Posted by Romans on Saturday, 30 May 2015
Romans 3:19-20
(19) Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
(20) 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.
Paul concluded his discussion with a final statement to the Jews concerning the purpose and ministry of the Law. He included himself with his Jewish readers when he said, Now we know. The principle is obvious: the Law’s pronouncements are to those who are under the Law. The Law was not a special talisman that the Jews could obey or ignore as they wished; they were “under” it and accountable to God (cf. Jews and Gentiles being “under sin,” v. 9). The Law’s ministry was so that every mouth may be silenced (lit., “stopped”), and the whole world held accountable (lit., “become answerable”) to God. No one can argue in his own defense that he is not under sin. The Law points up God’s standards and illustrates people’s inability to live up to them.
Finally, the Law is not a way for a person to be declared righteous (justified) in His sight (cf. 3:28). That was not its purpose (Acts 13:39; Gal. 2:16; 3:11). Instead, the Law was given so that through it we become conscious (lit., “through the Law is full knowledge”) of sin (cf. Rom. 5:20; 7:7-13). The Mosaic Law is an instrument not of justification but of condemnation.
