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Join me as I do a refresh of basic doctrinal topics of the gospel, these are personal study notes. KJV is used for Bible references. I've added an audio narration for convenience.
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Not by trying to keep the Law

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

  • How many men and women, according to Romans 3:20, are justified (declared righteous) in God's sight by keeping the law? The answer is none.

  • Are men justified by works of the law according to Galations 2:16? Let's see. It says: (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.). The answer is No.

  • If men could be saved by keeping the law, then would it have been necessary for Christ to die on the cross? let's see Galatians 2:21. (I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.) The answer is No.

  • What are the three words in Romans 7:12 that describe the law? Let's see: (Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.) Holy, Just and Good.

  • Do you think it is possible for sinful men to keep God's holy law? Let's see Romans 7:7-14 (What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
    But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
    For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
    And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.
    For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.
    Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
    Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.
    For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin).
    The answer is No

  • Is it is possible for sinful men to keep the 10 commandments perfectly? Let's see Exodus 20:1-17 (And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
    Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
    Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
    Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
    And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
    Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
    Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
    Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
    But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
    For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
    Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
    Thou shalt not kill.
    Thou shalt not commit adultery.
    Thou shalt not steal.
    Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
    Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.)
    Now, let's see James 2:10 (For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.)

  • So the question again: Is it possible for sinful men to keep the 10 commandments perfectly? It is impossible.

  • Imagine a person who perfectly obeys all of God's commandments except for one. Is he still a lawbreaker? Yes. Is he guilty of breaking the law? Yes.

Consider some of the 10 commandments

  • Have you always put God first in your life above all else?.
  • Have you ever taken God's Name in vain?
  • Have you ever stolen anything that did not belong to you?
  • Have you ever committed adultery of the heart? (See Matthew 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.)
  • Have you ever coveted or desired what someone else had?
  • Have you ever lied?
  • Have you ever disobeyed or dishonoured your parents, even once?

If you have a chain with just one of the links broken, is it still a broken chain? Yes.

Consider a person who has commmitted murder, but who has never committed adultery. Has the person broken God's law (Let's see what James 2:11 says: For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.) The answer is Yes.

Galatians 3:10 tells us what a person must do if he hopes to be saved by keeping the law.

Galatians 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 continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

So if a person hopes to be saved by the law, he/she must continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.

  • Do you think that a sinful person could ever do this? No.

  • Who do you think was the only Person who ever kept the law perfectly? Jesus Christ

  • The purpose of God's holy law is to show men and women how sinful they really are. For by the law is the knowledge of sin, according to 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.)

The law could never save, it could only show man his need for the Saviour. Think of a mirror. The purpose of a mirror is to show us that we have a dirty face, but we certainly would not use a mirror to wash our face. The mirror should drive us to the soap and water. So God gave the LAW that it might drive us the LAMB, the Lord Jesus who taketh away the sins of the world. The law could never give righteousness, according to Galatians 3:21. (Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.). It could only condemn.

As the sinner stands before God's holy and righteous law, what's all he can say? Let's see Romans 3:19 (Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.). All that the sinner standing before God's righteous and holy law can say is I'm guilty.

What did God do about the situation?

Romans 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.

God did what the law could never do by sending his own Son. Praise God for the LAMB!.