Galatians 3:18
Galatians 3:15-20 The Message (MSG)
Friends, let me give you an example from everyday affairs of the free life I am talking about. Once a person’s will has been signed, no one else can annul it or add to it. Now, the promises were made to Abraham and to his descendant. You will observe that Scripture, in the careful language of a legal document, does not say “to descendants,” referring to everybody in general, but “to your descendant” (the noun, note, is singular), referring to Christ. This is the way I interpret this: A will, earlier signed by God, is not annulled by an addendum attached 430 years later, thereby negating the promise of the will. No, this addendum, with its instructions and regulations, has nothing to do with the promised inheritance in the will.
Galatians 3:18 King James Version (KJV)
For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
Galatians 3:18 New American Standard Bible - NASB 1995 (NASB1995)
For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.
Galatians 3:18 New Century Version (NCV)
If the law could give us Abraham’s blessing, then the promise would not be necessary. But that is not possible, because God freely gave his blessings to Abraham through the promise he had made.
Galatians 3:18 American Standard Version (ASV)
For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no more of promise: but God hath granted it to Abraham by promise.
Galatians 3:18 New King James Version (NKJV)
For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
Galatians 3:18 Amplified Bible (AMP)
For if the inheritance [of what was promised] is based on [observing] the Law [as these false teachers claim], it is no longer based on a promise; however, God granted it to Abraham [as a gift] by virtue of His promise.
Galatians 3:18 New Living Translation (NLT)
For if the inheritance could be received by keeping the law, then it would not be the result of accepting God’s promise. But God graciously gave it to Abraham as a promise.
Galatians 3:17-18 The Passion Translation (TPT)
This means that the covenant between God and Abraham was fulfilled in Messiah and cannot be altered. Yet the written law was not even given to Moses until 430 years after God had “signed” his contract with Abraham! The law, then, doesn’t supersede the promise since the royal proclamation was given before the law. If that were the case, it would have nullified what God said to Abraham. We receive all the promises because of the Promised One—not because we keep the law!