Why is no one justified by the law?
Scripture says no one is justified by the law because the law only gives the knowledge of sin and has no power to save. It does nothing but condemn. Justification is not by keeping commandments; it is by the righteousness of God without the law, as Paul writes in Romans 3.
Les explains that the law was never designed to justify anyone; it was given to show sin. In the transcript, Paul says justification does not come by the law because the law is the knowledge of sin. The law does nothing but condemn us, and there is no power in it to save anybody. Les points out that many people think keeping the commandments will make them righteous, but he says no, you won't make it that way. Instead, Romans 3:21 declares the righteousness of God without the law—a change from the old Judaic system. Once under law, now believers are under something totally different: God's righteousness apart from law.