Yes, according to God who is being quoted in Deuteronomy 30:14 (KJV) as saying "you can do it." Or do you think God is teasing when he says "be holy, for I am holy" or "be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect"?
So what do we do now? Go with Paul or with God? God says you can and Paul says you can't. Who's lying?
The purpose of the law, the purpose of the call to be Holy as God is Holy is to show us our need for a Savior
If the law is there to show us that we need a Savior as you say, then why does the Old Testament say that the Law is to be observed forever? And how can something that is eternal be "fulfilled?"
And what's the purpose of Christ's saying "be therefore perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect" if he didn't think it can't be done?
Gal 3:24...Rom 3:20...
Pau, Paul and more Paul. That is the Protestant religion: Paul. Paul, a mere human, trumps God. Amazing.
Actually, no, God certainly knew that man is unable to keep the law perfectly because in the NT we are told that if you keep the whole law but offend in one part, you are guilty of the whole law. That is why the high priest made the sin-offering for the people once a year in the Holy of Holies. That is why Jesus rebuked the Pharisees who boasted that they had kept the entire law when he showed them that God meant not only the letter of the law but the spirit as well. It was not enough to say, "I never killed anyone.", if you had ever hated anyone. It was not enough to say, "I have never committed adultery.", if you had ever lusted after someone not your spouse.
Like Scripture says, the law was made to show us point-blank how sinful we really are and how we all, no matter how good we think we are, need a savior. Besides, do you really think the perfection of God, the holiness of God is attainable by man alone? We sin before we are even old enough to know that is what we are doing.
We are all sinners and if Christ had never come for us, we would all be rightfully condemned to eternal separation from God. But God, in his infinite mercy and grace did not leave us in this state. He came to earth as a man, lived that perfect life, and willingly gave that life as a sacrifice, a propitiation, for our sins. It satisfied his demand for justice, his insistence on holiness and perfection and his command that "without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission of sins.".