Can anyone be justified by keeping the Ten Commandments?
No. Scripture declares that by the deeds of the law, or the keeping of the Ten Commandments, no flesh shall be justified, whether Jew or Gentile. The law was a ministration of condemnation and death, and by the law comes the knowledge of sin, not justification.
Les explains that the law was given to Israel, and the Gentiles never were under it, yet the power of the law did not stop with Israel. Every mouth in the whole human race may be stopped, and all the world, not just Israel, may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, or the keeping of the Ten Commandments, no flesh shall be justified, Jew or Gentile. The law is a ministration of condemnation and death because it gives the knowledge of sin; it cannot justify. Law has to fade away, and grace becomes epitomized.
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.
More Questions
Will keeping the Ten Commandments and doing good works justify me before God?
All a person's law-keeping, good works, and legalism are for nothing, because by the deeds of the law—trying to live the good life according to the format of the Ten Commandments—no flesh shall be justified in God's sight.
Why can't the Ten Commandments justify anyone before God?
No flesh is justified in God's sight by the Ten Commandments, because the Law's only function is to give the knowledge or understanding of sin.
Why can't a person be justified by keeping the law?
By the deeds of the law no flesh is justified before God; the law only gives the knowledge of sin and shows that man falls short of the righteousness God demands.
Can a person be justified by doing what the law requires?
No flesh is justified before God by the deeds of the law; the law only brings the knowledge of sin.