Romans 3:19-20 Now we know that what things soever the law said, it said to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped… 1. "The things which the law saith" — its holy precepts, solemn sanctions, awful sentences — constitute the instrument of its power. They are the hand which grasps, the arm which conquers the transgressor. 2. The extent of their operation is to "all those who are under the law." Are they obedient? Then it is a means of life and peace. Are they disobedient? Then it is the instrument of their condemnation and death. 3. Its convincing power is displayed either in the day of grace to bring to Christ, or in the day of judgment to banish from Him. 4. It is the agency of the Holy Spirit. In His hands it is living and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, but in itself it is a dead letter. I. THE THINGS OF WHICH THE LAW IS MADE TO CONVINCE THE SINNER. "It saith" — 1. "Do this, and thou shalt live"; but "whosoever offendeth in one point is guilty of all." The law claims an entire, perpetual, and spotless obedience, and in the exercise of its convincing power it compares the sinner's life with the strictness of its demands. It thus brings to view his obliquity by laying down its perfect and unbending rule upon the crookedness of all his conduct. It accuses him of — (1) Presumptuous sins. (2) Sins of inadvertence and ignorance. (3) Secret sins, corrupt thoughts, unholy desires. (4) Omission of holy duties. (5) Deficiencies in the spirit which prompts to action. (6) A corrupt nature in a state of rebellion against God. 2. "Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." By this it convinceth the sinner of his exposure to the wrath of God. The condemnation of the ungodly is not future but present. The transgressor is "dead already," and though, like a convict in his cell, he has a respite before execution, his case is to be regarded as altogether disposed of. He may be ignorant of his condition, and may deny it; but this is one of the things that the law saith, and its work is to make the sinner believe it, and behold his danger. But though under this operation he groans in anguish, he is no more in condemnation than before. He was asleep, but is now awakened. The lightning which makes a benighted traveller see the precipice in front of him does not make the danger, it only reveals it. 3. "Moses describeth the righteousness which is by the law, that the man which doeth these things shall live by them." "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." By these "things" the law convinces of the impossibility of self-justification. (1) It proposes but two possible methods whereby man shall be just with God: it offers life to those who have perfectly obeyed its precepts; it presents liberty to all who have fully endured its penalties. Under which can there be hope for man? (a) He can never obtain acceptance by his obedience — for there is imperfection and defilement in every duty. (b) He cannot be justified by making satisfaction for disobedience, for no satisfaction can be received short of the entire penalty — everlasting death. (2) The convinced sinner sees this hopeless state, and is compelled to renounce all effort at legal justification. A knowledge of pardon and life must come from the revelation of a Redeemer who, as the sinner's surety, has obeyed the precepts and endured the penalty. II. THE PERSONS TO WHICH IT MUST BE APPLIED. "To them that are under the law" — the Jew, of course, but all mankind are born under the obligations of the law, and the things it saith, it saith to the whole family of man. And if there be not an individual who is released from the obligation of loving God with all his heart, there is not one who is not justly accused of transgression, and therefore condemned. "All have sinned," etc. The proper operation of the law as a convincing power is, therefore, upon every human being. III. THE RESULT TO WHICH IT LEADS. 1. "That every mouth may be stopped." Unconvinced sinners complain of the unreasonable strictness and severity of the Divine commandments, and invent a thousand excuses for sin and pleas of exemption from punishment. But when the law discharges its convincing office, the justice of God became so apparent, guilt so clear, that they are incapable of complaint or excuse. 2. "And all the world become guilty before God" — consciously and penitently. (S. H. Tyng, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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