Audio commentary on this verse

Note 2 at Rom. 3:19: Paul had conclusively proven that both Jews and Gentiles were sinners (see note 1 at Rom. 3:9, p. 755) and therefore incapable of saving themselves through their own works of righteousness. They both needed a savior. He now begins to reveal that the means of that salvation is through faith in Jesus the Messiah, and not through our moral goodness.

Note 3 at Rom. 3:19: This very clear statement by Paul comes as a complete shock to most Christians. Christianity as a whole has embraced the Old Testament law and most Christians have never thought that the law was not intended for them. However, Paul is saying that the law was given to the Jews. The purpose of that law was to produce guilt (see note 4 at this verse, below), therefore, anyone who is denying their guilt before God can profit from its condemning effect (2 Cor. 3:9; 1 Tim. 1:9). But a Christian who embraces the Old Testament law (not everything that is in the Old Testament is law) as God's gift to them has misunderstood its purpose.

That is not to say that a Christian should reject the Old Testament as God's holy Word, God forbid. It certainly is God's Word and is, therefore, profitable for doctrine, reproof, etc. (2 Tim. 3:16). However, it needs to be interpreted in light of the new covenant. Jesus not only set us free from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13), He also set us free from the law itself (Rom. 4:16; 6:14-15; 7:4-6; 8:2; 2 Cor. 3:7; Gal. 2:19; 3:24-25; 4:21; 5:18; Eph. 2:14-15; Col. 2:14; 1 Tim.1:9; Heb. 7:18-19; 8:7-13; 10:8-9). A desire to live under the commands of the Old Testament law is a return to bondage and a misunderstanding of our new covenant in Jesus (note 2 at Lk. 9:55, p. 304; note 1 at Lk. 16:16, p. 360; note 6 at Lk. 19:8, p. 403).

Note 4 at Rom. 3:19: Paul begins to make a series of radical statements here. Radical because the Jews of his day, just like many church people of our day, thought that the law of God was given so that we could earn our salvation through keeping it. That wasn't its purpose. The law was not given for the purpose of producing justification (Rom. 3:20, 28; 4:13; Gal. 2:16; 3:11; Gal. 5:4; Ti. 3:5).

The law was given to kill (2 Cor. 3:7) and condemn (2 Cor. 3:9). The law strengthened sin (1 Cor. 15:56) and made sin come alive (Rom. 7:9). The law gave sin an occasion against us to deceive us and work all manner of lust in us (Rom. 7:8,11). In short, the law strengthened our enemy, sin, not us.

Why would God give us something that strengthened our enemy? Because sin had already beat us and we didn't know it. Mankind was deceived into thinking that although we weren't perfect, surely our sins weren't that bad. We really are pretty good people and the outcome would be "okay." The only thing that is wrong with that thinking is that God doesn't grade on a curve. It doesn't matter if you are better than someone else. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God (v. 23) and the wages for sin (any sin) is death (Rom. 6:23).

James 2:10 says, "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." If a person commits any sin he is guilty of them all. It's similar to breaking a window. It doesn't matter how big a hole you make in the window. If it's broken, the whole window has to be replaced. If we break even the slightest command, we are guilty of breaking them all.

So God had to break the deception that people had fallen into, of thinking they were surely good enough to be accepted by God. The way He did this was to give the law. It made sin and its lust come alive in us. To those who would receive it, it became obvious that if this holy perfection of the law was what God demanded, no one could be saved by his own goodness.

That was the point that God wanted to make and that is the point that Paul is making here. No one can be saved by keeping the law because all have sinned and come short of the law's perfection (v. 23).

Therefore, the law stripped us of every excuse and made us guilty before God. The law gave us a knowledge of just how sinful we were and removed any deception of us ever being saved because we were such "nice guys" in comparison to others. As Paul said in Galatians 3:23, "But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed." The law took away every hope of salvation except faith in a savior. That was the purpose of the law.