Romans 3:20Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Not only the Jews, but the whole world becomes guilty before God. That is, it is condemned, deprived of boldness, not justified by its own works, and in need of help from another, namely the grace of Christ.

Why then do you boast in the law, O Jew, when you are guilty together with the rest of the world, since you are not justified by the works of the law?

At this stage it is revealed to us into what we have fallen. When we wish to rise and then fall, we are cast down still further.

Therefore it is said that “the law entered, and the offense abounded” (Rom 5:20). So also here it is said, “Through the law comes the knowledge of sin,” not justification.

For sin is justified by grace alone.

Therefore the law is good, because it forbids what ought to be forbidden and permits what ought to be permitted.

But if anyone thinks that he can fulfill it by his own powers, without the grace of his Liberator, there is no profit in such hope. There is only harm.

He is then seized still more by the desire to sin, and in his sins he becomes a transgressor. Where there is no law, there is no transgression.

Therefore let the one who lies in sin, having learned that he cannot rise by himself, cry out for the help of the Liberator.

Then grace will come, forgiving past sins and giving help to the one who struggles. It will fill righteousness with love and destroy fear.

When this happens, the spirit, rooted by grace and the love of God, no longer falls into sin.

For we do not sin in the perverse desire itself, but when we yield to it.

Since these desires are born of mortal flesh, which we inherit from the first man’s original sin by fleshly birth, they will not cease unless we are changed in the resurrection of the body.

This has been promised to us. Then perfect rest will come, and we shall be established on the fourth stage.

In perfect rest nothing opposes us, because we do not oppose God.

Free will was perfect in the first man. In us before grace, there is no free will not to sin, but only not to wish to sin.

Grace makes it possible for us not only to wish to act rightly, but also to be able to do so. This is not by our own strength, but with the help of the Liberator.

After the resurrection He will give us perfect rest, which follows upon a good will.

By speaking of “all flesh,” he indicated every man. So also the prophet Isaiah says, “All flesh shall see the salvation of God” (Is 40:5).

That is, every man shall see the Christ of God, in whom is the salvation of all men. Therefore Paul uses “flesh” to indicate that men are subject to sin.

As righteousness makes them spiritual, so sins make them fleshly. A man receives his name according to his deed.

Therefore through the law sin is known, and through faith it is abolished. Faith must follow after it.

What then is the law through which, as he says, sin is known? And in what manner is it known?

We see that the most ancient men also knew sin. Joseph was cast into prison, though by slander. Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker were imprisoned for sins (cf. Gen 39:1-40:23).

In what sense, then, did sin remain hidden?

In reality the law has three aspects. The first concerns the mystery of God’s Divinity. The second embraces the natural law, which forbids sin.

The third extends to the works of the law, that is, Sabbaths, new moons, circumcision, and the rest.

Here Paul speaks of the natural law, which was partly renewed and partly confirmed by Moses. It disclosed sin for all who had given themselves over to vices.

Thus sin did not remain unexamined, as I have said. The law showed that sins would not remain unpunished before God.

It did this so that no one, escaping punishment for a time, would think the law a deception. This is what the law revealed.

The same is true of similar things. All these serve as signs of something else. In themselves, even when fulfilled, they are not sufficient to make the one who performs them righteous.

For this reason the divine Apostle said, “Because by the works of the law no flesh will be justified before Him.”

And lest anyone think that he is accusing the law, he added, “For through the law comes the knowledge of sin.” That is, the law placed in men a more exact knowledge of sin.

It made the condemnation of sin stronger, but it could not suffice for men’s advancement in virtue. Having thus proved that the law is only a teacher of what is noble, he proves the power of grace.

The example of David should have strongly affected the Jews who deceived themselves by their own righteousness. David was a man after God’s heart, who knew the law and did righteousness, yet feared judgment according to God’s righteousness.

“Through the law comes the knowledge of sin.” This anticipates an objection: why was the law given, if it does not justify man?

According to the Apostle, the law must serve as a mirror of man’s moral activity. It is a measure for determining the degree and force of man’s guilt before God.

From the law, and while the law exists, man learns that he is guilty before God and how far he is guilty. By this he also recognizes his powerlessness to be justified by his own powers.

"Works of the law" means works in accordance with the law. But what law is meant here?

Is it only the law that defined sacrifices and purifications, or also the law that defined piety and virtue? Both one and the other.

The first could not justify essentially, because it did not have justifying power in itself. It served only as a sign and indication of that in which the true justifying power lies.

Theodoret writes: "All this serves as a sign of something else, and in itself, even when fulfilled, is insufficient to make the one who performs it righteous."

The second could indeed justify in itself. For in what does justification consist, if not in the full fulfillment of the laws of piety and virtue?

Yet there is no hope of receiving justification by this path, because in our weakness we cannot fulfill it in due completeness.

Thus this law too is powerless for our justification, not in itself, but through our fault. Therefore he used the expression "all flesh," to indicate where the source of the powerlessness lies.

It is not in the law, but in us. As men bearing flesh, we cannot fulfill the law. Therefore there is no point in thinking that anyone can be justified by this path.

"The law would certainly have profited those who received its commandments, if they had kept it. But since they did not keep it, by this circumstance it did them greater harm.

"This was not by its nature, but by the evil disposition of those who did not observe it, by their badness" (Oecumenius).

"For through the law comes knowledge of sin." The law defined how one should act in every case.

Yet because it did not give strength for the fulfillment of this, and because the flesh drew one toward the opposite, it only illumined sinfulness.

The one who received the law saw in each case how he sinned, and he could not fail to acknowledge that he sinned. But he did not see how to free himself from these bonds of sin.

The law gave him only this: it taught him to know his own sinfulness. Yet even with this knowledge, sin still acted and drew him away.

Therefore this knowledge only increased sin. "For he who sins knowingly is threatened with greater punishment" (Blessed Theophylact).

"The law shames you more, because it reveals your sins. It was the cause that sin became known to you, but it was in your will to flee sin.

"Since you did not flee it, you brought greater punishment upon yourself. The instruction of the law led you to a greater penalty" (Saint Chrysostom).

Yet even this last point, subjection to greater punishment for sinning knowingly, corresponds to the purpose of the law.

Its very purpose is to keep one conscious of sinfulness, and therefore conscious of being without excuse before God.

Nevertheless, in all this one must in no way think that sin is something fated, something that involuntarily drags a man into transgression whether he wants it or not.

The flesh does indeed draw, but transgression is always committed because the man himself willingly desires what is contrary to the law.

Therefore, after transgressing the law, a man is ashamed and feels the pang of conscience. This testifies that the sinner could have refrained from sin, but did not want to deny his evil desire.

Nor may one think that since no flesh will be justified by works of the law, the works of the law are no longer necessary.

No. Justification consists in appearing wholly corrected, having fulfilled everything required by the law. Fulfill the whole will of God, and you will be saved.

Thus the Savior said repeatedly, and thus the Apostles taught. The whole divine economy of salvation is directed toward bringing us into a state in which we appear completely right before the law.

For this reason there is remission of sins. For this reason there is grace for the doing of every good.

For the Jew, for the Greek, and now for the Christian, there is one goal: perfect faithfulness to the law of God.

This must be kept in view, without in the least weakening the sense of obligation to it by faith.

On the contrary, by kindling this sense, one must constantly renew and enliven faith, which gives everything needed to satisfy this obligation.