Galatians 3:21

Plain English Version

But somebody might say, “God did something wrong. He gave a law that goes against what he promised.” That’s not right. No way. You see, if a law can give us real life, God would give us that law, and we would follow it and become good people. But no law can do that.

Cross References

Romans 3:31

So what do you reckon about God’s law? We believe in Jesus now, so do we have to forget everything God said in his law? No way. If we believe in Jesus, we agree that the law is from God.

Galatians 2:17

Yes, we trusted Jesus Christ, and now God says we are all right. But some people might reckon, “You left God’s law, so now God will say you are guilty. Jesus got you to do something bad.” But they are not right.

Galatians 2:19

You see, I used to try to follow that law, so that law controlled me. I tried to do everything in that law, but I couldn’t do it, so the law said that I had to die. But then I stopped thinking about that law, and I turned around to follow Jesus, and now he controls me, and God makes me properly alive. And you know that Jesus died on a cross. Well, I believe in Jesus, so it is like I died there too. But Jesus is alive now, so I’m alive now too. You see, Jesus lives inside me, right here in my body. And he gets me to do the things that God wants me to do. He is God’s son. He loved me, and he gave up his life and died for me.

Galatians 2:21

Yes, God is really good to us, and he really did a lot for us. I will never change my mind about that. You see, we can’t become good people by following the law. If we could do that, it would mean that Jesus died for nothing. But, of course, he didn’t.

Galatians 6:14

But I never want to say anything to get other people to say I am good. The only good one for me is Jesus Christ. He died for me on the cross. And when I think about him, the things of this world mean nothing to me, and I am nothing to this world.