Bible Strands
Galatians 2:19
For through the law I died to the law so that I might live to God.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Paul writes to the Galatian churches while defending his apostolic authority and explaining why Gentile believers must not submit to Mosaic ceremonial obligations. He states this during a direct confrontation with Jewish Christians who insisted on circumcision and law-keeping for salvation.
The words — The Greek phrase διὰ νόμου ἀπέθανον τῷ νόμῳ (dia nomou apethanon tō nomō) translates literally as "through the law I died to the law." Paul employs διὰ (dia) to mark the law as the instrumental means that terminated his standing under its jurisdiction.
The thread — This termination under the old covenant order appears in Romans 7:4, where believers die to the law through Christ’s body to belong to another. The causal link between Christ’s death and the believer’s resulting life with Him also surfaces in 1 Thessalonians 5:10.
Why it lands — The text states that the law itself brings about a believer's termination under its system so that life may now be directed toward God. It requires a reader to abandon reliance on legal performance and accept that ongoing obedience flows from union with Christ, not from covenant obligation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
Cross-references
- Romans 7:4 Therefore, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.
- Romans 6:2 Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer?
- 1 Thessalonians 5:10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.
- Romans 6:11 So you too must count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
- 2 Corinthians 5:15 And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and was raised again.
- Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
- Romans 8:2 For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death.
- Romans 14:7 For none of us lives to himself alone, and none of us dies to himself alone.
- Romans 6:14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
- Titus 2:14 He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.