Romans 3:19-20

No One Is Righteous Continued

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law [the Old Testament in general] says it speaks to those who are under the law [Jews], so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. [No one, whether Jew or Gentile, has grounds for appeal; none can claim to be guilt free before God. We need to be silent before the Lord with stopped mouths, not extolling ourselves for our good works but acknowledging we are lost sinners.] ²⁰ For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. [Paul has now demonstrated that any and every Jew’s sin is exposed and condemned because they possess the law. Urged by the law to do good and forced by the law to obey it even when unwilling, a person sees how deeply sin and evil are rooted in the soul. We would not even notice this if not for the law. Hence, the law reveals knowledge of our own sinfulness.]

[The Three Purposes of the Law taken from The Reformation Study Bible:

1.   Its first function is to be a mirror reflecting to us both the perfect righteousness of God and our own sinfulness and shortcomings. Augustine wrote, “the law bids us, as we try to fulfill its requirements, and become wearied in our weakness under it, to know how to ask the help of grace.” The law points us to the need for a rescuing Messiah.

2.   Its second function is its civil use to restrain evil. Though the law cannot change the heart—that is the work of the Spirit—it can to some extent inhibit lawlessness by threats of judgment, especially when backed by a civil code that administers punishment for proven offenses, securing civil order and protecting the righteous from the unjust.

3.   Its third function is to guide the regenerate into the good works that God has planned for them. It tells us what pleases God, such as helping the poor, the orphan, the widow, and the foreigner. Christ spoke of this third use when he said that those who become his disciples must be taught to do all that he had commanded, and that obedience to his commands will prove the reality of one’s love for him. The Christian is free from the law as a system of salvation, but is under the law of Christ as a rule of life. See the Parable of the Sheep and Goats in Matthew 25 as an example.]