Romans 3:19-20

Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Please consider supporting the costs of this ministry. Thank you

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Hello, this is Dr. Bill Branks, author of Love the Word. Our text for today is Romans 3, verses 19 and 20. Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. Newborn babies look alike for the most part. Of course, we all think our kids and grandkids are unbelievably cute. But if you put 500 adults in a room and posted their newborn pictures, it would be impossible to accurately identify which infant grew into which adult. As we grow, certain features become more recognizable, and over the years we develop into who we are meant to be. But on day one, all we have is an undeveloped physical form with boundless potential. Remember, there are over 8 billion people on the planet, and none of us look exactly alike. We are also born with an undeveloped, sinful nature that has unlimited potential for evil. As newborns, we possess basic survival instincts for three needs nourishment, attention, and security. But the benign attention we receive from our parents allows our sinful nature to develop self-centeredness and self-righteousness. We learn to presume our own importance. Our nature drives us beyond mere survival. As new desires arise, we focus on satisfying them. We begin to seek significance, craving for self-worth and self-importance. We posit our own intrinsic value. We are taught with the best intentions by parents, mentors, and society as a whole to follow rules. If you obey, you'll be rewarded. If you and you will be punished if you don't. From the moment we first choose to disobey our parents, usually before we can walk, we learn that we prefer rewards over punishment. So we do what's necessary to please the authorities. As adults, we strive to be good enough to tip the scales in our favor and secure safe passage to paradise. This system of rewards and consequences for doing good is ingrained in us early on and never fades. It easily spills over into our spiritual value system. It's no wonder we strive to find worth in ourselves and defend it, to present all our best efforts as a life well lived and worthy of eternal reward. No human exempt from this except for Jesus, who is our perfect example. Paul's letter to the Romans strongly objects to the belief that human works of righteousness lead to heaven. Paul uses inclusive language about the law's reach. He says, whatever the law says, everyone is under the law, every mouth, the whole world, no human being. The law of God is meant to silence anyone who defends their good works and claims they deserve grace and acceptance. Paul says, Stop, your reasoning is flawed. Your judgments of righteousness are sadly mistaken and misled. You do nothing that meets the law's requirements. The whole world will be measured by God's standards, not our own. God's righteousness is perfect, and his law reflects that standard. If we are to be truly righteous, it won't come from futile attempts to keep his law, which is human goodness. No one will be justified in his sight by works of the law. The law was not given for us to keep, it was given to show that we never could keep it. Our sin is exposed by our failure to meet the standard, because through the law comes knowledge of sin. A key and often overlooked truth is that Christ kept the law perfectly for us. He willingly shares his righteousness with us when we trust in him as our Savior. Only a fool would risk his eternal destiny working for the unattainable to receive what is freely given by Christ. Yet, fools we are, returning to our attempts to earn God's favor through our behavior, forgetting that as believers, all our sins are paid in full. We have nothing to earn because it has already been given to us. God was gracious in giving the law so that we can understand how far short we fall of his holy standards. Through the law, he makes us aware of our sinful condition. Through his blood, he provides the sacrificial cure.