Romans 3:20
Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Truth to Learn
No one can do enough good deeds to be saved.
Behind the Words
“Therefore” is translated from the Greek word dioti, which is a compound word made up of dia, meaning “through” or “by” and hoti, which means “that.” Hence, dioti basically means “through that, because of that, or for this reason.”
The word “deeds” is from ergon which means “a product of labor, a work, or a deed.”
The word translated “flesh” is sarx, which literally means “flesh of a living creature.” It is used here to denote all of mankind, both Jew and Gentile.
“Justified” is from dikaioō, which means “to declare someone righteous” or “to make someone righteous.”
The phrase “in His sight” is translated from enōpion. This is another compound word. It is made up of en, indicating a static position (in, on, over, etc.) and ops (a derivation of optomai – to see) which refers to “sight” or “eyes.” So, literally this word means “in His sight,” though it is often translated “before Him” or “in His presence.”
The word translated “knowledge” is the Greek word epignosis, which means more than simply knowing something. It means “to recognize and understand something.”
Meaning Explained
Remember that whenever we see a “wherefore” or a “therefore” we need to see what it’s there for. In the previous verse we learned that the Law was given so that all those who tried to obey the Law would be found guilty before God without excuse. Therefore, that is, in light of this fact, because of this… “by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight.”
What Paul is saying is that justification before God cannot be obtained by obeying any set of rules no matter who made the rules. Why? Because it is through rules (Law) that we recognize sin and sinfulness.
If you recall the account of the temptation of Adam and Eve, up until God gave them the command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they were without sin. If they had eaten of the tree before they were told not to, they would not have been sinning; but due to the fact that they had been commanded not to, it suddenly became sinful to do so.
What Paul is telling us in these verses is that we cannot become righteous by following any set of rules, whether God-made or man-made. How then can one become righteous before God? Is it impossible? Paul is going to begin telling us in the next two verses.
Application
Just because we can’t be declared righteous through doing good deeds doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do them. We ought to do them out of obedience and gratitude. In other words, we can’t be saved by doing good deeds, but once we are saved, we should do them because we want to, not because we have to.
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2009 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
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