Romans 3:19–20 says, “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. 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.” Those two verses are the courtroom door slamming shut. Paul has brought in the Gentile, the moralist, the Jew, the religious teacher, the circumcised man, the man with the Bible in his hand, the man with the law in his mouth, the man with excuses in his head, and the sinner whose whole anatomy is corrupted from throat to eyes. Now the law speaks, and when the law speaks properly, it does not give the sinner a standing ovation. It shuts his mouth. That is the first work of the law in this passage: not to crown the sinner, but to silence him.
Man’s mouth is one of his favorite hiding places. He explains, excuses, accuses, compares, justifies, complains, blames, negotiates, and talks like a defendant who thinks if he keeps speaking long enough the Judge will forget the evidence. Romans 3:19 says the law stops that mouth. It does not stop it by offering man a ladder to heaven. It stops it by proving guilt. The law says, “Thou shalt,” and man has not. The law says, “Thou shalt not,” and man did. The law reveals the holiness of God and the crookedness of man. It is not a religious treadmill where Adam can sweat his way into righteousness. It is a divine mirror held up to the sinner’s face until he stops bragging about how clean he is.
Romans 3:20 is the death sentence to every works-based religious system on earth. “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight.” No flesh. Not Jewish flesh, Gentile flesh, religious flesh, baptized flesh, circumcised flesh, moral flesh, conservative flesh, sacramental flesh, educated flesh, church-going flesh, or Bible-quoting flesh. No flesh. God did not give the law as a ladder for sinners to climb into heaven. He gave it to expose sin, reveal guilt, define transgression, shut mouths, and drive the sinner away from self-righteousness toward the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ. The law is a mirror, not a medicine. A mirror can show dirt on your face, but only a fool tries to wash himself with the glass.
Chapter One: The Law Speaks to Them Who Are Under the Law
Paul begins, “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law.” That phrase matters because right division matters. The law was given to Israel, not to the Gentile nations as a covenant system and not to the Body of Christ as the rule of justification. Exodus 20 was not handed to a Baptist church in Ohio, a Catholic cathedral in Rome, or a Gentile philosophy club in Athens. The law was given through Moses to Israel. That is not hard unless a man has a system to protect. Paul says the law speaks to them who are under the law. If a man cannot see that, he will drag the Church back under Moses, mix law with grace, confuse Israel with the Body of Christ, and then wonder why his doctrine walks with a limp.
This does not mean the law has no use for anyone else. Paul uses the law here to establish guilt. The law speaks to those under it directly, but the verdict reaches the whole world. That is the genius of the passage. Israel, having the clearest written standard, is condemned by that standard, and once the nation with the highest religious privilege is guilty, the Gentile world has nowhere to hide. If the man with the law is condemned, the man without the law cannot boast. If the Jew with Moses cannot be justified by law, the Gentile with conscience and creation certainly cannot justify himself by pagan morality. Paul is not putting the Church under law for salvation. He is using the law lawfully to prove the universal guilt of man.
This is where legalists constantly make a mess. They see the law expose sin and then try to turn it into a ladder for righteousness. That is like seeing a thermometer prove you have a fever and then trying to swallow the thermometer to cure the disease. The law has a proper voice, and when it speaks in Romans 3, it does not say, “Try harder and maybe God will accept you.” It says, “Guilty.” It speaks to them under the law, and the result is that every mouth is stopped and all the world becomes guilty before God. The law is holy, but the sinner is not. The law is righteous, but the sinner is crooked. The law is good, but the sinner is guilty. The problem is not the law. The problem is the flesh trying to use the law for something God never intended it to accomplish.
Chapter Two: Every Mouth Must Be Stopped
Paul says the law speaks “that every mouth may be stopped.” There is the first result. The sinner’s mouth is stopped. Not improved. Not educated. Not invited to share its journey. Stopped. Fallen man has been talking since Genesis 3. Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the serpent. Cain dodged God’s question. Pharaoh negotiated. Saul excused. Pilate washed his hands. The Pharisee thanked God he was not like other men. Man’s mouth is a factory of excuses, and religion often gives him better vocabulary for the same old self-defense. Romans 3 says the law comes in and shuts the factory down.
Every mouth means every mouth. The pagan mouth that says, “I did not know.” The moralist mouth that says, “I did my best.” The religious mouth that says, “I had the law.” The Jew’s mouth that says, “I was circumcised.” The Gentile’s mouth that says, “I followed my conscience.” The church member’s mouth that says, “I was baptized.” The Catholic mouth that says, “I received the sacraments.” The Protestant mouth that says, “I believed the creed.” The Baptist mouth that says, “I walked the aisle.” The scholar’s mouth that says, “The text is uncertain.” The sinner’s mouth that says, “God understands.” The law stops every mouth because every mouth belongs to a sinner with guilt on his record.
That is why real preaching must not rush too quickly to comfort before the mouth is stopped. A sinner with an open mouth is still trying to defend himself. He has not yet learned the first lesson of Romans. He is still arguing, still comparing, still bargaining, still blaming, still building a case. The gospel is good news, but it is good news for the guilty, not for men still pretending innocence. Before the sinner will receive righteousness as a gift, he must stop claiming he has some. Before he will trust the blood of Christ, he must stop trusting his moral résumé. Before he will be justified freely by grace, his mouth must be stopped. The law does that work, and it does it without asking the sinner whether he finds the experience emotionally supportive.
Chapter Three: All the World Becomes Guilty Before God
Paul says the law stops every mouth “and all the world may become guilty before God.” That is the universal verdict. All the world. The Jew and Gentile distinction remains doctrinally important, but in the matter of guilt, both stand condemned. The Jew had the law and broke it. The Gentile had creation and conscience and sinned against the light he had. The religious man had truth and used it hypocritically. The moral judge condemned others and did the same things. The whole world becomes guilty before God. Not before society. Not before tradition. Not before denominational standards. Not before the local gossip committee. Before God.
That phrase “before God” is the issue. Men can look righteous before men. They can look respectable before family. They can look religious before church people. They can look moral before society. They can look educated before scholars. They can look spiritual before followers. But Romans is not asking how a sinner looks before men. It is asking how he stands before God. And before God, all the world is guilty. That strips away every earthly comparison. God does not judge by how well a sinner looks next to another sinner. He judges according to truth. A criminal may look decent standing next to a murderer, but he is still guilty before the judge if the evidence proves his crime.
The world hates this verdict because it leaves no room for human boasting. Every religion made by man tries to save a little corner where man can still feel proud. Maybe he did the works. Maybe he kept the commandments. Maybe he joined the church. Maybe he endured to the end. Maybe he took the sacraments. Maybe he gave money. Maybe he followed the rituals. Maybe he improved himself. Maybe he was sincere. Romans 3 knocks the whole table over. All the world guilty before God. That is the Bible’s verdict. And until a man accepts that verdict, he will never understand why the righteousness of God must be revealed apart from the law.
Chapter Four: No Flesh Shall Be Justified by the Deeds of the Law
Romans 3:20 says, “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight.” That sentence ought to end every argument about salvation by works, but religious people have an amazing ability to step over clear verses like a drunk stepping over a curb. “No flesh” means no flesh. There is no racial exception, no religious exception, no denominational exception, no sacramental exception, no moral exception, no scholarly exception, and no personal exception. If a man is trying to be justified in God’s sight by the deeds of the law, he is finished before he starts. The law demands righteousness, but it does not supply it. It commands obedience, but it does not redeem the disobedient. It reveals sin, but it does not wash sin away.
The phrase “in his sight” is critical. Men may justify themselves in their own sight. They may justify themselves in the sight of neighbors, priests, pastors, parents, spouses, churches, courts, or religious systems. But the question is God’s sight. A man can be declared a good man at his funeral and wake up in hell. He can have a preacher lie over his casket about his kindness, his sincerity, and his love for people, while the Bible says no flesh is justified by the deeds of the law. Earth’s compliments do not change heaven’s records. If a man is not justified in God’s sight, the applause of the whole world is just noise on the way to judgment.
This also shows why mixing grace and law for justification is spiritual poison. Some men say salvation is by grace, but then they smuggle law in through the back door. They add baptism, sacraments, church membership, commandment-keeping, confession to a priest, final perseverance, moral reform, or continued obedience as part of the ground of acceptance before God. Paul says no flesh is justified by the deeds of the law. If no flesh can be justified that way, then stop trying to baptize law-works and call them grace. Grace plus law for justification is not grace. It is a religious fraud. Romans will soon say sinners are “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Freely means freely, even if that makes every priest, legalist, and sacramental salesman reach for smelling salts.
Chapter Five: The Law Gives the Knowledge of Sin
Paul gives the reason: “for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” That is the proper work of the law in this passage. It gives knowledge of sin. It names sin. It exposes sin. It shows sin to be transgression. It pulls the mask off sin and shows the sinner what he is before God. The law says, “Thou shalt not covet,” and suddenly the sinner sees covetousness as rebellion against God. The law says, “Thou shalt not bear false witness,” and the liar discovers his tongue is not merely socially inconvenient but morally guilty. The law says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” and the religious idolater learns his worship is not culture but sin. The law does not create the disease. It diagnoses it.
This destroys the idea that the law was given as a salvation system for sinners. If by the law is the knowledge of sin, then the law is functioning like a mirror, light, measuring rod, and prosecutor. It shows what is wrong. It does not fix what is wrong. A mirror can show mud on your face, but if you try to scrub with the mirror, you will only cut yourself. A measuring rod can show a board is short, but it cannot lengthen the board. A light can reveal a snake in the room, but it does not remove the venom. The law reveals sin. Christ redeems from sin. Confuse those two things, and you will either become a legalist or a hypocrite, sometimes both before breakfast.
The knowledge of sin is merciful when it drives the sinner to Christ. It is dreadful when the sinner resists it. A man who sees his guilt and flees to the Saviour has used the law lawfully. A man who sees the law and tries to use it to prove his righteousness has gone blind in broad daylight. First Timothy 1:8 says, “But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully.” The lawful use of the law is not to justify the guilty. It is to expose the guilty. The law is good when it shuts the sinner’s mouth, makes him guilty before God, and leaves him no hope but the righteousness of God by faith. The law is abused when men turn it into a religious ladder and invite dead sinners to climb.
Chapter Six: The Law Was Never a Ladder to Heaven
The law was never given as a ladder to heaven. If it were, Romans 3:20 would be false, and Paul would be a very confused apostle. The law came in with commandments, requirements, judgments, ordinances, and holiness. It revealed what God required from Israel under that covenant. But sinners already under sin could not use it to justify themselves. Galatians 3:21 asks, “is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid.” Then it says, “for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.” There it is. If law could give life, righteousness would have come that way. But it did not. The Scripture concluded all under sin.
Men love ladders because ladders give them something to climb and brag about. Religion is full of ladders. Sacramental ladders. Moral ladders. Mystical ladders. Monastic ladders. Law-keeping ladders. Tithing ladders. Church-attendance ladders. Confession ladders. Penance ladders. Reformation ladders. Political righteousness ladders. Self-improvement ladders. The sinner climbs three rungs, looks down at the fellow on the first rung, and thinks he is making progress. Romans kicks the ladder out from under him and says no flesh will be justified by deeds of the law. The problem is not that the ladder is too short. The problem is that God never gave it for that purpose.
Christ is not at the top of a ladder waiting for the best climbers. He came down to save sinners who could not climb. That is the gospel. God manifest in the flesh. Christ dying for the ungodly. The Just for the unjust. Redemption through His blood. Righteousness imputed by faith. Grace reigning through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. That is not ladder religion. That is salvation. The sinner does not need Moses to help him climb. He needs Christ to save him. Moses can show him his guilt. Christ can bear it. Moses can condemn him. Christ can justify him. Moses can say, “Do and live,” but the sinner did not do. Christ says, “Believe on me,” and the sinner lives by grace.
Chapter Seven: The Law Prepares the Way for the Righteousness of God
Romans 3:19–20 sits right before one of the greatest turns in the Bible: “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested.” The law stops the mouth and proves guilt so that the sinner is ready for righteousness from God. That is the order. Condemnation before justification. Guilt before grace. Exposure before covering. The courtroom before the mercy seat. Modern preaching often wants to skip the first part because it makes people uncomfortable. It wants to offer Jesus as a life enhancement before the sinner has learned he is guilty before God. That produces shallow converts, false professions, and religious consumers who want Christ as a helper but not as a Saviour from wrath.
The law prepares the way by killing self-righteousness. It leaves the sinner with no argument, no merit, no boast, no defense, and no excuse. That is a good place to be if it drives him to Christ. A man who still thinks he can contribute righteousness will not appreciate imputed righteousness. A man still defending himself will not value justification. A man still comparing himself with others will not understand why he needs mercy. The law corners him until he stops talking. Then the gospel speaks. That is Bible order. The law says guilty. Grace says justified freely through Christ. The law says sin. Grace says redemption. The law says no flesh. Grace says every one that believeth.
This also gives the preacher his proper method. Do not use the law to put believers under bondage for justification. Do not use the law to make the Church into Israel. Do not use the law to preach a mixed gospel. Use the law lawfully. Let it expose sin. Let it stop mouths. Let it reveal the knowledge of sin. Let it show the sinner why he cannot save himself. Then preach Christ crucified, buried, risen, and sufficient. Preach the righteousness of God by faith of Jesus Christ. Preach grace without apology and holiness without confusion. The law is not the Saviour, but it is a faithful witness against the sinner’s false righteousness. Once that witness has spoken, point the guilty soul to the only One who can justify.
Conclusion
Romans 3:19–20 is the final hammer blow in Paul’s indictment before the gospel glory of Romans 3:21 begins to shine. The law speaks to those under it so that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. That is the law’s proper work in this passage. It does not flatter the sinner. It does not negotiate with the sinner. It does not give the sinner a ladder to climb. It does not provide a payment plan for righteousness. It stops his mouth and proves his guilt. The man who was arguing in Romans 1, judging in Romans 2, boasting in the law, boasting in circumcision, and excusing himself in Romans 3 is now silent before God.
No flesh shall be justified by the deeds of the law in God’s sight. That sentence is fatal to every religion that trusts human performance. It kills sacramental salvation, moral salvation, law salvation, church salvation, ritual salvation, and self-improvement salvation. It kills the idea that God will accept a sinner because he tried hard, meant well, joined something, performed something, paid something, promised something, or endured something. The law gives the knowledge of sin. It does not give the righteousness of God. It is a mirror, not a fountain. It is a prosecutor, not a redeemer. It can show the wound, but it cannot supply the blood that heals it.
So the sinner must stop talking and start listening. The law has spoken. The verdict is guilty. The mouth is stopped. The world is condemned. The deeds of the law cannot justify. The knowledge of sin has done its work. Now the gospel is ready to be heard. The righteousness of God is about to be manifested without the law, witnessed by the law and the prophets, received by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. That is where Romans is going. The law closes every false door so that Christ stands as the only open door. No flesh justified by law. Every believer justified by grace. That is the difference between dead religion and the gospel of God.
Romans 3:19-20 Commentary – Every Mouth Stopped
Romans VerseQuest Commentary
Essay 20: Every Mouth Stopped
Text: Romans 3:19–20
Romans 3:19–20 says, “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. 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.” Those two verses are the courtroom door slamming shut. Paul has brought in the Gentile, the moralist, the Jew, the religious teacher, the circumcised man, the man with the Bible in his hand, the man with the law in his mouth, the man with excuses in his head, and the sinner whose whole anatomy is corrupted from throat to eyes. Now the law speaks, and when the law speaks properly, it does not give the sinner a standing ovation. It shuts his mouth. That is the first work of the law in this passage: not to crown the sinner, but to silence him.
Man’s mouth is one of his favorite hiding places. He explains, excuses, accuses, compares, justifies, complains, blames, negotiates, and talks like a defendant who thinks if he keeps speaking long enough the Judge will forget the evidence. Romans 3:19 says the law stops that mouth. It does not stop it by offering man a ladder to heaven. It stops it by proving guilt. The law says, “Thou shalt,” and man has not. The law says, “Thou shalt not,” and man did. The law reveals the holiness of God and the crookedness of man. It is not a religious treadmill where Adam can sweat his way into righteousness. It is a divine mirror held up to the sinner’s face until he stops bragging about how clean he is.
Romans 3:20 is the death sentence to every works-based religious system on earth. “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight.” No flesh. Not Jewish flesh, Gentile flesh, religious flesh, baptized flesh, circumcised flesh, moral flesh, conservative flesh, sacramental flesh, educated flesh, church-going flesh, or Bible-quoting flesh. No flesh. God did not give the law as a ladder for sinners to climb into heaven. He gave it to expose sin, reveal guilt, define transgression, shut mouths, and drive the sinner away from self-righteousness toward the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ. The law is a mirror, not a medicine. A mirror can show dirt on your face, but only a fool tries to wash himself with the glass.
Chapter One: The Law Speaks to Them Who Are Under the Law
Paul begins, “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law.” That phrase matters because right division matters. The law was given to Israel, not to the Gentile nations as a covenant system and not to the Body of Christ as the rule of justification. Exodus 20 was not handed to a Baptist church in Ohio, a Catholic cathedral in Rome, or a Gentile philosophy club in Athens. The law was given through Moses to Israel. That is not hard unless a man has a system to protect. Paul says the law speaks to them who are under the law. If a man cannot see that, he will drag the Church back under Moses, mix law with grace, confuse Israel with the Body of Christ, and then wonder why his doctrine walks with a limp.
This does not mean the law has no use for anyone else. Paul uses the law here to establish guilt. The law speaks to those under it directly, but the verdict reaches the whole world. That is the genius of the passage. Israel, having the clearest written standard, is condemned by that standard, and once the nation with the highest religious privilege is guilty, the Gentile world has nowhere to hide. If the man with the law is condemned, the man without the law cannot boast. If the Jew with Moses cannot be justified by law, the Gentile with conscience and creation certainly cannot justify himself by pagan morality. Paul is not putting the Church under law for salvation. He is using the law lawfully to prove the universal guilt of man.
This is where legalists constantly make a mess. They see the law expose sin and then try to turn it into a ladder for righteousness. That is like seeing a thermometer prove you have a fever and then trying to swallow the thermometer to cure the disease. The law has a proper voice, and when it speaks in Romans 3, it does not say, “Try harder and maybe God will accept you.” It says, “Guilty.” It speaks to them under the law, and the result is that every mouth is stopped and all the world becomes guilty before God. The law is holy, but the sinner is not. The law is righteous, but the sinner is crooked. The law is good, but the sinner is guilty. The problem is not the law. The problem is the flesh trying to use the law for something God never intended it to accomplish.
Chapter Two: Every Mouth Must Be Stopped
Paul says the law speaks “that every mouth may be stopped.” There is the first result. The sinner’s mouth is stopped. Not improved. Not educated. Not invited to share its journey. Stopped. Fallen man has been talking since Genesis 3. Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the serpent. Cain dodged God’s question. Pharaoh negotiated. Saul excused. Pilate washed his hands. The Pharisee thanked God he was not like other men. Man’s mouth is a factory of excuses, and religion often gives him better vocabulary for the same old self-defense. Romans 3 says the law comes in and shuts the factory down.
Every mouth means every mouth. The pagan mouth that says, “I did not know.” The moralist mouth that says, “I did my best.” The religious mouth that says, “I had the law.” The Jew’s mouth that says, “I was circumcised.” The Gentile’s mouth that says, “I followed my conscience.” The church member’s mouth that says, “I was baptized.” The Catholic mouth that says, “I received the sacraments.” The Protestant mouth that says, “I believed the creed.” The Baptist mouth that says, “I walked the aisle.” The scholar’s mouth that says, “The text is uncertain.” The sinner’s mouth that says, “God understands.” The law stops every mouth because every mouth belongs to a sinner with guilt on his record.
That is why real preaching must not rush too quickly to comfort before the mouth is stopped. A sinner with an open mouth is still trying to defend himself. He has not yet learned the first lesson of Romans. He is still arguing, still comparing, still bargaining, still blaming, still building a case. The gospel is good news, but it is good news for the guilty, not for men still pretending innocence. Before the sinner will receive righteousness as a gift, he must stop claiming he has some. Before he will trust the blood of Christ, he must stop trusting his moral résumé. Before he will be justified freely by grace, his mouth must be stopped. The law does that work, and it does it without asking the sinner whether he finds the experience emotionally supportive.
Chapter Three: All the World Becomes Guilty Before God
Paul says the law stops every mouth “and all the world may become guilty before God.” That is the universal verdict. All the world. The Jew and Gentile distinction remains doctrinally important, but in the matter of guilt, both stand condemned. The Jew had the law and broke it. The Gentile had creation and conscience and sinned against the light he had. The religious man had truth and used it hypocritically. The moral judge condemned others and did the same things. The whole world becomes guilty before God. Not before society. Not before tradition. Not before denominational standards. Not before the local gossip committee. Before God.
That phrase “before God” is the issue. Men can look righteous before men. They can look respectable before family. They can look religious before church people. They can look moral before society. They can look educated before scholars. They can look spiritual before followers. But Romans is not asking how a sinner looks before men. It is asking how he stands before God. And before God, all the world is guilty. That strips away every earthly comparison. God does not judge by how well a sinner looks next to another sinner. He judges according to truth. A criminal may look decent standing next to a murderer, but he is still guilty before the judge if the evidence proves his crime.
The world hates this verdict because it leaves no room for human boasting. Every religion made by man tries to save a little corner where man can still feel proud. Maybe he did the works. Maybe he kept the commandments. Maybe he joined the church. Maybe he endured to the end. Maybe he took the sacraments. Maybe he gave money. Maybe he followed the rituals. Maybe he improved himself. Maybe he was sincere. Romans 3 knocks the whole table over. All the world guilty before God. That is the Bible’s verdict. And until a man accepts that verdict, he will never understand why the righteousness of God must be revealed apart from the law.
Chapter Four: No Flesh Shall Be Justified by the Deeds of the Law
Romans 3:20 says, “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight.” That sentence ought to end every argument about salvation by works, but religious people have an amazing ability to step over clear verses like a drunk stepping over a curb. “No flesh” means no flesh. There is no racial exception, no religious exception, no denominational exception, no sacramental exception, no moral exception, no scholarly exception, and no personal exception. If a man is trying to be justified in God’s sight by the deeds of the law, he is finished before he starts. The law demands righteousness, but it does not supply it. It commands obedience, but it does not redeem the disobedient. It reveals sin, but it does not wash sin away.
The phrase “in his sight” is critical. Men may justify themselves in their own sight. They may justify themselves in the sight of neighbors, priests, pastors, parents, spouses, churches, courts, or religious systems. But the question is God’s sight. A man can be declared a good man at his funeral and wake up in hell. He can have a preacher lie over his casket about his kindness, his sincerity, and his love for people, while the Bible says no flesh is justified by the deeds of the law. Earth’s compliments do not change heaven’s records. If a man is not justified in God’s sight, the applause of the whole world is just noise on the way to judgment.
This also shows why mixing grace and law for justification is spiritual poison. Some men say salvation is by grace, but then they smuggle law in through the back door. They add baptism, sacraments, church membership, commandment-keeping, confession to a priest, final perseverance, moral reform, or continued obedience as part of the ground of acceptance before God. Paul says no flesh is justified by the deeds of the law. If no flesh can be justified that way, then stop trying to baptize law-works and call them grace. Grace plus law for justification is not grace. It is a religious fraud. Romans will soon say sinners are “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Freely means freely, even if that makes every priest, legalist, and sacramental salesman reach for smelling salts.
Chapter Five: The Law Gives the Knowledge of Sin
Paul gives the reason: “for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” That is the proper work of the law in this passage. It gives knowledge of sin. It names sin. It exposes sin. It shows sin to be transgression. It pulls the mask off sin and shows the sinner what he is before God. The law says, “Thou shalt not covet,” and suddenly the sinner sees covetousness as rebellion against God. The law says, “Thou shalt not bear false witness,” and the liar discovers his tongue is not merely socially inconvenient but morally guilty. The law says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” and the religious idolater learns his worship is not culture but sin. The law does not create the disease. It diagnoses it.
This destroys the idea that the law was given as a salvation system for sinners. If by the law is the knowledge of sin, then the law is functioning like a mirror, light, measuring rod, and prosecutor. It shows what is wrong. It does not fix what is wrong. A mirror can show mud on your face, but if you try to scrub with the mirror, you will only cut yourself. A measuring rod can show a board is short, but it cannot lengthen the board. A light can reveal a snake in the room, but it does not remove the venom. The law reveals sin. Christ redeems from sin. Confuse those two things, and you will either become a legalist or a hypocrite, sometimes both before breakfast.
The knowledge of sin is merciful when it drives the sinner to Christ. It is dreadful when the sinner resists it. A man who sees his guilt and flees to the Saviour has used the law lawfully. A man who sees the law and tries to use it to prove his righteousness has gone blind in broad daylight. First Timothy 1:8 says, “But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully.” The lawful use of the law is not to justify the guilty. It is to expose the guilty. The law is good when it shuts the sinner’s mouth, makes him guilty before God, and leaves him no hope but the righteousness of God by faith. The law is abused when men turn it into a religious ladder and invite dead sinners to climb.
Chapter Six: The Law Was Never a Ladder to Heaven
The law was never given as a ladder to heaven. If it were, Romans 3:20 would be false, and Paul would be a very confused apostle. The law came in with commandments, requirements, judgments, ordinances, and holiness. It revealed what God required from Israel under that covenant. But sinners already under sin could not use it to justify themselves. Galatians 3:21 asks, “is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid.” Then it says, “for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.” There it is. If law could give life, righteousness would have come that way. But it did not. The Scripture concluded all under sin.
Men love ladders because ladders give them something to climb and brag about. Religion is full of ladders. Sacramental ladders. Moral ladders. Mystical ladders. Monastic ladders. Law-keeping ladders. Tithing ladders. Church-attendance ladders. Confession ladders. Penance ladders. Reformation ladders. Political righteousness ladders. Self-improvement ladders. The sinner climbs three rungs, looks down at the fellow on the first rung, and thinks he is making progress. Romans kicks the ladder out from under him and says no flesh will be justified by deeds of the law. The problem is not that the ladder is too short. The problem is that God never gave it for that purpose.
Christ is not at the top of a ladder waiting for the best climbers. He came down to save sinners who could not climb. That is the gospel. God manifest in the flesh. Christ dying for the ungodly. The Just for the unjust. Redemption through His blood. Righteousness imputed by faith. Grace reigning through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. That is not ladder religion. That is salvation. The sinner does not need Moses to help him climb. He needs Christ to save him. Moses can show him his guilt. Christ can bear it. Moses can condemn him. Christ can justify him. Moses can say, “Do and live,” but the sinner did not do. Christ says, “Believe on me,” and the sinner lives by grace.
Chapter Seven: The Law Prepares the Way for the Righteousness of God
Romans 3:19–20 sits right before one of the greatest turns in the Bible: “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested.” The law stops the mouth and proves guilt so that the sinner is ready for righteousness from God. That is the order. Condemnation before justification. Guilt before grace. Exposure before covering. The courtroom before the mercy seat. Modern preaching often wants to skip the first part because it makes people uncomfortable. It wants to offer Jesus as a life enhancement before the sinner has learned he is guilty before God. That produces shallow converts, false professions, and religious consumers who want Christ as a helper but not as a Saviour from wrath.
The law prepares the way by killing self-righteousness. It leaves the sinner with no argument, no merit, no boast, no defense, and no excuse. That is a good place to be if it drives him to Christ. A man who still thinks he can contribute righteousness will not appreciate imputed righteousness. A man still defending himself will not value justification. A man still comparing himself with others will not understand why he needs mercy. The law corners him until he stops talking. Then the gospel speaks. That is Bible order. The law says guilty. Grace says justified freely through Christ. The law says sin. Grace says redemption. The law says no flesh. Grace says every one that believeth.
This also gives the preacher his proper method. Do not use the law to put believers under bondage for justification. Do not use the law to make the Church into Israel. Do not use the law to preach a mixed gospel. Use the law lawfully. Let it expose sin. Let it stop mouths. Let it reveal the knowledge of sin. Let it show the sinner why he cannot save himself. Then preach Christ crucified, buried, risen, and sufficient. Preach the righteousness of God by faith of Jesus Christ. Preach grace without apology and holiness without confusion. The law is not the Saviour, but it is a faithful witness against the sinner’s false righteousness. Once that witness has spoken, point the guilty soul to the only One who can justify.
Conclusion
Romans 3:19–20 is the final hammer blow in Paul’s indictment before the gospel glory of Romans 3:21 begins to shine. The law speaks to those under it so that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. That is the law’s proper work in this passage. It does not flatter the sinner. It does not negotiate with the sinner. It does not give the sinner a ladder to climb. It does not provide a payment plan for righteousness. It stops his mouth and proves his guilt. The man who was arguing in Romans 1, judging in Romans 2, boasting in the law, boasting in circumcision, and excusing himself in Romans 3 is now silent before God.
No flesh shall be justified by the deeds of the law in God’s sight. That sentence is fatal to every religion that trusts human performance. It kills sacramental salvation, moral salvation, law salvation, church salvation, ritual salvation, and self-improvement salvation. It kills the idea that God will accept a sinner because he tried hard, meant well, joined something, performed something, paid something, promised something, or endured something. The law gives the knowledge of sin. It does not give the righteousness of God. It is a mirror, not a fountain. It is a prosecutor, not a redeemer. It can show the wound, but it cannot supply the blood that heals it.
So the sinner must stop talking and start listening. The law has spoken. The verdict is guilty. The mouth is stopped. The world is condemned. The deeds of the law cannot justify. The knowledge of sin has done its work. Now the gospel is ready to be heard. The righteousness of God is about to be manifested without the law, witnessed by the law and the prophets, received by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. That is where Romans is going. The law closes every false door so that Christ stands as the only open door. No flesh justified by law. Every believer justified by grace. That is the difference between dead religion and the gospel of God.
Romans Verse-by-Verse Commentary
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Romans 1:1 Commentary – Paul, a Servant of Jesus Christ
Romans 1:2-4 Commentary – The Gospel Promised Beforehand
Romans 1:5–7 Commentary – Grace, Apostleship, and Obedience to the Faith