100 Bible Verses about Purpose Of The Law

Romans 7:7 ESV / 46 helpful votes

What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”

Galatians 3:24 ESV / 42 helpful votes

So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.

Matthew 5:17 ESV / 36 helpful votes

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

James 2:10 ESV / 21 helpful votes

For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

Galatians 3:19 ESV / 20 helpful votes

Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary.

Galatians 3:21 ESV / 18 helpful votes

Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law.

James 2:12 ESV / 15 helpful votes

So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.

Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV / 14 helpful votes

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Romans 6:14 ESV / 14 helpful votes

For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Galatians 2:16 ESV / 13 helpful votes

Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

Romans 3:28 ESV / 12 helpful votes

For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

Romans 6:15 ESV / 11 helpful votes

What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!

Romans 3:20 ESV / 11 helpful votes

For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

1 John 3:4 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.

Ephesians 2:8 ESV / 10 helpful votes

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

Galatians 3:10 ESV / 10 helpful votes

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”

Romans 13:10 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Galatians 3:11 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Luke 24:44 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

Romans 7:12 ESV / 8 helpful votes

So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

Galatians 5:1-4 ESV / 7 helpful votes

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace.

Galatians 4:1-31 ESV / 7 helpful votes

I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. ...

Romans 10:4 ESV / 7 helpful votes

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Romans 4:15 ESV / 7 helpful votes

For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.

1 John 2:3-4 ESV / 6 helpful votes

And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,

Ephesians 2:15 ESV / 6 helpful votes

By abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,

Ephesians 2:9 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Galatians 3:16 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.

1 John 5:3 ESV / 5 helpful votes

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

2 Peter 1:21 ESV / 5 helpful votes

For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

James 1:27 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Galatians 3:1-3 ESV / 5 helpful votes

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

Romans 1:1-32 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, ...

1 John 1:8 ESV / 4 helpful votes

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Galatians 2:21 ESV / 4 helpful votes

I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

Romans 8:2 ESV / 4 helpful votes

For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

Romans 7:21 ESV / 4 helpful votes

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.

Romans 4:1-25 ESV / 4 helpful votes

What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, ...

John 14:6 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 3:16 ESV / 4 helpful votes

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Matthew 5:18-19 ESV / 4 helpful votes

For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Habakkuk 2:4 ESV / 4 helpful votes

“Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.

Daniel 9:27 ESV / 4 helpful votes

And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”

Psalm 138:8 ESV / 4 helpful votes

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Deuteronomy 6:5 ESV / 4 helpful votes

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

1 John 2:3 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.

1 John 2:2 ESV / 3 helpful votes

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 Peter 3:15 ESV / 3 helpful votes

But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

James 2:8 ESV / 3 helpful votes

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.

Titus 1:2 ESV / 3 helpful votes

In hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began

Colossians 2:9 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,

Galatians 5:12 ESV / 3 helpful votes

I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!

Galatians 5:4 ESV / 3 helpful votes

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

Galatians 3:24-25 ESV / 3 helpful votes

So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian,

Galatians 3:22 ESV / 3 helpful votes

But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

Galatians 3:10-11 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Galatians 2:20 ESV / 3 helpful votes

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 3:7-11 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.

Romans 12:1 ESV / 3 helpful votes

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Romans 8:9 ESV / 3 helpful votes

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

Romans 8:4 ESV / 3 helpful votes

In order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Romans 8:1-39 ESV / 3 helpful votes

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. ...

Romans 7:25 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Romans 7:22 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being,

Romans 7:14 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.

Romans 7:13 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.

Romans 7:7-13 ESV / 3 helpful votes

What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. ...

Romans 5:6 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

Romans 3:19-20 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

John 13:34 ESV / 3 helpful votes

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

Matthew 24:35 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

Isaiah 55:11 ESV / 3 helpful votes

So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Isaiah 46:10 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’

Psalm 19:7 ESV / 3 helpful votes

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;

James 2:24 ESV / 2 helpful votes

You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

James 2:10-12 ESV / 2 helpful votes

For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty.

James 2:1-26 ESV / 2 helpful votes

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? ...

Hebrews 10:9 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second.

Hebrews 10:1 ESV / 2 helpful votes

For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.

Hebrews 9:28 ESV / 2 helpful votes

So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Hebrews 8:1-13 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” ...

Hebrews 4:15 ESV / 2 helpful votes

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Hebrews 1:3 ESV / 2 helpful votes

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV / 2 helpful votes

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

2 Thessalonians 1:9 ESV / 2 helpful votes

They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,

2 Thessalonians 1:8 ESV / 2 helpful votes

In flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

Colossians 1:26-27 ESV / 2 helpful votes

The mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Ephesians 3:4-6 ESV / 2 helpful votes

When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Ephesians 2:5 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

Ephesians 1:22-23 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Galatians 5:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Galatians 5:16 ESV / 2 helpful votes

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Galatians 5:10 ESV / 2 helpful votes

I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is.

Galatians 3:15-25 ESV / 2 helpful votes

To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise. Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. ...

Galatians 3:1-29 ESV / 2 helpful votes

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— ...

Romans 11:1 ESV / 2 helpful votes

I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.

Romans 8:28 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 7:1-25 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress. Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. ...

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