Romans 3:19-20 - Bound by Law

19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God;
20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

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The Law is Still There. But, We Are Under a New System

V. 19 - “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God;

“whatever the Law says” - Gentiles are not responsible to follow the commands of the Law. The Law was provided to the Jews. The Gentile world does not need to complain about the Law, and the difficulty of following the Law - it does not apply to Gentiles. This does not mean that Gentiles may live and do as they please, violating all principles of the Law, getting away scot-free. 

all the world may become accountable to God” - How can the world be held responsible if the Law does not apply? It could be argued that people may not know and understand what God requires of us if the Law was not written down. That may be weak, but it will be used. Now there is no excuse, so shut your mouth, quit complaining. The information is available to any who would look for it. “The truth is out there.” (See note 1) What it, the Law, does show is that God has standards of behavior and living for humans. Only in the Law is it clearly spelled out. 

V. 20 - because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

“through the Law comes the knowledge of sin” - We see the foundation of moral law, starting with the 10 commandments . We see how to relate to people through the ‘civil’ portion of the Law. Sin has been defined as active rebellion or passive indifference to God’s laws. There could easily be a warning at the beginning of the Law: “Sins include, but are not limited to the following:”. 

Sinful acts are shown to be lying, murder, adultery, stealing, respect, false worship, etc.
Now you know.
If you want to say, “But, what about...” you are trying to parse the commands to rationalize your behavior.

Dr. Toussaint from Dallas Theological Seminary points out the Law has three (3) parts:
Ceremonial - sacrifices, offerings, etc.;
Civil - governing the nation of Israel;
Moral - the 10 Commandments (he calls this ‘theonomic reconstruction’).
This is the Old Testament system. Even though nine of the Ten Commandments are written in the New Testament, we are not under any of it. The New Covenant is a different system. The Old Covenant offered no enablement. What the Law could not do was provide a way to flee to grace. We flee to grace through the cross to eternal life.

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Note 1: quoted from “X Files” TV series.
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