Romans 3:20

Because by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for through the law cometh the knowledge of sin.

A glance at the English Revised Version (1885) margin shows that Paul here used a word for "law" that seems to be broader than Moses' law, and some of the commentators have made much of that; but what is unanswered is why Paul who had just mentioned the law in a context where it was positively identified as the Old Testament (Romans 3:19), should here be thought of as having introduced another subject. It would seem, from this consideration, that the English Revised Version (1885) committee did well in rendering it "the law" here as in the previous verse. It is true, of course, that the fact of justification being impossible to attain through the law of Moses, which is the highest law ever given, would surely allow the deduction that justification would likewise be impossible of attainment through any lesser law.

Why was justification impossible of attainment under Moses' law? First, no man, as people are constituted, is capable of perfectly living up to all the provisions of Moses' law, or any other. Moses' law made no allowance for any violations whatsoever and provided no means of forgiveness for violators. The Holy Spirit, at that time, not having been provided to dwell in people's hearts, could not be claimed for either help or encouragement. For these reasons, the practical result of the law was to demonstrate that every man who tried to keep it was a sinner! That is the thought of the last clause in this verse.

Macknight's thoughts on why law condemns are as follows:

That the apostle is here speaking of a meritorious justification, by moral as well as ceremonial works of law, is evident from the universality of his proposition; and from this, that the only condition on which law allows justification to any person, is his performing all its requisitions. Therefore, as in the present state of human nature, a perfect obedience to law is impracticable, the apostle's assertion in this verse remains invariably true.[21]

Paul was about ready in this epistle to announce a means of justification by which man may be forgiven of his sins, truly possess a genuine righteousness, and claim the inheritance among the saints in light; but, before doing so, he evidently felt that it was imperative to remove all notions that any man might have to the effect that he might ever earn, or merit, salvation through living a life of strict conformity to the law of Moses; and the denial that it was possible under that law, which was indeed the best ever devised, was equivalent to a denial that it could be accomplished under any kind of law whatsoever. The ability to merit or earn salvation is simply not in mortal people; and that fact underlies Paul's extensive argument presented thus far in the epistle with the design of bringing all people to realize their condemnation under God, due to their sin, and to impress upon them the glorious nature of the true means of justification about to be announced.

Justification, as a practical thing, is the equivalent of salvation; but a more precise definition is given by Hodge, thus:

(Justification) is always used in the sense antithetical to condemnation. To condemn is not merely to punish, but to declare the accused guilty or worthy of punishment; and justification is not merely to remit punishment, but to declare that punishment cannot be justly inflicted.[22]

The inability of people to achieve a state of justification by means of law should not be held as a reason for despising law, especially God's law; because, as Brunner expressed it,

The Law cannot make us righteous, but it can reveal to us what is wrong. Through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. This is no small matter. If there still had to be something other than the way of the Law, we do not bypass the Law to reach this other thing but only go right through the Law. The Law, taken seriously, breaks the arrogance of man; yes, it breaks man himself. But only as someone who is broken, as a person who is thoroughly shaken, as someone who has come to the end of his tether, can he understand what has to be said of him now as being the one and all of the gospel message.[23]

Romans 3:21-31 contain Paul's statement of that one and all just referred to above in Brunner's paragraph on the Law. In Paul's small paragraph here, one of the most significant revelations in sacred scripture, the great mystery of redemption, is at last announced; the mystery hidden from the foundation of the world is finally declared, that being the device by which God can forgive the sins of people and procure their absolute justification in Jesus Christ. How could even God devise a vehicle for the conveyance of so great a blessing? How could God be just, that is, accounted by men to be just, while at the same time passing over sins and blessing the perpetrators of sins as if they had never sinned at all, even forgiving them? How could God receive fallen and sinful people unto himself without, in so doing, bestowing a tacit approval of their horrible wickedness, thereby compromising his just government of the universe itself? The answer to all such questions is embryonically contained in the glowing sentences which make up this small section of Paul's letter to the Romans.

[21] James Macknight, op. cit., p. 71.

[22] Charles Hodge, op. cit., p. 82.

[23] Emil Brunner, op. cit., p. 27.