What does this mean?

Question

Romans 3:19-20:
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

If the ten commandments are God's Law, then what does this scripture mean? Does Paul make a valid point?

Meditate on it deeply, Endora. It has to do with the purpose of the law. The phrase, "Let the whole world become guilty before God" is key.

Oops, I quoted the NIV in the details, and the KJV in the addition.

Endora, they both are saying the same thing, though.

Answer 1

Yes. The key to this passage is in verse 20. By the law we become conscious of sin. Without the law (or any other laws for that matter), we have no way of knowing what is considered wrong in the sight of God (or the state). We are made righteous by the blood of Christ. The law was created to guide us away from sin. Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God we cannot be righteous by simple observance of the law. We must have faith in Jesus and accept His sacrifice for our sins. Jesus wants us to do our best to follow His law (10 Commandments) out of our love for Him, not some legalistic mindset.

Answer 2

Paul is talking about how you will not be declared righteous, that is, saved, on account of following the Law. The Law, at that time, included virtually the entire Old Testament. Read the third chapter of Galatians to understand the purpose of the Old Testament.

Answer 3

It means that by just using the 10 commandments, we can prove that everyone is a sinner. Has everyone ever lied? That makes them a liar. Most people have looked at someone to lust after them in their hearts; the Bible says that's the same as ALREADY committing adultery; so now you're a liar and an adulterer. Most of us have stolen, especially when we were kids, and that makes us a thief. Well the BIBLE says That NO LIAR, nor THIEF, NOR ADULTERER shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven!

Which is why Jesus had to come to pay for our sins "The Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world".

Answer 4

I think that it is saying that now that we know about the 10 commandments and that we live by them, there is no excuse to God when judgement day comes. For if we knew about the 10 commandments, then we cannot say, "but God, I didn't know." Therefore, no one is righteous just by looking at the 10 commandments and saying, "hmm, that's nice," but rather we we live by them and the 10 commandments help us to know when we have sinned and that's why they make us conscious of our sins.

Answer 5

the law is the use of governing actions. We are not righteous through our actions but we can see that we sin by seeing we break Gods law and mans law. We are saved through faith in Jesus Christ.

Answer 6

It means that the law only made us aware of our sinful nature, it didn't save us from it. The ten commandments are God's basic rules for us, but they don't save us, they just let us know how sinful we are.

Answer 7

It means that everybody knows the law, but nobody follows it and we are all sinners. The law doesn't change anybody, it just make us feel guilty and keep doing things our way, ask for forgiveness is all humans are able to do.

Answer 8

There's God's law and man's law. You won't be pleasing to God by just following man's law. You have to follow God's law also.

Answer 9

It means that the law is incapable of saving us alone. They are the standards by which we are judged.
We need the sacrifice of Christ as well to make us sinless. All those who live under the law without Christ are cursed.

Answer 10

I believe that 'those who are under the law' can be translated as
"those(religious leaders) who say 'do as God's Law says', while they(religious leaders) themselves disobey God's Law."

So, it says to me that religious leaders need to practice what they preach, to be righteous in God's sight.