Audio commentary on this verse

Note 14 at Ro 3:31: Paul had just systematically taken away the Jews' trust in the Law for the purpose of justification. This led to the question, "Is the Law useless?" Paul emphatically answered, "God forbid."

The real purpose of the Law was established by the Gospel (see note 5 at Ac 20:24). The problem with the Jews was that they were using the Law for something that God never intended. The Law was useless to produce justification. God didn't give the Law so that they could keep it and thereby earn justification. The Law was given to reveal to them that they could never live up to such a holy standard and thereby drive them to God to call out for mercy (Ga 3:22-24).

The true purpose of the Law is still functional today (see note 4 at Ro 3:19). As 1Ti 1:8-9 say, "But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man." The Law is God's way of revealing to people their need. It is powerless to make provision for that need. It's the Gospel that provides the power to produce salvation (see note 1 at Ro 1:16).

In Ro 4, Paul went on to use two great men of the Old Testament (Abraham and David) as examples of how justification came through faith, not through the Law.