Galatians 5:4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.

◄ Galatians 5:4 ►

Parallel Verses

New International Version
You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.

English Standard Version
You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.

New American Standard Bible
You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.

King James Bible
Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
You who are trying to be justified by the law are alienated from Christ; you have fallen from grace.

International Standard Version
Those of you who are trying to be justified by the Law have been cut off from the Messiah. You have fallen away from grace.

American Standard Version
Ye are severed from Christ, ye would be justified by the law; ye are fallen away from grace.

Douay-Rheims Bible
You are made void of Christ, you who are justified in the law: you are fallen from grace.

Darby Bible Translation
Ye are deprived of all profit from the Christ as separated from him, as many as are justified by law; ye have fallen from grace.

Young's Literal Translation
ye were freed from the Christ, ye who in law are declared righteous; from the grace ye fell away;

Cross References

Romans 9:31
But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness.

Hebrews 4:1
Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

Hebrews 12:15
Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

2 Peter 3:17
You therefore, beloved, seeing you know these things before, beware lest you also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.

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Commentaries

Matthew Henry's Commentary

5:1-6 Christ will not be the Saviour of any who will not own and rely upon him as their only Saviour. Let us take heed to the warnings and persuasions of the apostle to stedfastness in the doctrine and liberty of the gospel. All true Christians, being taught by the Holy Spirit, wait for eternal life, the reward of righteousness, and the object of their hope, as the gift of God by faith in Christ; and not for the sake of their own works. The Jewish convert might observe the ceremonies or assert his liberty, the Gentile might disregard them or might attend to them, provided he did not depend upon them. No outward privileges or profession will avail to acceptance with God, without sincere faith in our Lord Jesus. True faith is a working grace; it works by love to God, and to our brethren. May we be of the number of those who, through the Spirit, wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. The danger of old was not in things of no consequence in themselves, as many forms and observances now are. But without faith working by love, all else is worthless, and compared with it other things are of small value.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

4. Literally, "Ye have become void from Christ," that is, your connection with Christ has become void (Ga 5:2). Ro 7:2, "Loosed from the law," where the same Greek occurs as here.

whosoever of you are justified—"are being justified," that is, are endeavoring to be justified.

by the law—Greek, "IN the law," as the element in which justification is to take place.

fallen from grace—Ye no longer "stand" in grace (Ro 5:2). Grace and legal righteousness cannot co-exist (Ro 4:4, 5; 11:6). Christ, by circumcision (Lu 2:21), undertook to obey all the law, and fulfil all righteousness for us: any, therefore, that now seeks to fulfil the law for himself in any degree for justifying righteousness, severs himself from the grace which flows from Christ's fulfilment of it, and becomes "a debtor to do the whole law" (Ga 5:3). The decree of the Jerusalem council had said nothing so strong as this; it had merely decided that Gentile Christians were not bound to legal observances. But the Galatians, while not pretending to be so bound, imagined there was an efficacy in them to merit a higher degree of perfection (Ga 3:3). This accounts for Paul not referring to the decree at all. He took much higher ground. See Paley's Horæ Paulinæ. The natural mind loves outward fetters, and is apt to forge them for itself, to stand in lieu of holiness of heart.