Romans 3:19 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Romans 3:19

Comments

The law addresses those who are under the law: under its authority, obliged to listen to it and keep it. The apostle doesn't just mean Jews, he means everyone, because he has already proved that Gentiles – who before the time of Christ had not received the Scriptures – had the law of God written in their hearts. He has gone to great lengths to tell us that they have consciences that operate, so they too are under the law, with or without the written code. But why has the law been given? What is the purpose of the law of God? ‘Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law [in order that] every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.’ Do we understand that? Man has so much to say in his defence, but in the presence of the infinitely holy God he will be speechless. He is speechless because he realises that anything more that he says will only add to his guilt (Job 40:3-5). The law is the standard of God. It is our duty, but we all fail and we are hopeless, and we do not want to keep it and cannot keep it. But the purpose of the law fundamentally is to show us our guilt. ‘And all the world may become guilty before God.’ All the world is already guilty before God, but the job of the law is to convince us of it, so that we even admit this to ourselves. This is something which the whole world needs, not just Gentiles, not just Jews, but all men and women. We are born under the law, with an obligation to keep it, but we need God to bring its standards home to us with convicting power.

Application

These standards are given so that we may say, ‘I have fallen short. I am a sinner. I have not kept these laws. I am far away from God.’ It is it given ‘that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God.’ The purpose of the law is to end discussion so that we don't say to each other, ‘I am fit to stand before God. I have some good things about me. I have this and that excuse for behaving the way I do. I don't think that is so bad. I think that is all right.’ Every mouth is stopped, and all excuses and all self-justification is silenced. The law is given to convince us that we are all sinners. God has said it in his law, so we know it is wrong. He has given it in his word. He has written it in our hearts, in our consciences. It's not up for discussion. Is it right to be gay? Is homosexual practice right or wrong? Every mouth is stopped by the word of God. This is the standard. These things are wrong and evil: no discussion. And that is what we will be judged by. So that is the primary purpose of the law, to lay down and expose human guilt.

Not until a soul feels their guilt are they ready to hear the good news of the gospel. The gospel preacher preaches the law also, so that his hearers understand that without grace they are condemned and without hope. Only when they see this will they let go of their imagined righteousness and embrace Christ. The Epistle to the Romans presents truth in a logical order which is highly instructive to anyone wishing to communicate God’s message to this lost world.

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Romans 3:19 Commentary and Bible Study

The meaning of Romans 3:19 explained