Sunday Sermons: Through the Law Comes Knowledge of Sin (Romans 3:19-20)

You're listening to the preaching ministry of Gabriel Hughes, pastor of Providence Reformed Baptist Church in Casa Grande, Arizona. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday on this podcast, we feature teaching through a New Testament book, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and our Q &A on Friday.

Each Sunday we are pleased to present our sermon series. Here is Pastor Gabe.

Romans 3:19-20 and the Law’s Purpose

So let us read together two short verses, Romans 3, verses 19 and 20. If you would, in honor of the word of the King, please stand. Romans 3, beginning in verse 19, Paul writing to the church in Rome, hear the word of the.

Lord.

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.

You may be seated now as we pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for these passages that we have read and we have studied through. As many parts of Scripture can be, it's been a hard labor. But I pray, Lord, that you have been working out in us a knowledge of our sin, an understanding of the Savior, that we may worship you rightly and desire that sanctification that comes only by the Spirit of God.

For in coming by faith to Jesus Christ, we are justified. And now having been justified, we are being sanctified also by your grace. Justified is something that happened outside of us. Sanctified is something that is happening within us.

And Lord, we desire to continue in that, that we may reach being glorified. Though the Scripture promises us that even now we are seated with Christ in the heavenly places. We look forward to that day when, as Horatio Spafford wrote in the old hymn, our faith will become sight.

Lord, hold us fast to yourself as you have promised us in your word that you would. And may we see every part of your word as good, even those parts that wound us. It is in the name of Christ that we pray.

Amen.

This of course being Palm Sunday is that day that we remember the triumphal entry. That day that Jesus came into Jerusalem riding on a donkey's colt. Now we traditionally see that as being Sunday. There are some theologians that would argue that it was actually Monday on which that occurred.

But I'm not going into a theological treatise on that today. In Luke chapter 20 is where, or Luke chapter 19 rather, is where we read Luke's account of the triumphal entry. Jesus had directed the disciples to go and untie a donkey's colt.

Something that you don't often see in many of the cinematic depictions is Jesus riding on not a donkey but a colt which was alongside the mother. So there were actually two donkeys there. The disciples found the colt, brought them to the Savior, put their cloaks on the top of the colt, and Jesus sat upon the animal.

This was an animal that had never been ridden before. And this in fulfillment of the prophecy that had said that he would come riding into Jerusalem on a donkey's colt. A conquering king comes in on a steed, but one who brings peace comes in on a colt.

And so as Jesus comes into Jerusalem, the people begin to rejoice. They take their coats, they take palm branches, they lay them down on the road. They are doing this even outside the city before Jesus draws near.

As they come down the Mount of Olives singing the praises of the Messiah. And then coming into the city and going through. It wasn't like a parade processional where people just line the road and they wait for the float to go by.

But they were with him all the while journeying from the mountain down into the city and through singing his praises as they went. And the scripture records that they said from the Psalms, Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.

Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, Teacher, rebuke your disciples. And he answered, I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.

But then as Luke records this. In chapter 19 verse 41, it says,. When he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it. Saying, Would that you, even you had known on this day the things that make for peace.

So they said it.

But did they really know it? Would that you have known the things that make for peace. But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and him you in on every side and tear you down to the ground.

You and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you. Because you did not know the time of your visitation. Palm Sunday is a day that we celebrate. And rightly we should.

Because we know what this was leading up to. The crucifixion of the Messiah on Friday for our sins. And his resurrection on Sunday also for our justification. As said in Romans 4 25. But this day was not a cause of rejoicing in this sense for the Savior.

For he saw a people that though they shouted his praises, their hearts were far from him. And though there were some who genuinely praised and genuinely believed, the vast majority of the city did not.

And so Jesus saying, Oh that you had only known what had happened in your midst this day. There are many of us who are brought to the Scriptures and shown. And so few believe. As Jesus himself said, Many are called, but few are chosen.

The Law Exposes Sin and Stops Every Mouth

And one of the things that we've been looking at as we've been going through these first two and a half chapters of Romans is we've come to an understanding and awareness of our sin nature. And how it affects every single person.

And there is not anyone who can stand before God and say,.

I'm alright.

For as Paul is going to summarize coming up here in Romans 3 23, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There are many who have seen, but few who have understood. And therefore in knowledge of their sin have come to the Savior who saves.

He only who can rescue us from the curse of sin. The purpose of the law was never to rescue us from our sin. That was never the point of the law. And as the apostle points out here, it's the law which he has been referencing all this while as we've been going through this section of Romans.

It's the law that brings us to the knowledge of our sin. Brings us to the awareness of it. It's not pointing out a person's badness and going, you haven't been keeping the law. You better start keeping it so that you will live.

That's never been the point of the law. The point of the law reveals to us our sin so that every mouth may be stopped, it says, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. As we come back to this passage today, we want to understand that statement as Paul makes it in verse 19, and then verse 20 as well, which even goes back to a statement that he said in chapter 1, verse 20.

By works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight. As he said back in chapter 1, verse 17, the just shall live by faith, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. And as we look at these things also, as I said at the very conclusion, we want to save some time to review what it is that we've looked at.

Because we've been hearing about our sin over and over and over again. I know all of you have now finally gotten to the point, I just want to hear the Gospel. Amen! That's the point. That's exactly why Paul did this.

And so that we may rejoice together in the goodness of the King who gave Himself for us, that we may stand before Him justified. And so coming back to verse 19 again. Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped.

Whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law. Now as we have been going through our catechism on Sunday morning, when we do our congregational reading, you have no doubt noticed that we've been going week after week through the Ten Commandments.

That's deliberate, it's intentional, because of where we are and what we've been studying as we've been going through Romans. Now there's a curious phrase that may come up to you as we have been answering those catechism questions.

One of those questions being, what is annexed by this commandment? So as today we looked at, thou shalt not murder. What is annexed by this commandment? What does it mean to be annexed? Well, it's almost as if to say, what else is implied by this command?

So yes, we are told, don't kill people. I think there's a general sense of understanding, even within a natural understanding of the law, meaning general revelation that God has given to us, that it's bad to kill people.

We shouldn't do that. So I've not killed anybody, but what else does this law imply? And as we've talked in the past about what we call the first and second tables of the law, you have in the first table of the law, those commands that direct us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, Deuteronomy 6 .5.

And the second table of the law, those that direct us to love our neighbor as ourself, Leviticus 19 .18. And so those are the summary tables of what we have in the Ten Commandments, which itself is a summary of all the law that God gives.

And the Apostle Paul will even say later, coming up in Romans 13, that to love is the fulfillment of the law. So if you are loving your neighbor, then you're fulfilling that second table of the law and doing what is annexed by those laws.

Don't do this, don't do this, don't do this. So what is implied by that is that you would instead do this. Love. Show kindness. Be merciful. Whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law.

Now, it's very common that I have heard from somebody, from a fellow believer, who has said, but we're not under the law anymore, right? I mean, that's in Romans 6. We're no longer under the law, but under grace.

Well, don't ignore the entire statement. For sin will have no dominion over you. For you are not under the law, but under grace. This is not an excuse to say, well, the law no longer applies to us. Because my next question to such a believer who asked me this question is, so don't murder anymore doesn't apply to you at all?

Oh, well, no, no, no, I'm not saying that. Okay, well, if you're loving your neighbor, then you are doing what the law requires. So yes, there is still an obligation for us to keep the law. It's not that the law for the believer is no more, but we are not under the law in the sense that we're not going to be judged by it.

We have all broken the law, as Paul has plainly stated here. But making the statement that whatever the law says, it's to those who are under the law. So that for what reason every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may be held accountable to God.

It says in the book of Proverbs that every man is right in his own eyes. When you ask somebody, do you think you're a good person? 99 times out of 100, what are you going to hear? Yeah, I think I'm a good person.

I'm not Hitler. Strangely, there seems to be a movement right now of people that think that Hitler was not all that bad, which is astonishing. You know, a person will justify themselves by comparing themselves with other people.

And you've heard me go through this exercise with you before. So what else can you say? What can you say to a person to help them realize they're not as good as they think they are? Well, you start going through the law.

You've probably seen evangelists do this. Todd Friel, Ray Comfort, any of these who have put videos out like this on YouTube, showing these evangelist encounters that they will do, asking a person, have you ever told a lie before?

Well, yes, I've told lies. Everybody does. Everybody lies. Okay, so what do you call a person who tells lies? You call them a liar. Todd White, who's a false teacher, has a church in Dallas, has said that he doesn't lie anymore.

He hasn't told a lie since he became a Christian. He's a liar. He is lying. So then you ask another question, another diagnostic question using the law of God. You see, you're using the law here to help them see that they're not really as good as they think they are.

Have you ever stolen anything before? No, I haven't ever stolen anything. Really? So never padded your time card? Asked for money for hours you didn't really work? Or maybe you did accurately write down the hours.

Maybe you have an automated system at work that is keeping track of the time that you're actually there. So there's no way that you could lie. But have you worked the entire time? You just sit there and goof off?

Watch YouTube shorts? Claim that you were there working and take a paycheck for it when you didn't really do it? Wouldn't your employer say that you're actually stealing from him? So what do you call a person who steals?

A stealer. No, no, that's Pittsburgh. You call them a thief. Have you ever lusted after somebody before? Have you had sex outside of marriage? You undressed somebody with your eyes? Jesus said in Matthew 5 that it's as if you've committed adultery in your heart.

Have you ever hated somebody with such a hatred? You call them names. You disparage them. You want them to feel bad. You want them to feel lower than you are. That is your objective. Whatever can make you feel lower than dirt, that's what I intend with my words to tear you down.

Have you ever done that to somebody before? I have. And Jesus said in Matthew 5, it's as if you've murdered your brother in your heart. Have you ever taken the Lord's name in vain? Used it as a curse word?

I have, unfortunately, done that as well. Have you ever used God's name in a way to make yourself look good, and you may not be all that sincere in the way that you used the name? Yeah, sure, I'm a Christian, just to impress other people, but not really in your heart glorifying Christ, or something to that effect.

Wearing a WWJD bracelet. Back in the day, for those of you who remember that. Back in the 90s. I want people to see that I'm in the club, but there's not really an intention in your heart to give glory to Christ.

That would also be using His name in vain. An empty usage of His name. God takes that very seriously, for He said in His law that you will not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, and He will not hold the person guiltless who does so.

He is so holy and so high above us. He is so devoted to righteousness and justice that He won't even allow His good and holy name to be misused by sinful creatures that would misuse it. And so just going through these commands, what have we done?

We've established that you're a murdering, lying, adulterous, thieving, blasphemer at heart. And that's just five commandments. So on the day of judgment, when you stand before God, if that's the standard that God is judging you by, is He going to let you into heaven, or will He send you into hell?

And there are many that I've had this conversation with that will respond to that and say, well I guess according to that standard, He would send me to hell. There's an awareness that's happened there.

Doesn't always mean that what will happen next is conversion. But their eyes are still being opened. Their mouth has been stopped in the sense that they realize now, I cannot proclaim myself as good as I thought I was.

And so, Paul says, the law speaks to those who are under it so that every mouth may be stopped. And the whole world will be held accountable by God. This method of using the law to bring a person to an awareness of their sin, so that you're conditioning their heart to then share the gospel.

There's a solution to this. If they're ready for that then, do you want to hear how, though you have broken God's law, and though what you deserve is death, do you want to hear how there is a Savior who has saved you from that sentence, and has taken your penalty upon Himself if you believe in Him for the forgiveness of your sins.

And you've readied the person now to hear the good news of the gospel. It's good news to them when they know what the bad news is. That all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. You may have heard of this evangelistic method as being called the way of the Master.

The reason why it's called that is because this is the way that Jesus Himself would convict a person of their sin. I had shared the parable of the Good Samaritan a few weeks back. It's through that very parable that Jesus shows a lawyer that he has not really loved his neighbor as he believed that he had.

As the Scripture says, he was attempting to justify himself. Jesus showed him that he really wasn't as good as he thought, as he was trying to proclaim. But there's another account, an encounter, that fits even more closely with this.

Right before what we read about the triumphal entry in chapter 19, you have in Luke chapter 18, Jesus' exchange with the rich young ruler. And a ruler came to him and said, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

And that is synonymous with asking, what must I do to inherit the kingdom of God? And Jesus said to him, Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. Now right away, Jesus is confronting the intention of this young man.

What do you mean by calling me good? We know from the Scriptures that Jesus knew the heart of every person. And he knows the heart of this young man that he doesn't really think of Jesus as God, as the Son of God, who has been sent.

And so Jesus confronts that attitude of his heart right away and says, So why do you call me good? If you're not ready to recognize me as the Messiah, why would you call me good when no one is good but God alone?

That's essentially what Jesus is implying with that question. But then goes to the young man with the law. You know the commandments. Do not commit adultery. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness.

Honor your father and your mother. And how did the young ruler respond? All of these I have kept from my youth. And I kind of wonder if what was in the mind of that young man was,.

I've made it!

I did everything you just told me to do. I have not done this. I have not done this. I have not done this. So he thinks that he's kept the law. Now, Jesus responds to him and says, it's in Mark 10, it doesn't say this in Luke 18, but in Mark's account of this encounter, it says Jesus looking at him, loved him.

Loved him to tell him the truth. And said to him, one thing you lack, sell all that you have and distribute to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come and follow me. One thing he lacks?

Was there a commandment that he didn't keep? That's often the way that I will hear this passage exegeted. See, there was one command that the rich young ruler didn't keep. No, there was one thing he didn't have which rendered everything that he thought he had accomplished up to that point.

Moot.

He did not have Christ. He was trying to enter eternal life on the merits of his own righteousness and he wasn't getting in. And so, Jesus says,.

You lack this,.

Sell all that you have, distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, then come, follow me. But when the young man heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. And he walked away having not changed anything that had happened about himself that day.

Is it really essentially what Jesus points out to him using the law is that he had not loved his neighbor.

And he did not.

Love his neighbor truly. Wasn't willing to give up his stuff for the sake of his neighbor. Did not love his neighbor and therefore did not love God. It was because he did not love God that he was not really loving his neighbor.

Would not follow Christ, would not give up his stuff, and just walks away dejected and sad. And Jesus said that hell will be filled with people who will weep. He said that place is a place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

So there are those who will be angry at God, shaking a fish, cleansing their teeth, saying, why did you put me here? I deserve better than this. I should be where you are. And that's their eternal state forever.

Perishing in their anger and hatred against God. But there's another group there in eternal suffering that are weeping the entire time. And sad and sorrowful, though not actually repentant, though knowing they did not believe.

And Jesus, seeing the reaction of the rich young ruler, he turns to his disciples and says, how difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God. For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.

Now, you've probably heard all different manner of exegesis to try to explain this. How is it that a camel can go through the eye of a needle? Well, it can't. That's kind of silly. It's a silly illustration.

So, the eye of a needle is actually a door in the city gate. And when a merchant arrives late and he can't get in through the gate because they've closed the gate up for the night, well, then there's this small door called the eye of a needle.

But to get the camel through it, you have to take all his stuff off and kind of get him down on his knees so he's like crawling through that door. And it's a demonstration of penitence, like the penitent man on his knees.

So he gets through that door, and it's cumbersome and it's tedious, but he still gets through the door by his own effort, right? Or somebody will say, well, the camel is not actually the animal, you know, because that can't go through an eye of a needle.

It's really a large rope. They have these large ropes in Jerusalem that they call camels. No, there's actually no historical evidence of that at all. And either one of these methods, you could still pull it off, though it would be tedious.

You could thread that rope, you know, pull it all apart and get it all through the needle, but you could get it through there under your own power. But the point Jesus is making is that it's impossible.

It's impossible. There's nothing you can do to get through on your own merit. And where Jesus says how difficult it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God, that doesn't mean that we go out and look for everybody that's rich going, oh, they're not getting in.

It's impossible for them to get in. This man also thought he was a wealth of merit. He was a wealth of goodness. I've done everything right. And the person who thinks that they are not poor spiritually trying to get in on their own accomplishments, I'm rich on the stuff that I've done, won't get into the kingdom of God either.

Has nothing to do with what his economic status is. And the disciples were astonished at what Jesus said, and they said, who then can be saved? And he said, it's impossible. It is impossible. Jesus was literally taking the largest living creature in Jerusalem, a camel, and comparing it, contrasting it with the smallest opening, the eye of a needle.

This is hyperbole, but he's making an illustration. You're not going to get that big thing through that small hole and have it survive.

The trip. And.

Neither can a rich person get into the kingdom of heaven on his own merits or his own accomplishments.

Any of.

Us who would boast in ourselves and say, I have become rich, as Jesus rebuked the church at Laodicea in Revelation chapter 3. You say I have become rich, but you don't know that you're a pitiable, poor, blind,.

And naked. And that's all.

Our condition. And so Jesus saying to the disciples says, with man it's impossible. You can't get there. You can't get anyone else there. You can't get yourself there. But with God, all things are.

Possible. God gets.

Us into the kingdom where we could not on any of our efforts to keep the law or otherwise.

Justification by Faith and Not by Works of the Law

And so.

Again Romans 3 19, 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. And that's what Paul is bringing us to an awareness of as we've been going from Romans chapter 1 to finally this point.

In verse 20 he says,. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight. Now astonishing thing happened to me on social media earlier this week. There is a very celebrated Catholic teacher who had made the statement that by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight does not mean faith alone.

That was the statement that he made. That was all he said. I mean it was essentially as if to say by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight does not mean by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight.

It's as though he said the same thing. We are not justified by our works, by our keeping of anything, of any command at all that does not get us into the kingdom of God. Since, as Paul said, it's through the law comes knowledge of sin.

We are incapable before Christ of doing anything to a level or a degree that is pleasing unto God. Listen to what Paul is going to say later when we get to Romans chapter 8. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

For the law of the Spirit of Life has set you free in Christ from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin.

He condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. Who work not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Walk rather. Who walk rather according to the Spirit.

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

Listen here verses 7 and 8. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God for it does not submit to God's law. Indeed it cannot. Those who are in the flesh.

Cannot.

Please God. You can't do any act or measure of obedience to merit the grace of God. Or His grace would not be grace. I've said to you that whenever I prepare to preach a sermon I will often listen to other sermons on the same passage.

I do this after I've done my own work. So I'm not cheating. Right? I'm just going to take your sermon and I'm going to do that one. So I went looking for a sermon in Romans 3, 19 and 20. Oftentimes those verses are grouped with the verses that come before it.

So rarely did I find a sermon that was just those two verses. I found one from Martin Lloyd-Jones on Romans 3, 20. I'm like, oh this will be good. It's Martin Lloyd-Jones. You know, I should have known better but it was not actually going to be a sermon on Romans 3, 20.

It was going to be a sermon on one word in Romans 3, 20. Praise God for Martin Lloyd-Jones. But what do you think was the word he was focusing on in that verse? Justified. It was a whole sermon on just that word.

And when it started and I'm going, okay, he's just going to talk about justified. But I'm glad that I stuck with it. I was in the car anyway so I can't take my eyes off the road and look for another sermon.

I'm stuck now. I'm listening to Martin Lloyd-Jones.

And he.

Gets to a point where he says that justified, when we're talking about justified, there are so many different ways that this gets twisted and misconstrued. People who will talk about how well justified is, it's now making you so that you are able to work in the right way.

Or they will infuse it with righteousness. So when you're justified, you've also been given righteousness, which is true, so that now you can do things in a way that is therefore pleasing to God. But see how you're either fitting works into justification, or you're blending justification and sanctification together.

And they're not the same thing. So as I opened with in my prayer, justification is something that happens outside of us. Sanctification is within. So they're not the same thing. Be careful of that mixing of justification and sanctification.

Lloyd-Jones went on to say that justified, to be justified, is just very simply a judicial.

Term. It is God.

Himself declaring, by His mercy and grace, you're.

Innocent. Your fine's been paid. And it's been.

Paid, and we can walk out of that courtroom not because of anything we did, but because of what Christ did for us. And the credit that Christ has purchased by His blood is given to our account.

By faith. By works.

Of the law, no one will be justified in His sight. Because it's through the law comes knowledge of sin. The law was never meant to save, as I read to you there from Romans chapter 8. Do not confuse the law.

With grace. Do not.

Confuse the law even with the covenant of grace. Is it a gracious thing that God gave us the law? Oh, certainly it is. But that's not the same as to say that it is the covenant of grace. Listen to what we have professed in our own confession in chapter 7, paragraphs 1 and 2.

The distance between God and the creature is so great that although reasonable creatures do owe obedience to Him as their Creator, yet they could not have attained the reward of life, but by some voluntary condescension on God's part, which He hath been pleased to express by way of covenant.

Chapter 2, or paragraph 2. Moreover, man having brought himself under the curse of the law by his fall,.

It pleased the Lord.

To make a covenant of.

Grace. We have all.

Sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. It is in our nature to sin and fall short of the glory of God. But it pleased the Lord to make a covenant of grace. By grace you have been saved. And by nothing that you do.

Again, it's outside of us. It is simply by the grace and mercy of God. And my friends, I understand, I understand that in our human weakness, we really want to add something.

To that. Well, don't I have.

To pray a prayer? No. You'll pray that prayer because you want to talk to God. But the prayer doesn't.

Save you.

Don't I have to be baptized? Yeah, you do. But you're saved before you go under. You have been justified before you got there. And you testify to the salvation that you have received in Christ Jesus by being submerged and being risen again.

Which has already happened by the Holy Spirit in your heart. Don't I have to, I mean, I have to go home and like get rid of this stuff first. No, you're saved now. You're.