19But
we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to the ones in the Law, in order
that every mouth may be stopped and all the world become accountable to God. 20Therefore,
all flesh shall not be justified before Him out of works of law, for [the]
knowledge of sin is through law.
These two verses are the conclusion of what Paul has been
trying to say ever since 1:18, “The wrath of God is being revealed against all
the godlessness and wickedness of men…” This is Paul’s version of Solomon’s “conclusion
of the matter.” Of course barrels of ink have been spilt contemplating this
conclusion, but I’ll venture to add my two cents.
At face value, these two verses are hopelessly negative. As
one man noted, the Law is like a mirror. It can show you your face is dirty,
but it won’t clean it for you, but here’s the deal – the entire human race is
naturally and incorrigibly legalistic. We all naturally think that everything
comes down to law, that the answer to every problem in one way or another comes
down to rules – more rules, better rules, clearer rules, less rules, even no
rules – but always one way or another rules. But no matter what, what do rules
show us? Do they not one way or another call us to measure ourselves against a
standard? Even the person who thinks there should be no rules has to face the fact
that he himself creates his own rules, thus, in creating rules he violates the
very proposition he’s maintaining. He utterly fails at living a life without
rules!
But what is the inevitable result of measuring yourself
against a standard? Is it not the hopelessness of failure? In Romans, Paul has
already shown that even us Gentile pagans, with no Scripture at all, don’t live
up to the standard of our own conscience. Then there are the Jewish people. If
ever there was a classic case of law-living, it is the Jewish people. They were
given the Law straight out of Heaven! And how did they do? I would suggest, in
a sense, the entire OT is actually an account of that people’s utter failure to
live by the very clear Law they were given. When at Sinai they realized God
would give them “the rules,” they said to Moses, “All that the Lord commands
us, we will do!” They (just like us) thought if they just had the right rules
they were quite certain they could pull it off. The OT makes more sense if we
read it realizing it is largely a monument to the complete failure of
rule-keeping to make a people holy.
Interesting the conversation Moses and the Lord shared in
response to the peoples’ words, “All that the Lord commands us, we will do!” The
Lord said to Moses, “Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear Me and
keep all My commands always…” (Deut. 5:29). “Oh that they had such a heart in
them.” What the Lord knows is that they did not.
The sad truth, and in a sense, the entire problem, is that they can’t see it. They actually think if the Lord just gives them “the
rules,” they’ll do a bang-up job keeping them. “Yes, sir! We’ve got this one
down. No problem! You just give us the rules and we’ll do it all right!” You
and I need to be painfully honest and realize we are no different and certainly
no better than them. We too think it is all about rules and of course we’ll
make it happen. The sad fact is we don’t have “such a heart in us” either. The
real problem for us (and them) is not the rules but the fact that the well
spring of our very lives – our hearts – are rotten. All the Law can do, in the
end, and in fact the huge reason it is given, is to show us our face is dirty,
to show us our hearts are dirty. But no more than the mirror can wash your face,
the Law can’t wash your heart.
“Through law is the knowledge of sin.” God never intended
His Law to be our ladder to heaven. “Whatever the Law says, it speaks…in order
that every mouth may be stopped and all the world become accountable to God.”
This is our rightful response to the Law of God: “to stand
before Him silent and guilty.” No matter what kind of law-system I or my
culture have created, I have failed to keep it.
The Law can only say, “Your Honor, we find the defendant guilty.”
Anyone who has carefully and honestly read Romans 1:1-3:20
stands exactly here. Guilty. Condemned. Hopeless. The Law has failed us. That
on which our very souls have counted turns out to be instead the very enemy
that accuses us. Now we have no hope at all. Can we all agree if I can’t at
least promise to do “better,” then I have no hope at all. Here I stand with
head down, ashamed to even look up, with a ticket to hell in my hand. I look to
the Law I thought would save me and realize instead it’s actually the
prosecutor!
Here I am again running ahead, but our next verse, 3:21,
starts with perhaps the most glorious words we could ever hear as we would
recognize the hopeless guilt of our souls. The very next verse starts with the
words, “But now.” “Nuni de” in Greek. We’ve been staring at the Law, hoping it
would defend us and save us, only to find it frowning at us. In our utter
hopelessness our eyes wander to the Judge, expecting nothing but intense anger,
and instead we find ourselves looking square into the kind, loving eyes of no
other than Jesus Himself. Even as we sit lock-eyed with Him, we hear Him say, “But
now…”
If you or I have truly been listening to Romans 1:1-3:20, we
will cling to those two simple little words. Somehow, the Judge Himself would
offer us some plan to save us. It can’t be about rules. It can’t be about more
rules, better rules, less rules, no rules. Rules have failed me. What could He
possible offer to save my guilty soul?
Tune in next week for another episode of “Saving Guilty
Sinners!” We’ll have to study ahead and see what the Judge has in mind. Isn’t
it interesting, that in our deepest guilt we find ourselves looking to the Judge to save us! How amazing is
that?
I want to say one more thing before I sign off and go start
studying v.21. Once again, this is reality.
This is not just our particular twist of “religion,” the story Christians tell.
This is reality. The “whole world” it
says in v.19 stands “accountable to God.” The whole world can deny it, they can
live as if it isn’t true, they can make up religions of their own, take pills,
philosophize, keep themselves busy, turn up the music loud, even commit
suicide, but there is one basic, simple truth they will not evade – they stand
accountable before God.
A person can live their entire life and, in a sense, the
first time they ever truly face reality is when they stand hopelessly, helplessly
guilty before God. Because they are. That’s
reality. In another sense, the first
time we’re ever really ready to live is when we realize we stand before God condemned.
The very essence of our creation is to walk holding God’s hand or rather,
letting Him hold ours. The moment our eyes turn to Him, the moment our hearts
say to Him, “Please save me!” is the very first moment we live in reality. We
need God. We need Him. Without Him, we can do nothing. He is our reality. Faith is not about having the
right set of rules. Faith is about Him.
It is about knowing Him and loving Him and walking with Him and letting Him be our guide and
help and hope.
Although these two verses, Romans 3:19,20 seem hopelessly
negative, may we all embrace their reality and turn our eyes to the only One
who can offer us hope!
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