Verse 20 By the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified. There has been some discussion, among commentators, whether, by the expression the law, in these chapters, Paul means to designate moral obligation in general, or particular requirements of the Jewish system; for in some cases he appears to use the term in one of these senses and in other cases in the other sense. The explanation seems to be, that hie employed the term in both senses, considering them as, in the view of his readers, one and the same. For, in the mind of a Jew, fidelity to the system of commands, moral and ritual, which were comprehended in the Mosaic code, was, in fact, the measure and sum of all moral obligation. The two ideas which, under the Christian dispensation, have become so distinct, were in those days, and in Jewish minds, identical.--For by the law is the knowledge of sin; that is, the law of God, instead of being a protection and a shield, only reveals more fully the universal delinquency and guilt.