Keeping the Law Is Not Sufficient

Readings:
II Chronicles 33
Romans 3:7-20

Focus:
Romans 3:20: "For no human being can be justified in the sight of God by keeping the law: law brings only the consciousness of sin."

Paul is building the case that trying to keep the law is insufficient for salvation, because it is not possible to do it perfectly. By law he means the whole moral and ritual law as found in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament.) Perhaps if one tried very hard, one might succeed in observing the ritual law perfectly, but it is beyond anyone's power to succeed in observing the moral law perfectly.

For example, among the succession of kings that we have been reading about in II Chronicles, some have been terribly bad, and some have been good, but even the good ones have had failings.

And we ourselves may be good people, but we are unable to be perfect. When we really think about it, we are aware of our shortcomings, even little things like irritability. As Romans 3:20 says, law brings the consciousness of sin.

There is no way to be saved if we are trying to do it by being good. We can't do it.

Thanks to God that he has provided Jesus! The book of Romans will tell more about that.