For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.

GALATIANS 2:18KJV
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Galatians 2:18 (KJV)

What does Galatians 2:18 mean?

Galatians 2:18 means that if someone goes back to relying on the old rules or systems they once rejected, they show themselves to be in the wrong. Paul is saying that rebuilding what he once tore down would make him a lawbreaker, not someone justified.

Paul is writing to believers in Galatia, explaining his own actions and beliefs about the law of Moses and faith in Jesus. He is arguing that returning to the old way of trying to earn God’s favor through the law, after turning to Christ, would be inconsistent and would actually prove him guilty, not righteous.

The Greek behind Galatians 2:18

  • οἰκοδομῶ (oikodomō, "build"): This word means to build up or reconstruct. Paul uses it to picture going back to the old religious system he had left behind.
  • πάλιν (palin, "again"): This word stresses the idea of returning to something previously abandoned, highlighting the backward step of returning to the law.
  • παραβάτην (parabatēn, "transgressor"): This word means someone who breaks a law or goes beyond a boundary. Paul is saying that if he rebuilds what he destroyed, he is not just inconsistent—he is actually breaking faith.

Why Galatians 2:18 matters

  • Galatians 2:18 clears up the misunderstanding that someone can mix faith in Christ with trying to keep the old law for acceptance by God; Paul insists that going back to the law is not progress, but a step backward.
  • The verse emphasizes Paul’s point that true righteousness comes through faith in Christ, not by returning to the old rules he once left behind.
  • This statement connects to Paul’s larger argument in Galatians that believers are justified by faith, not by works of the law, and highlights the seriousness of returning to the old system.

Where else these words appear

“transgressor” Greek G3848 · used in 5 verses

  • Romans 2:25 For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.
  • Romans 2:27 And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?
  • James 2:9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.

“make” Greek G4921 · used in 15 verses

  • Luke 9:32 But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him.
  • 2 Corinthians 3:1 Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?
  • 2 Corinthians 10:12 For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.

“destroyed” Greek G2647 · used in 16 verses

  • Matthew 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
  • Mark 14:58 We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.
  • Acts 5:38 And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought:

“myself” Greek G1683 · used in 37 verses

  • Matthew 8:9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
  • John 10:18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
  • 1 Corinthians 4:3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.