Romans 3:19-20: The Purpose of the Law

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."

What is the purpose of God's law? In other words, why has God given us rules and commandments? Oftentimes we think that the purpose of God's commandments is so that we might do them and therefore produce some righteousness within ourselves, but that is truly not the purpose of the law. In Romans 3:19-20, Paul gives us one thing that the law is not for, and three things that the law is for.

Firstly, the law is not for justification. This is huge. The Jews that Paul was writing to thought that the law was for their own justification. In other words, they thought that the law was given to them so that they might obey it in order to save themselves. However, as the first three chapters of Romans has thus far showed us, this is not possble. Man cannot save himself because all men are sinners in need of a Savior. The law must be for something else...

Secondly, the law is for bringing knowledge of sin. The law is a mirror that shows us the ugliness within our own hearts. God's commandments and rules show us how much we are sinners, and how we are in great need of a Savior. The law's purpose is to bring knowledge of sin.

Thirdly, the law is for obedience. There is a sharp disctinction here. Though the law is not for self-justification, it is for Spirit-justification. In other words, the law does not save you, but it does show you where you need to be saved by the Savior. The Jews used the law in the wrong way by seeking to follow it in order to save themselves, but Paul commands an alternitive. Paul shows that the law cannot justify, yet it is to be obeyed through the power of the God (which he will bring up in subsequent verses).

Lastly, the law is for holding us accountable to God. The law, both for the Jews who were given it directly from God and for the Gentiles (us!) who have it written on their hearts (Rom. 1:15), is for the purpose of holding us accountable. Without the law, man is free to do whatever he wishes, but with the law, he is accountable to the law, and therefore to the Lawgiver.

So, what have you done with the law? What have you done with God's commandments? Truly, there are only three options. Either you have 1) ignored the law, 2) used the law to justify yourself (this is the "I'm going to heaven because I'm a good person" mentality") or 3) used the law to look to God to justify you. In other words, you can either use the commandments of God to point you inwards to yourself, or you can use the commandments of God to point you outwards back to the Lawgiver himself. What have you done with God's law?