3 Ways God's Law Stops Mouths

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. (Romans 3:19 ESV)

Romans 1 and 2 has made clear that all the world is subject to God's wrath because of its sin; the Jews are in no way excluded from this.  Romans 3 addresses accusations against God's righteousness in this wrath, and then sums up its argument that "No one does righteousness; no not one."  By the end of this argument, all mouths have been stopped in the absolute sense (by that I mean that, while sinners may still run their mouths against God even at the judgment, nothing they say has any exonerating weight whatsoever; God has made his case absolutely).

In what ways have people's mouths been stopped?

1. No more excuses. Those who wish to defend themselves against God's judgment (or any judgment for that matter) frequently resort to excuses that somehow shift the blame to some other person or some extenuating circumstance. 
2. No more denials. Those who wish to defend themselves against God's judgment often either deny that they are what they are or that they are not what God wants them to be. They may deny that they are unrighteous or that the standard they are being judged by is righteous. 
3. No more accusations.  Those who wish to defend themselves against God's judgment frequently resort to accusations against the accuser, as has been demonstrated in Romans 3:1-8--God is unjust to judge, or his righteous standard is actually evil. 

At the judgment none of these mouth-running tactics will have any weight before God. For those who recognize this now, and whose mouths are stopped now, and who bow humbly before God and his righteousness now . . .they are on the landing, preparing to step into salvation in Christ.  You cannot run your mouth in these ways and still have salvation in Christ.

How about you?  Do you habitually excuse your sin, deny your sinfulness, or accuse God or his standard of being wrong?

Listen to the whole sermon on Romans 3:9-20.