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. (Romans 3:19-20 KJV)
The Law and Sin
From all this, Paul concludes that it is pointless to seek justification through the works of the law and that it can only be had by faith. This is the point he has been proving since Romans 1:17. He summarizes his argument in Romans 3:28: “We conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.” This means that we are not justified by the deeds of the law of pure innocence, the law of nature, or the moral law. Man, in his sinful state, can never gain God’s acceptance by any of his own works. Instead, it must be attributed purely to God’s free grace, given through Jesus Christ to all true believers who accept it as a free gift. If we had never sinned, our obedience to the law would have been our righteousness, but now that we have sinned, nothing we can do will atone for our guilt. It was by their obedience to the moral law that the Pharisees expected justification (Luke 18:11). Paul argues this point from two perspectives: human guilt, to prove that we cannot be justified by works, and God’s glory, to prove that we must be justified by faith.
He argues from human guilt to show the foolishness of expecting justification by the works of the law. The argument is simple: we can never be justified and saved by a law we have broken. Concerning human guilt, he first points it out to the Jews, for they were the ones who boasted in the law and sought justification through it. He had quoted several scriptures to show this corruption. “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law” (Romans 3:19). This conviction belongs to the Jews as well as others because it is written in their law. The Jews boasted of being under the law and placed a great deal of confidence in it, but Paul shows that the law itself convicts and condemns them. The purpose of this is “that every mouth may be stopped.” Those who are justified have their mouths stopped by a humble conviction, while those who are condemned are also silenced, for they will at last be convinced and sent to hell speechless (Matthew 22:12). “All iniquity shall stop her mouth” (Psalm 107:42).
He then extends this guilt to all people, “that all the world may become guilty before God” (Romans 3:19). If the world is full of wickedness (1 John 5:19), then it is certainly guilty. All must plead guilty; those who try hardest to justify themselves will surely be condemned. “Guilty before God” is a terrifying phrase, for it means guilty before an all-seeing God who cannot be deceived. All are guilty, and therefore all need a righteousness to appear before God. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). This means they have failed to achieve the chief end of man. They have come short, not just of winning, but of losing greatly. They have fallen short of glorifying God. Instead of glorifying him, they have dishonored him. It is a sad thing to see that so few people glorify God, though they were created for that purpose. They also fall short of boasting before God. We can boast before men who are shortsighted, but there is no boasting before God, who cannot tolerate sin. They also fall short of being glorified by God. They have fallen short of justification, which is the beginning of glory, and have destroyed all hope of being glorified with God in heaven through any righteousness of their own. It is now impossible to get to heaven by the way of perfect innocence; that path is blocked.
To further emphasize that justification cannot be by the law, he explains that “by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20). A law that convicts and condemns us can never justify us. The law is a straight rule that points out what is right and wrong; its purpose is to expose our wound, not to be the cure. “Therefore by the deeds of the law no one will be justified in his sight” (Romans 3:20). No person, no sinful and depraved person, will be justified. We are not justified because we are corrupt. The corruption that remains in our nature will forever hinder any justification by our own works. It is not justified “in his sight” because, as the conscience stands in relation to God, we cannot be justified by the deeds of the law. The apostle refers to Psalm 143:2.