Romans 3:19 - Meaning and Application

From all this, Paul draws the conclusion that it is useless to look for justification, meaning being counted right with God, by obeying the law. It comes only by faith, which is the truth he has been proving all along since Romans 1:17, and which he states as the summary of his teaching in Romans 3:28: “We conclude that a man is justified by faith, apart from the deeds of the law.” That does not mean only the law of innocent man before the fall, or the law of nature, no matter how much it is improved, or the ceremonial law, since the blood of bulls and goats could not remove sin. It also includes the moral law, the command to live rightly, because Paul speaks of the law that brings knowledge of sin and of works people might boast about.

In our fallen condition, under the power of sin, no work of our own can win God’s approval. Salvation must rest entirely on God’s free grace, given through Jesus Christ to all true believers who receive it as a gift. If we had never sinned, then our obedience to the law would have been our righteousness, as in, “Do this, and live.” But since we have sinned and are corrupted, nothing we do can make up for our past guilt. The Pharisees, Jewish religious leaders, looked for justification by obedience to the moral law (Luke 18:11).

Paul argues from two things here, human guilt, to show that justification cannot come by the law, and God’s glory, to show that it must come by faith. First, he argues from human guilt to show how foolish it is to expect justification by works of the law. The point is plain: we can never be justified and saved by the very law we have broken. A convicted traitor cannot escape by appealing to the law he has already violated, because that law proves his crime and condemns him. If he had never broken it, it could have justified him, but now he must plead for mercy. He must throw himself on an act of pardon, admit his guilt, and humbly ask for its benefit.

Paul especially presses this on the Jews, because they boasted in the law and trusted it for justification. He had already quoted several Old Testament passages to show human corruption. Now he says that whatever the law says, it says to those under the law, that is, to the Jews as well as to everyone else, because it is written in their own law. They prided themselves on being under the law, but the law itself convicts them and shows their guilt. Its purpose is that every mouth may be stopped, so all boasting may be silenced. God deals this way both when he justifies and when he condemns, he stops every mouth. Those who are justified are brought to silence by humble conviction. Those who are condemned will also be silenced in the end, for they will be shown guilty and sent away speechless (Jude 1:15; Matthew 22:12). In the end, all evil will have no defense left (Psalm 107:42).

Paul broadens this to the whole world, so that all the world may become guilty before God. If the world lies in wickedness (1 John 5:19), then it is surely guilty. “May become guilty” means “may be shown to be guilty” and liable to punishment. By nature, all are children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3). Everyone must plead guilty, and those who cling most to their own righteousness will surely be condemned. “Guilty before God” is a serious phrase, because it means standing before the all-seeing God, who cannot be fooled, and before the righteous Judge who will never clear the guilty.

All are guilty, so all need a righteousness to stand in before God. “For all have sinned” (Romans 3:23). All are sinners by nature and by practice, and all fall short of the glory of God. They fail to reach the very purpose for which they were made. To fall short is like an archer missing the target or a runner missing the prize. They do not merely fail to win, they lose greatly.

They fall short of glorifying God. As Romans 1:21 says, they did not glorify him as God. Human beings were placed over the visible world to actively glorify their Creator, while the lower creatures glorify him only by being what he made them to be. But sin keeps people from that duty, and instead of honoring God, they dishonor him. It is a sad thought to consider how many people were made to glorify God and yet do not do it.

They also fall short of glorying before God. No one can boast of innocence. If we try to boast before God about what we are, what we have, or what we do, this one fact will silence us forever: we have all sinned. We may boast before people, who are short-sighted and cannot search the heart, and who are themselves corrupt. But there is no boasting before God, who cannot look with approval on evil.

They also fall short of being glorified by God. They fall short of justification, that is, being accepted by God, which is the beginning of glory. They fall short of holiness, or sanctification, meaning being made holy, which is the glorious image of God in a person. And they destroy all hope of being glorified with God in heaven by any righteousness of their own. It is no longer possible to reach heaven by the path of perfect innocence. That way is blocked. A cherub and a flaming sword now guard the way to the tree of life.

Paul gives one more reason to turn away from expecting justification by the law: “For by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20). The law that convicts and condemns us can never justify us. The law is the straight rule, the thing that shows what is right and what is wrong. Its proper work is to open our wound, so it is not likely to be the cure. What searches us is not what heals us. Anyone who wants to know sin must know the law in its strictness, full reach, and spiritual nature. When we compare our hearts and lives with that rule, we see where we have gone astray. Paul uses the law this way in Romans 7:9.

So by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in his sight. No flesh means no person, no fallen human being (Genesis 6:3), because all are flesh, sinful and corrupted. That corruption remaining in our nature will always stand in the way of justification by our own works, since works that come from flesh must carry the flavor of flesh. And it is not enough that a person might appear justified in the sight of people, for here the issue is justification in God’s sight.

He does not deny that there was a kind of justification by the deeds of the law in the sight of the church. In their outward church life, as a people organized under God, they were a holy nation and a kingdom of priests. But when the conscience stands before God, in his sight, no one can be justified by the works of the law. The apostle is referring to Psalm 143:2.

He then argues from God’s glory to show that justification must come only by faith in Christ’s righteousness. There is no justification by the works of the law. Does that mean guilty human beings must stay under God’s wrath forever? Is there no hope? Is the wound from sin beyond healing? No, praise God, it is not, as Romans 3:21-22 says. God has opened another way for us: the righteousness of God apart from the law is now revealed in the gospel.

Justification may be received without keeping Moses’ law. It is called the righteousness of God because God planned it, provided it, accepts it, and gives it to us. In the same way, the Christian’s armor is called the armor of God (Ephesians 6:11). This righteousness of God has several things to notice.

First, it is revealed. The gospel way of justification is a clear road, an open path. The bronze serpent is lifted up for all to see. We are not left to find our way in the dark, because God has made it known.

Second, it is apart from the law. Paul is correcting the error of the Jewish Christians who wanted to join Christ and Moses together. They accepted Christ as the Messiah, but still held tightly to the ceremonial law and wanted to impose it on Gentile believers. Paul says no, it is apart from the law. What Christ has brought is a complete righteousness.

Third, it is still witnessed by the law and the prophets. The Old Testament had types, prophecies, and promises pointing to this righteousness. The law cannot justify us, but it does direct us to another way. It points to Christ as our righteousness, and all the prophets bear witness to him (Acts 10:43). That would have been especially helpful to the Jews, who valued the law and the prophets so highly.

Fourth, it is through faith in Jesus Christ. That is, faith has Jesus Christ as its object. Jesus means “anointed Savior.” Justifying faith looks to Christ as Savior in all his anointed offices, as prophet, priest, and king. It trusts him, receives him, and stays close to him in all that he is. Through this faith we become partakers of the righteousness that God has ordained and Christ has brought in.

Fifth, it is for all and upon all who believe. Paul keeps pressing the truth that Jews and Gentiles stand on the same ground if they believe, and both are equally welcome to God through Christ. There is no difference. It is offered to all in general; the gospel does not shut anyone out except those who shut themselves out. But it is upon all who believe, meaning it is not only offered to them, but also placed on them like a robe or crown. When they believe, they are brought into it and given every benefit of it.

How is this for God’s glory? First, it displays the glory of his grace (Romans 3:24). We are justified freely by his grace. This means God’s gracious favor toward us, not some grace worked inside us, as the papists said when they mixed up justification and sanctification. It is God’s favor to sinners without any merit in them, even none foreseen. Paul adds “freely” to make the point clear. It is true that Joseph found favor in his master’s sight (Genesis 39:4), but there was a reason for that favor. Something in Joseph invited it. God’s grace to us comes freely, freely. It is sheer mercy. There is nothing in us to deserve such kindness. It comes through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. Christ paid dearly for it, yet that does not weaken the freeness of grace. Grace provided this saving sacrifice and accepted it.

Second, it displays the glory of God’s justice and righteousness (Romans 3:25-26). God set Christ forth to be a propitiation, that is, a sacrifice that turns away wrath. Jesus Christ is the great propitiation, the one pictured under the law by the mercy seat. He is our throne of grace, through whom atonement is made for sin and our persons and service are accepted by God (1 John 2:2). He is everything in our reconciliation, not only the one who makes peace, but the peace itself. He is our priest, our sacrifice, our altar, our all. God was in Christ, as in his mercy seat, reconciling the world to himself.

God himself set Christ forth in this way. The offended party takes the first steps toward reconciliation. He appoints the mediator, one who stands between two parties to bring them together. He foreordained Christ for this work in the counsel of his love from eternity, appointed him, anointed him, qualified him, and displayed him to a guilty world as their propitiation. See Matthew 3:17 and Matthew 17:5.

By faith in his blood we become partakers of this propitiation. Christ is the propitiation; the healing medicine is provided. Faith is the act of applying that medicine to the wounded soul. In justification, this faith gives special attention to the blood of Christ, because his blood made the atonement. God had appointed that without blood there would be no forgiveness, and no blood except his could accomplish it fully. There is likely an echo here of the sprinkling of sacrificial blood under the law, as in Exodus 24:8. Faith is like the bunch of hyssop, and the blood of Christ is the blood of sprinkling.

All who, by faith, are brought into this propitiation receive the forgiveness of sins that are past. That was one reason Christ was set forth as a propitiation, so that sins might be forgiven. God’s patience and restraint had already been a kind of encouragement, forbearance that held back judgment. Divine patience has kept us out of hell so that we might have time to repent and come to heaven. Some understand “sins that are past” as the sins of Old Testament believers, which were forgiven because of the atonement Christ would later make in time, an atonement that looked backward as well as forward. It is through God’s forbearance that we were not destroyed in the very act of sin.

Some Greek copies take the words “through the forbearance of God” with Romans 3:26, and they point to two precious results of Christ’s merit and God’s grace: forgiveness, and the forbearance of God.

It is because of the master’s goodness and the gardener’s mediation that barren trees are left alone in the vineyard. In both cases, God’s righteousness is shown, because without a mediator and a propitiation, an offering that turns away God’s wrath, he would not only refuse to pardon, but would not even delay judgment for a moment. It is Christ who keeps any sinner on this side of hell.

God also shows his righteousness in all of this. Paul stresses this strongly: “to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness.” He repeats it because it is so striking. God shows his righteousness, first, in the propitiation itself. Never was there a greater display of God’s justice and holiness than in the death of Christ. It shows that he hates sin, since nothing less than Christ’s blood could pay for it. When sin, though only counted to him, was found on his own Son, he did not spare him, because Christ had made himself sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). Since the sins of us all were laid on him, even though he was the Son of God’s love, “it pleased the Lord to bruise him” (Isaiah 53:10).

Second, God shows his righteousness in the pardon that comes through that propitiation. Paul explains it this way: God does this “that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth.” Mercy and truth meet together, and righteousness and peace kiss each other. So now, for God, forgiving the sins of repentant believers is not only an act of grace and mercy, but also an act of righteousness, because he has accepted the satisfaction Christ made to his justice by dying for them. It would not fit his justice to demand payment again from the main debtor when the surety, the person who took the debt on himself, has paid it and God has accepted that payment in full. See (1 John 1:9). He is just, that is, faithful to his word.

This also serves God’s glory, because boasting is excluded (Romans 3:27). God wants the great work of saving and justifying sinners to happen in a way that leaves no room for human pride, so no one may boast before him (1 Corinthians 1:29-31). If justification came by the works of the law, boasting would not be excluded. How could it be? If we were saved by our own works, we could place the crown on our own heads. But the law of faith, that is, the way God justifies by faith, always rules out boasting. Faith is a dependent, humble, and self-denying grace, and it lays every crown before God’s throne. For that reason, this way of justification brings God the greatest glory.

Paul speaks of the law of faith. Believers are not left without law, because faith is a law. It is an active grace wherever it is real. Yet because it depends closely on Jesus Christ, it shuts out boasting. From all this, Paul draws the conclusion that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law (Romans 3:28).

At the close of the chapter, he shows how far this blessing of justification by faith reaches, and that it is not only for the Jews, but for the Gentiles too. He had already said there is no difference (Romans 3:22). First, he states and proves this point (Romans 3:29). “Is he the God of the Jews only?” He argues from how unreasonable that idea is. Could anyone imagine that a God of endless love and mercy would limit his favor to that small and stubborn nation of the Jews, while leaving all other people in hopeless ruin? That would not fit what we know of God’s goodness, for his tender mercies are over all his works. Therefore, it is one God of grace who justifies the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith, meaning both in the same way. The Jews may try to defend themselves by making a difference here, but in truth there is no difference at all.

Second, Paul answers an objection (Romans 3:31). Some might think this teaching cancels the law, which they knew came from God. He replies, “No. Even though we say the law does not justify us, we do not say it was given for nothing or that it has no use. Instead, we establish its proper place and secure its standing by putting it on the right foundation.” The law is still useful to show us our past sins and to guide us in the future. We cannot be saved by it as a covenant, a binding agreement for life, but we do own it and submit to it as a rule in the hand of the Mediator, Jesus Christ, under the law of grace. So far from overthrowing the law, we establish it. Let those think about this who deny that the moral law still binds believers.