The Nugget:
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 knowledge of sin.
My Comment:
If you want to see a contradiction in the Bible, here is one. Romans 3:20 states that by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified. But if we look back to Romans 2:13 we read that “the doers of the law shall be justified.” I suspect that modern English translations of the Bible generally have not cleared up this seeming contradiction. That is the reason there is such a need for a new translation that carefully follows the Greek text, is translated with awareness of dispensational distinctions, that does not suppress the grammatical distinctions so unique to the Greek language and crucial for proper understanding of what the authors meant when the words of the New Testament were penned. No currently available English translation does all that. Young’s Literal Translation comes the closest, but like the rest of our English translations, it falls short of presenting the salvation vocabulary given in the Greek text. All past and current English translations fail at this crucial point. But as a salvation memory verse, Romans 3:20 does make it clear that no one can be saved by keeping the law, including obeying the Ten Commandments. If we cannot get to heaven by being good, what must we do to get to heaven and have eternal life? The answer, in brief, is that we must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. But this language may well be almost meaningless to those immersed in contemporary culture. Probably the best way to overcome this gap in understanding is to become immersed in the Gospel of John, which was written to enable anyone to have eternal life by believing what it teaches. John asserts that he wrote his Gospel so that people would believe on the name of the Son of God, and that believing they would have eternal life. Even that language is obscure to the modern unchurched individual, but by reading the context of the Gospel of John, the meaning will become plain.
For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this subject:
(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on page 1277 for Romans 3:20.
(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 1297 or in Logos 5 Bible software for Romans 3:20.
(3) Lacking access to those two resources, consult the cross references for this passage as I have developed them as given below:
Romans 3:20. Therefore by. ver. *28. Ro *2:13. 4:13. 6:14. 7:5, 9. 8:3. 9:32. Ac +*13:39. Ga 2:*16, 19. *3:10-13. *5:4. Ep **2:8, 9. T *3:5-7. Ja *2:9, 10. the deeds of the law. or, works of law. ver. +27. Ro 2:12. *4:2, 6, 15. Dt 27:26. shall no. Gr. not any. FS108E3, Ps +103:2. Ro 5:18. Ps *143:2. Lk 15:29. Ac +13:39. flesh. FS171E1, Ge +6:12. FS171Q6, Ge +6:12. Ge 6:7. Le 13:3. Dt 5:26. Jb *15:14-16. Lk +3:6. be justified. or, made righteous. The participle cannot stand for kai dikaiountai: it explains or proves hesterountai [come short] since they are being made righteous (Liddon). Even though the Jews were in the sphere of the Law, it was unable to make them righteous because under the Law the blood of Levitical animals could not take away sins (cf. He 10:4, 11). The Law could justify, but it could not make righteous (see Ro 2:13 and note) [Lavender NT, fn. l]. Ro 9:31. Dt 31:26. Jb 9:2, 3. *25:4. Ps 5:10. *130:3. **143:2. Is 59:6. Lk +3:6. 16:15. %**18:14. 1 C 4:4. Ja 2:20-26. in his sight. Jb *15:15. *25:5. for by the law. FS4, Ro +1:13. Ro 4:15. 5:13, 20. **7:7-9. Ps *19:8. Jn +*1:17. 5:45. 10:34. 12:34. 15:25. 1 C *14:21n. 15:56. Ga 2:19. 3:19, 21, *24. Ph 3:9. 2 T 1:9. He *7:19. 12:20. 1 J 3:4. knowledge. Gr. epignōsis (S#1922g). Precise or further knowledge, thorough acquaintance with; true knowledge (CB, Appendix 132.II.ii, p. 163). Ro 1:28. 5:20. 10:2. Ge 3:11. 2 K *22:13. 23:24. 2 Ch 34:19. Ne 8:9. 13:3. Mk 10:19. *12:34. Lk 18:20. Ac 24:25. Ep 1:17. 4:13. Ph 1:9. Col 1:9, +**10. 2:2 (acknowledgement). 3:10. 1 T **2:4. 2 T 2:25. 3:7. T 1:1. Phm 6. He **10:26. 2 P 1:2, 3, **8. **2:20. sin. Gr. hamartia (S#266g). ver. 9. Ro 4:7, 8. 5:12, 13, 20, 21. 6:1, 2, 6, 7, 10-14, 16-18, 20, 22, **23. Ro 7:5, 7-9, 11, 13, 14, 17, 20, 23, 25. 8:2, 3, 10. 11:27. 14:23. Is 59:12. Mt *1:21. Jn 16:9. 1 C 15:56. 2 C 3:6. Ja **1:15. 2:9. **4:17. 5:15, 20. 1 J *1:7-9. **2:2. **3:4, 5, 8, 9. *4:10. +*5:16, 17.
psm 42.8 yet the lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime,
and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the god
of my life!!!
rom 3.20 th4 by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in
his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
here are some helpful cross references in understanding what paul
meant in rom 3.20.
1. acts 13.38-39 be it known unt you th4, men and brethren, that through
this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: vs 39 and by him
all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be
justified by the law of moses.
2. gal 2.16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but
by the faith of jesus christ, even we have believed in jesus christ, that we
might be justified by the faith of christ, and not by the works of the law:
for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
3. gal 3.10 for as many as are of the works of the law, are under the curse:
for it is written, cursed is every one that continuteth not in all things which
is written in the book of the law to do them.
4. gal 3.11 but that no man is justified by the law in the sight of god, it is evident:
for, the just shall live of faith.
5. eph 2.8-9 for by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it
is the gift of god: vs 9 not of works, lest any man should boast.
6. tit 3.5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his
mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the holy spirit:
psm 145.21 my mouth shall speak the praise of the lord: and let all flesh bless
his holy name for ever and ever.!!!