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 (Psalms 143:2):
For by the law is the knowledge of sin. (See the notes at Romans 4:15; Romans 7:7; 1 John 3:4.)
Remarks:
(1) The place here assigned to the Scriptures is worthy of special notice. In answer to the question, "What advantage hath the Jew? or, What profit is there of circumcision?" modern ritualists of every description would have pointed to the priesthood and the temple, with all its imposing ritual, as the glory of the ancient Economy. But in the apostle's esteem, "the Oracles of God" were the jewel of the ancient Church, from the knowledge of which springs all enlightened and acceptable worship of God.
(2) God's eternal purposes and man's free agency, as also the doctrine of salvation by grace and that of the unchanging obligations of God's Law, have in every age been subjected to the charge of inconsistency by those who will bow to no truth which their own reason cannot fathom. But amidst all the clouds and darkness which in this present state envelop the divine administration and many of the truths of the Bible, such broad and deep principles as are here laid down, and which shine in their own luster, will he found the sheet-anchor of our faith. "Let God he true, and every man a liar;" and as for such advocates of Salvation by grace as say, "Let us do evil, that good may come" - "their damnation is just."
(3) How broad and deep does the apostle in this section lay the foundations of his great doctrine of justification by free grace-in the disorder of man's whole nature, the consequent universality of human guilt, the condemnation of the whole world, by reason of the breach of divine law, and the impossibility of justification before God by obedience to that violated law! Only when these humiliating conclusions are accepted and felt, are we in a condition to appreciate and embrace the Grace of the Gospel, next to be opened up.
First: God's Justifying Righteousness is alike New and Old (Romans 3:21)