Romans 3:20

Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. THEREFORE BY THE DEEDS OF THE LAW - by compliance with its requirements, THERE SHALL NO FLESH BE JUSTIFIED - that is, 'be held and treated as righteous,' as is plain from the whole scope and strain of the argument, IN HIS SIGHT - at His bar (): FOR BY THE LAW IS THE KNOWLEDGE OF SIN. (See the notes at ; ; .)...

20._Therefore by the works of the law, etc. _It is a matter of doubt, even among the learned, what the works of the law mean. Some extend them to the observance of the whole law, while others confine them to the ceremonies alone. The addition of the word _law _induced [Chrysostom ] _, _[Origen ], and [Jerome ] to assent to the latter opinion; (106) for they thought that there is a peculiar intimation in this appendage, that the expression should not be understood as including all works. But this difficulty may be very easily removed: for seeing works are so far just before God as we seek by them to render to him worship and obedience, in order expressly to take away the power of justifying from all works, he has mentioned those, if there be any, which can possibly justify; for the law hath promises, without which there would be no value in our works before God. You hence see the reason w...

19,20 It is in vain to seek for justification by the works of the law. All must plead guilty. Guilty before God, is a dreadful word; but no man can be justified by a law which condemns him for breaking it. The corruption in our nature, will for ever stop any justification by our own works....

Verse 20. _THEREFORE, BY THE DEEDS OF THE LAW_] On the score of _obedience_ to this moral law, _there shall no flesh_, ουπασασαρξ, _no human being_, be justified; none can be accepted in the sight of God. And why? Because _by the law is the knowledge of sin_: it is that which _ascertains_ what sin is; shows how men have deviated from its righteous demands; and sentences them to death because they have broken it. Thus the law is properly considered as the _rule of right_; and, unless God had given some such means of discovering _what_ SIN _is_, the darkened heart of man could never have formed an adequate conception of it. For, as an acknowledged _straight edge_ is the only way in which the _straightness_ or _crookedness_ of a _line_ can be determined, so the moral obliquity of human actions can only be determined by the law of God; that _rule_ _of right_ which proceeds from his own imma...

BY THE DEEDS OF THE LAW - By works; or by such deeds as the Law requires. The word “Law” has, in the Scriptures, a great variety of significations. Its strict and proper meaning is, a rule of conduct prescribed by superior authority. The course of reasoning in these chapters shows the sense in which the apostle uses it here. He intends evidently to apply it to those rules or laws by which the Jews and Gentiles pretended to frame their lives; and to affirm that people could be justified by no conformity to those laws. He had shown Romans 1 that “the pagan, the entire Gentile world,” had violated the laws of nature; the rules of virtue made known to them by reason, tradition, and conscience. He had shown the same Rom. 2–3 in respect to the Jews. They had equally failed in rendering obedience to their Law. In both these cases the reference was, not to “ceremonial” or ritual la

EXPOSITION ROMANS 3:1 (2) _Certain objections with regard to the Jews suggested and met. _In_ _this passage, before proceeding with his argument, the apostle meets certain objections that might be made to what has been so far said. Some difficulty in determining his exact meaning arises from the concise and pregnant form in which the objections are put and answered, and from fresh ones arising out of the answers, which have also to be met. The objections are from the Jewish standpoint, though not put into the mouth of an objecting Jew, but rather suggested as likely ones by St. Paul himself. To the original readers of the Epistle, who were familiar with the tone of Jewish thought, the sequence of the ideas would probably be more obvious than to us. Reserving special consideration of successive clauses for our exposition of each verse, we may,

THEREFORE BY THE DEEDS OF THE LAW,.... Hence it most clearly appears, that there can be no justification before God by the law, since it stops the mouths of men, and pronounces them guilty: by "the deeds of the law" are meant, works done in obedience to it, as performed by sinful men, which are very imperfect; not as performed by Adam in innocence or by Christ in our nature whose works were perfect; but as performed by sinful men and of themselves, and not as performed in and by Christ for them who is the fulfilling end of the law for righteousness to all believers: now by such works as these whether wrought before or after conversion, with or without the strength and grace of Christ, THERE SHALL NO FLESH BE JUSTIFIED IN HIS SIGHT: that is, no one person: "flesh" designs men, and men as corrupt and carnal, in opposition to God, who is a Spirit pure and holy; and may have respect to the...

Romans 3:1. _What advantage then hath the Jew? Or what profit is there of circumcision?_ If, after all, both Jew and Gentiles were under sin, what advantage had the Jew by the covenant under which he lived? Or what was the benefit to him of the circumcision which was his distinctive mark? Romans 3:2. _Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God._ The Jews were God's chronicle-keepers. They had to guard the holy Books, «the oracles of God.» They had also to preserve the knowledge of the truth by those divers rites and ceremonies by which God was pleased to reveal himself of old time. Romans 3:3. For what if some did not believe? Shall their unbeli

SIN SIN (_ See Scofield) - (Romans 3:23). _...

CHAPTER 3:1-20 _ 1. Objections and Their Answers. (Romans 3:1 .)_ 2. The Whole World Under Sin. (Romans 3:9 .) Romans 3:1 A number of objections are next raised and answered. “What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?” Such would be the natural question of the Jew after reading the argument that the Jew is on the same level with the Gentile. This objection is stated here for the first time. It is important, for the Jews are God's chosen people and as the Apostle states later, to them belongs “the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God and the promises” ...