“Now we know what the law says it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world fall guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the Law, not flesh will be justified in God’s sight” (Romans 3:19).
What is St. Paul saying here? He is literally teaching that all human beings are guilty of sin. In 3:9-11, he gives a string of Old Testament verses which basically boil down to this conclusion “There is no one righteous; no not one” (3:11). This includes both Jew and Gentile, one who has the law or one who does not have the law. Whatever else St. Paul has said before, it has been headed toward this conclusion, that human beings are in fact unrighteous and they cannot be justified by the “works of the Law”. I want to settle the issue here on this “works of the law”. This does not mean, as some say, there ceremonial laws that made israel distinct from the nations alone. The “works of the law” definitely include, as St. Paul says in Romans 2, lying, stealing, adultery, and idolatry. Also, in Romans 7, Paul describes his failure to be justified by the law because of failing to truly obey the command “Thou shall not covet” (Rom 7:11-13). Therefore, those who wish to say that this is the ceremonial works such as circumcision, the holy festivals, dietary laws, etc,etc are deeply mistaken and will as a consequence butcher the whole argument that is laid out in Romans 1-5. If, as St. Paul has said, SIN forms the barrier between us and justification by the Law, then it must include moral commands. For if we could be justified by moral commands, only not including ceremonial laws, how could sin be a barrier between us and being righteous? Do you see? It is because all human beings are “under sin” (Rom 3:9) that disables any possibility of being justified by the Law (v20).
“But now the righteousness of God without the law is made manifest, although testified by the Law and Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe, for there is no difference, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and are being justified as a gift of grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith, in order to demonstrate his righteousness, for in the past, God past over sins which were previously committed, but now to demonstrate his righteousness that he might be Just and the Justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom 3:21-26)
After arguing that all human beings are disabled from being justified by the works of the Law, which must include the commands of Romans 2, and that because of this all the world is “guilty” before God, Paul then shows God’s work of saving man from their sin. This “righteousness of God” is not the righteousness that is his own quality that belongs to Himself, rather it is the righteousness which is from Him to man, as the later context shows when St. Paul speaks of a “righteousness” being imputed to David. This righteousness is received through faith, without the works of the Law. And the result of receiving this righteousness is that one is “justified” by His grace through the act of redemption in Christ Jesus. Does the word “justified” mean that God is coming inside the human being and internally changing the habits of the heart in order that it ceases to be evil in practice and then begins to perform good works by which then God can appropriately call the person righteous? Absolutely not, the word “justified” never means this in the entire bible. For instance, read 1 Corinthians 4:1-4:
4 Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 In this case, moreover, it is required [a]of stewards that one be found trustworthy. 3 But to me it is a very small thing that I may be judged by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even judge myself. 4 For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this justified; but the one who** judges*** me is the Lord. 5 Therefore do not go on [c]***passing judgment **before [d]the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.
Do you see that to be “justified” is the final conclusion from a judgement or an examination. Paul is saying that he is not “justified” by his own knowledge of nothing wrong with him. This obviously carries the forensic meaning of being acquitted or found free from any faults. He even adds the word “human court” which shows the atmosphere of judgement. The context is judgement, either from man or God, and it is something that is done after an examination of the person is complete. A judgement is given after a person has been examined, and once thoroughly examined, and found to have no faults, the person is THEN justified. St. Paul doesn’t mean here that he is not “justified” (the act of actually being made righteous by his deeds from that point onward) in the sense of being changed in his own person, but rather that he is not acquitted yet or found to be righteous.
