Romans 3:20

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

For no one is declared righteous before him by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • Gal 2:16 : 16 yet we know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.
  • Acts 13:39 : 39 and by this one everyone who believes is justified from everything from which the law of Moses could not justify you.
  • Rom 3:28 : 28 For we consider that a person is declared righteous by faith apart from the works of the law.
  • Rom 4:15 : 15 For the law brings wrath, because where there is no law there is no transgression either.
  • Gal 2:19 : 19 For through the law I died to the law so that I may live to God.
  • Rom 9:32 : 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but(as if it were possible) by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,
  • Rom 5:20 : 20 Now the law came in so that the transgression may increase, but where sin increased, grace multiplied all the more,
  • Rom 4:13 : 13 For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not fulfilled through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.
  • Rom 7:7-9 : 7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! Certainly, I would not have known sin except through the law. For indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else if the law had not said,“Do not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of wrong desires. For apart from the law, sin is dead. 9 And I was once alive apart from the law, but with the coming of the commandment sin became alive
  • Gal 5:4 : 4 You who are trying to be declared righteous by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace!
  • Eph 2:8-9 : 8 For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 it is not from works, so that no one can boast.
  • Titus 3:5-7 : 5 he saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us in full measure through Jesus Christ our Savior. 7 And so, since we have been justified by his grace, we become heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life.”
  • Jas 2:20-26 : 20 But would you like evidence, you empty fellow, that faith without works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that his faith was working together with his works and his faith was perfected by works. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says,“Now Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And similarly, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
  • Gal 3:10-13 : 10 For all who rely on doing the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written,“Cursed is everyone who does not keep on doing everything written in the book of the law.” 11 Now it is clear no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous one will live by faith. 12 But the law is not based on faith, but the one who does the works of the law will live by them. 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us(because it is written,“Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”)
  • Rom 5:13 : 13 for before the law was given, sin was in the world, but there is no accounting for sin when there is no law.
  • Ps 143:2 : 2 Do not sit in judgment on your servant, for no one alive is innocent before you.
  • Job 15:15 : 15 If God places no trust in his holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes,

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Gal 3:10-12
    3 verses
    82%

    10For all who rely on doing the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written,“Cursed is everyone who does not keep on doing everything written in the book of the law.”

    11Now it is clear no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous one will live by faith.

    12But the law is not based on faith, but the one who does the works of the law will live by them.

  • Rom 3:21-24
    4 verses
    81%

    21But now apart from the law the righteousness of God(although it is attested by the law and the prophets) has been disclosed–

    22namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction,

    23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

    24But they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

  • Rom 3:18-19
    2 verses
    81%

    18“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

    19Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God.

  • Gal 2:16-17
    2 verses
    81%

    16yet we know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by the faithfulness of Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

    17But if while seeking to be justified in Christ we ourselves have also been found to be sinners, is Christ then one who encourages sin? Absolutely not!

  • Rom 3:26-28
    3 verses
    80%

    26This was also to demonstrate his righteousness in the present time, so that he would be just and the justifier of the one who lives because of Jesus’ faithfulness.

    27Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded! By what principle? Of works? No, but by the principle of faith!

    28For we consider that a person is declared righteous by faith apart from the works of the law.

  • Rom 3:9-10
    2 verses
    78%

    9The Condemnation of the World What then? Are we better off? Certainly not, for we have already charged that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin,

    10just as it is written:“There is no one righteous, not even one,

  • Rom 4:15
    78%

    15For the law brings wrath, because where there is no law there is no transgression either.

  • Rom 2:12-14
    3 verses
    78%

    12For all who have sinned apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

    13For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous before God, but those who do the law will be declared righteous.

    14For whenever the Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature the things required by the law, these who do not have the law are a law to themselves.

  • Rom 5:13
    78%

    13for before the law was given, sin was in the world, but there is no accounting for sin when there is no law.

  • Gal 3:21-22
    2 verses
    77%

    21Is the law therefore opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that was able to give life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.

    22But the scripture imprisoned everything under sin so that the promise could be given– because of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ– to those who believe.

  • Rom 7:7-8
    2 verses
    77%

    7What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! Certainly, I would not have known sin except through the law. For indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else if the law had not said,“Do not covet.”

    8But sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of wrong desires. For apart from the law, sin is dead.

  • Rom 8:2-4
    3 verses
    77%

    2For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.

    3For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,

    4so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

  • Acts 13:39
    76%

    39and by this one everyone who believes is justified from everything from which the law of Moses could not justify you.

  • Phil 3:9
    75%

    9and be found in him, not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness– a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness.

  • Rom 10:3-5
    3 verses
    75%

    3For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

    4For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes.

    5For Moses writes about the righteousness that is by the law:“The one who does these things will live by them.”

  • Gal 3:24
    74%

    24Thus the law had become our guardian until Christ, so that we could be declared righteous by faith.

  • 1 John 3:4
    74%

    4Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; indeed, sin is lawlessness.

  • 1 Tim 1:9
    74%

    9realizing that law is not intended for a righteous person, but for lawless and rebellious people, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers,

  • Rom 5:20
    74%

    20Now the law came in so that the transgression may increase, but where sin increased, grace multiplied all the more,

  • Rom 7:5
    73%

    5For when we were in the flesh, the sinful desires, aroused by the law, were active in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.

  • 1 Cor 1:29
    73%

    29so that no one can boast in his presence.

  • Rom 1:17
    73%

    17For the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel from faith to faith, just as it is written,“The righteous by faith will live.”

  • Rom 9:30-31
    2 verses
    73%

    30Israel’s Rejection Culpable What shall we say then?– that the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness obtained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith,

    31but Israel even though pursuing a law of righteousness did not attain it.

  • Rom 7:14
    73%

    14For we know that the law is spiritual– but I am unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin.

  • Rom 4:5-6
    2 verses
    72%

    5But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous, his faith is credited as righteousness.

    6So even David himself speaks regarding the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

  • Rom 4:2
    72%

    2For if Abraham was declared righteous by works, he has something to boast about– but not before God.

  • Eph 2:9
    72%

    9it is not from works, so that no one can boast.

  • Gal 5:4
    72%

    4You who are trying to be declared righteous by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace!

  • Rom 7:18
    72%

    18For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I want to do the good, but I cannot do it.

  • Gal 2:19
    72%

    19For through the law I died to the law so that I may live to God.