Romans 3:19-31 (NKJV)

19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law,
that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the
law is the knowledge of sin.

This section of Romans contains some of the most valuable and rich teaching on
salvation found anywhere in the bible. It would be easy to make a study out of any one
verse but I will attempt to present a survey of this passage, yet I know it will be
incomplete.

all the world may become guilty before God. (υποδικος γενηται τω Θεῶ͂)
Rev., brought under the judgment of God. Υποδικος under judgment, occurs only here.
In classical Greek it signifies brought to trial or liable to be tried. (VWS)

In the rest of the passage, Paul talks about the legal aspects of salvation so here he sets
the stage by summarizing the argument of chapters one and two – all men are guilty and
are liable to God for judgment.

3:20 The law was never intended to save or sanctify. Knowledge of sin comes
through the law. No one can ever be justified by keeping the law. Paul’s statement is as
clear as one could desire. One of the greatest enigmas of human experience is the
continuing persuasion of most religious people that a man can somehow make himself
acceptable to the holy God through the observance of law, ritual, and moral precept,
whereas the great missionary-theologian goes to great length to refute that idea.
Believer’s Study Bible

21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed
by the Law and the Prophets,
22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who
believe. For there is no difference;
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Here is the gospel in four verses! Note that the OT (the Law and Prophets) witnessed or
testified to this new covenant of redemption. The OT is not one book and the NT another
– they are both the same book and tell the same story.

The difference between the old covenant and the new is that the righteousness of God is
by faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus has purchased our redemption by becoming the perfect
sacrifice for our sins.

3:24 redemption, apolutrosis (ap-ol-oo-tro-sis); Strong’s #629: A release secured by the

payment of a ransom, deliverance, setting free. The word in secular Greek described a
conqueror releasing prisoners, a master ransoming a slave, and redemption from an alien
yoke. In the NT it designates deliverance through Christ from evil and the penalty of sin.
The price paid to purchase that liberation was His shed blood.
Spirit filled life study Bible

Paul goes on to tell us that this salvation is to all and on all who believe. It is to all
in the sense that it is available to all, offered to all, and sufficient for all. But it is only on
those who believe; that is, it is effective only in the lives of those who accept the Lord
Jesus by a definite act of faith. The pardon is for all, but it becomes valid in an
individual’s life only when he accepts it.
Believer's Bible Commentary

25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate
His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that
were previously committed,
26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and
the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

How does God demonstrate His righteousness? If God doesn’t punish sin, then the Torah
is a lie. Justice demands fulfillment. God has stated in His word that without the
shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Thus, to satisfy His own righteousness,
He provided for Himself a lamb (Gen 22:8).

Word Focus - propitiation

(Gk. hilasterion) (3:25; Heb. 9:5) Strong's 2435: This term is derived from the Greek verb
hilaskomai, a word which has three meanings: (1) "to placate" or "to appease"; (2) "to be
propitious and merciful"; or (3) "to make propitiation for someone." The New Testament
never describes people appeasing God. Instead, as Luke 18:13 and 1 John 2:2 make clear,
the New Testament describes God as being merciful to, or making propitiation, for us.
God provides a merciful expiation, or atonement, of the sins of believers through the
death of Christ. But since Paul also speaks of God's wrath, it must also speak of the
conciliation of God's anger by means of a sacrifice-namely, the sacrifice of His Son. John
states that God demonstrated His love to us by sending His Son to become "the
propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10). Just as in the Old Testament God met His people
when the blood of the sin offering was sprinkled on the altar, so Christ's death brings us
into fellowship with God. ~ NKJV Study Bible

Romans 3:25
the sacrifice for sin (Greek hilastērion): This Greek word is used in the Greek OT to refer to the
“atonement cover,” the cover that rested on the Ark of the Covenant in the inner sanctuary of the
Tabernacle. The atonement cover was prominent in the Day of Atonement ritual (Lev 16) and came
to stand for the atonement ceremony itself. Paul characterizes Jesus Christ as God’s provision of
final atonement for his people. Jesus himself satisfies, or absorbs in himself, the anger of God
against all sinful people (see 1:18). NLT-SB
There is no thought in propitiation of placating a vengeful God, but of doing right by His
holy law and so making it possible for Him righteously to show mercy. ~ Scofield

27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the
law of faith.
28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the
law.
29 Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of
the Gentiles also,
30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the
uncircumcised through faith.
31 Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we
establish the law.

In reading Paul’s epistles, it would be easy to come away with the notion that Paul hated
the Law or that grace and the Law are incompatible. As Paul would say “Perish the
thought!” Paul goes to great lengths here in Romans to establish that the works of the
Law can’t justify but it can and does instruct us in godly living.

3:31 God’s moral laws are not abolished by the gospel of Christ. Rather, the whole plan
of salvation, including Christ’s obeying the Law for us and dying to pay the penalty for
our breaking the Law, shows that God’s moral standards are eternally valid.
Spirit filled life study Bible

Yea, we establish the law - That is, by the doctrine of justification by faith; by this
scheme of treating people as righteous, the moral law is confirmed, its obligation is
enforced, obedience to it is secured. This is done in the following manner:
(1) God showed respect to it, in being unwilling to pardon sinners without an atonement.
He showed that it could not be violated with impunity; that he was resolved to fulfill its
threatenings.
(2) Jesus Christ came to magnify it, and to make it honorable. He showed respect to it in
his life; and he died to show that God was determined to inflict its penalty.
(3) The plan of justification by faith leads to an observance of the Law. The sinner sees
the evil of transgression. He sees the respect which God has shown to the Law. He
gives his heart to God, and yields himself to obey his Law. ~ Barnes

Paul is in no way saying to rip the first two thirds of your bible out and throw it away!
Rather – everything in the NT is a fulfillment of the OT and it behooves us to study and
understand all of God’s holy word.

Finally, I leave you with a quote that has impressed me:

Faith is not a leap in the dark. It demands the surest evidence, and finds it in the infallible
word of God. Faith is not illogical or unreasonable. What is more reasonable than that the
creature should trust his Creator? Believer’s Bible Commentary