Bible Strands
Romans 3:20
Therefore no one will be justified in His sight by works of the law. For the law merely brings awareness of sin.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul, writing to a mixed Jewish-Gentile congregation in Rome, concludes his argument that both Jew and Gentile are under sin (3:9–20) before pivoting to the gospel in 3:21.
The words — σὰρξ (sarx, "flesh") in the idiom πᾶσα σὰρξ means no human being in their fallen condition, not merely the physical body. δικαιωθήσεται (dikaiōthēsetai) is a future passive: a single declarative act of being pronounced righteous, not a gradual process.
The thread — Galatians 2:16, Acts 13:39, and Romans 3:28 all restate the same exclusion: the law does not justify. The law's stated function is to silence and convict (3:19), not to acquit.
Why it lands — It removes the reader's own moral record as a basis for standing before God. The law is a mirror, not a remedy; the verse forces the question of what, if anything, remains.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Galatians 2:16 know that a man is not justified by works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
- Acts 13:39 Through Him everyone who believes is justified from everything from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.
- Romans 3:28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
- Galatians 2:19 For through the law I died to the law so that I might live to God.
- Romans 4:15 because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression.
- Romans 4:13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world was not given through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.
- Romans 5:20 The law came in so that the trespass would increase; but where sin increased, grace increased all the more,
- Romans 9:32 Why not? Because their pursuit was not by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,
- Galatians 3:10 All who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”
- Psalms 143:2 Do not bring Your servant into judgment, for no one alive is righteous before You.