Romans Chapter 3 Verses 19-23 - Messages In Romans – Was The Law Of Moses Able To Fix Man’s Problems? Help Us! - Message 11 Series

ROMANS CHAPTER 3 VERSES 19-23 - MESSAGES IN ROMANS – WAS THE LAW OF MOSES ABLE TO FIX MAN’S PROBLEMS? HELP US! - MESSAGE 11

[A]. ALL MOUTHS SILENCED FOR ALL ARE GUILTY AND CONDEMNED

{{Romans 3:19 “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, that EVERY MOUTH MAY BE CLOSED and all the world may become ACCOUNTABLE to God,”}}

When I was younger, a long time ago, some speakers used to deal with these passages on the Law as if they applied to us. By “us” I mean non-Jews, Gentiles, if you like. There were expressions such as, “The Law was not able to save us because we were unable to keep the Law.” Well, that sentiment was correct, only misapplied. As Gentiles we were never under the Law of Moses, and therefore that statement about not being able to keep the Law was invalid, because it applied ONLY to the Jews.

Paul most clearly focuses that fact in the opening of verse 19. The Law “speaks to those who are under the Law.” Right at the end of the chapter, the Apostle speaks a little more of the Law’s position, but in this verse, the attention is turned to accountability. That is the big issue here.

I suppose we may legitimately ask the question, “Why did God give the Law to men to keep when He knew that no one could keep it? That is a very good, and quite a difficult question. In our belief system, there are questions that we sometimes find difficult to answer. The honest thing is to admit we don’t know the answers to many things. Just to mention one for example, “Why did God create Lucifer when He knew what would happen and that it would lead to the whole of redemption and suffering for the Son of God who was born in the flesh as perfect Man and perfect God? OR a related question – “When Lucifer sinned, why did not God exterminate him so that sin was gone forever?”

The opening to verse 19 is simple, needing no explanation – the Law was for those to whom it was given, that is the Jews. The second half of the verse addresses the reason for the Law. Paul affirmatively states the purpose of the Law is to shut every mouth and therefore bring in accountability. That talks about a standard.

A standard is necessary for harmony and function. For example, those of you who have played any sport know that it is impossible to play that sport if there were not rules setting out procedures to maintain a standard. I used to play cricket at a higher level. I know that most Americans don’t know much, if anything, about cricket but in India and Australia and Bangla Desh, New Zealand (so many other places) most would know what I am speaking of.

When you have a standard clearly set out by rules, then everyone knows right and wrong. For those who follow cricket, as another example, there is a rule some don’t know about, and this is the rule. If a fielder stops the ball, or picks up the ball and has a cap in his hand or a piece of clothing and that comes in contact with the ball while stopping it, the batsman is awarded 5 runs. As opening batsman, that happened to me once.

Now what I just said leads to a problem. Dispute! Some will dispute the umpire’s decision to award 5 runs to the batsman if there is an infringement of the rules, as in the case above. However all the amount of argument is invalid if the rule is stated there as part of the code. That is what Paul means by, “that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God.”

The Law is God’s “code or standard”. To achieve righteousness then here are the rules and the code you must live by. The Law spelt that out, but man was utterly unable to keep those rules. Therefore, the Law revealed a serious problem. That problem did not lie with the Law but with the inability of those to keep the Law. The Law revealed, exposed, the sinfulness of man. That is what Paul means by “every mouth may be closed” because the person has no ground on which to stand. The sinner is therefore utterly undone before God.

The Law did not just condemn and leave it at that. It provided the ways and means for man to be right (acceptable) before God, and for sins to be covered over. However in the longer term, that was the problem – sins were covered over, not eternally forgiven, and forgotten, or judicially dealt with. That is covered more in verse 25.