17 and Doddridge.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rom 4:14 . Here also is not (as Flatt and others take it) the moral law (to which however the saying may certainly be applied ), but the law of Moses , viewed in excluding antithesis to the . By , “those of the law” (Luther), are meant those who belong to the law, are as such subjected to it; consequently the Jews at all events, but just so far as they are not believers , not belonging to the (Gal 6:16 ). The opposite: , Rom 3:26 , Gal 3:7 . That they wish to attain to the by the way of the law, is true in itself, but is not expressed in the mere (in opposition to Hofmann).
. . [1034] ] then faith is made void and the promise done away, i.e. faith is thereby rendered inoperative and the promise of no effect. If it be true that to be subject to the law is the condition of obtaining the possession of the world, nothing further can be said either of a saving power of faith (comp 1Co 1:17 ), or of the validity of the promise (comp Rom 3:31 , Gal 3:17 ). And why not? Because (Rom 4:15 ) the law, to which in accordance with that protasis the would be appended, has an operation so entirely opposed to the essence of faith (which trusts in the divine ) and of the promise (which is an emanation from this ), (comp Rom 4:16 ), that it brings about the divine wrath , since its result is transgression. On this ground ( , Rom 4:16 ) because the law worketh wrath , its relation to the , laid down in Rom 4:14 , cannot exist; but on the contrary the latter must proceed from faith that it may be according to grace , etc., Rom 4:16 .
The is the Christian saving faith, of which Abraham’s faith was the beginning and type, and the is the Divine promise of the , given to Abraham and his seed, Rom 4:13 .
[1034] . . . .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
Rom 4:14-17 . Proof of the antithesis . . . [1033] in Rom 4:13 , conducted not historically (as in Gal 3:13 ff.), but dogmatically, a priori , from the nature of the law , from which results the opposite of the latter, the , as cause of the .
[1033] . . . .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:
Ver. 14. Faith is made void ] See Trapp on “ Gal 3:12 “ See Trapp on “ Gal 5:2 “ That Epistle to the Galatians is an epitome of this to the Romans, and lends light to it. It is compendium, sed non dispendium.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
14 .] The supposition is now made which Rom 4:13 denied, and its consequences shewn. For if they who are of the law (who belong to the law, see reff.: not, ‘who keep the law,’ nor is to be supplied) are inheritors (i.e. inherit ‘ejus rei caus,’ by virtue of the law: they may be inheritors by the righteousness of faith, but not quoad their legal standing ), faith is (thereby) made empty (robbed of its virtue and rendered useless), and the promise is annulled (has no longer place). How and why so? The Apostle himself immediately gives the reason.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rom 4:14 . cf. 1Co 1:17 ; 1Co 9:15 , 2Co 9:3 . : a favourite word of Paul, who uses it twenty-five times.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
the. Omit.
is made void = Literally has been emptied. Greek. kenoo. Elsewhere, 1Co 1:17; 1Co 9:15. 2Co 9:3. Php 1:2, Php 1:7.
made of none effect. Greek. katargeo. See Rom 3:3.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
14.] The supposition is now made which Rom 4:13 denied,-and its consequences shewn. For if they who are of the law (who belong to the law, see reff.: not, who keep the law, nor is to be supplied) are inheritors (i.e. inherit ejus rei caus, by virtue of the law: they may be inheritors by the righteousness of faith, but not quoad their legal standing), faith is (thereby) made empty (robbed of its virtue and rendered useless), and the promise is annulled (has no longer place). How and why so? The Apostle himself immediately gives the reason.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rom 4:14. , if) The promise and faith complete the whole: and we ought not to add the law, as if it were something homogeneous.- , those who are of the law) This phrase recurs in a milder sense in Rom 4:16.—made void-and of no effect), words synonymous but not interchangeable. Comp. Gal 3:17; Gal 3:15; the word antithetic to these is sure [], Rom 4:16. Faith receives [Rom 4:11] blessings in all their fulness, it is therefore said, on the opposite side, to be made void, to be of no effect.–, faith-the promise) words correlative: and they are appropriately put in retrograde order [comp. Rom 4:13] in an argument like the present, wherein is shown the absurdity which would flow from from the opposite theory [by the reductio, or argumentum ad absurdum].
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Rom 4:14
Rom 4:14
For if they that are of the law are heirs, faith is made void, and the promise is made of none effect:-If they who were of the law were heirs because they are under the law, faith is made of none effect, and the promise through Abrahams faith is of none effect. The promise was made to him through faith.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
For if: Rom 4:16, Gal 2:21, Gal 3:18-24, Gal 5:4, Phi 3:9, Heb 7:19, Heb 7:28
made: Rom 3:31, Num 30:12, Num 30:15, Psa 119:126, Isa 55:11, Jer 19:7
Reciprocal: Gen 22:16 – General Luk 10:26 – General Rom 9:31 – hath Gal 3:12 – the law Gal 3:17 – that it Gal 3:29 – heirs
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
:14
Rom 4:14. If the promise made to Abraham and his seed was to be fulfilled by the works of the law, then the faith (the Gospel) would be made of no avail.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rom 4:14. For if, etc. The proof of Rom 4:13 is now given (Rom 4:14-17), from the nature of the law, and the consequent necessity of faith as the ground of inheritance.
They that are of the law. Comp. the contrasted idea, chap. Rom 3:26; Gal 3:7. Those who belong to the law are of that party whose religious life springs from the law, and who are legalists in character.
Faith is made void, is made empty and continues so, there is no use of it.
Of none effect. The promise is made permanently invalid. Why so? The reason is given in Rom 4:15.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
That is, If they which seem to be justified by the works of the law be heirs of this promised inheritance; then faith, that is, the way of justification by faith, prescribed by God, is to no purpose, for to what end should we by faith seek righteousness in another, if by our legal obedience we can find ourselves?
Here then lies couched another argument, to confirm the apostle’s doctrine of justification by faith: Thus, that only justifies, unto which gracious promise of justification is made; but no such promise is made to any man for his weak and imperfect keeping of the law, but for his believing there is; therefore, by the law there can be no justification, but by faith only.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Vv. 14. If, in order to be heir of the world, it is absolutely necessary to come under the jurisdiction of the law, and consequently to be its faithful observerotherwise what purpose would it serve?it is all over at a stroke both with faith and with the promise: with faith, that is to say, with the hope of that final heritage, since the realization of that expectation would be bound to a condition which sinful man could not execute, the fulfilment of the law, and since faith would thus be deprived of its object (literally, emptied, , from , empty); and next, with the promise itself: for, an impossible condition being attached to it, it would thereby be paralyzed in its effects (). Proof and conclusion, Rom 4:15-16.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
For if they that are of the law are heirs, faith is made void, and the promise is made of none effect:
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
14. For if the heirs were from the law, faith is made empty and the promise of none effect. The great promise which God made to Abraham to redeem the world by the gift of His Son, which was utterly unnecessary if they could be saved by legal obedience. The law was here four thousand years before Christ came; there was plenty of water to baptize people, and every other conceivable facility of legal obedience. Therefore if salvation had been possible through the law, the condescension and death of Christ were unnecessary, null and void. The utter incompetency of fallen humanity to be saved in any other way superinduced the absolute necessity for Christ to come and die, thus redeeming us from sin, death and hell. Hence legalism is so abominable in the sight of God; from the ostensible fact that it treats with contempt the vicarious atonement which cost the life of His Son.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 14
The promise made of none effect; made unmeaning, since it was originally based upon faith, and not obedience.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
4:14 {12} For if they which are of the {k} law [be] heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:
(12) A double confirmation of that reason: the one is that the promise cannot be apprehended by the law, and that if it could it would be made of no effect: the other, that the condition of faith would be joined in vain to the promise if it could be apprehended by works.
(k) If they are heirs who have fulfilled the law.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
To introduce law-keeping as a condition for the fulfillment of this promise would have two effects. First, it would make faith irrelevant. It would subject this simple unconditional promise to the condition of human obedience. If, for example, a father promised his son a new bicycle, the boy would look forward to receiving it as a gift. However if the father added the condition that to get the bike the boy had to be obedient, he would destroy his son’s confidence that he would get the bike. Now obtaining the bicycle depended on obedience. It was no longer a matter of faith. The second effect, which is also evident in this illustration, is that the promise would be nullified (i.e., made worthless).