Title Covering the Mouth/Romans 3:19-20
Last time, we looked at the saying that all human beings are under sin, there is no one righteous, and there is no one who does good. These words completely block human beings from thinking that they are good or righteous in their actions. Any human who breathes and lives on earth with these words should keep their mouths shut to boast of their righteousness and goodness. But, based on this verse, when you say, 'No good deeds can come out of a human being', why does your mouth come out? After all, it is only to show that you have no reverence for the Word of God.
Believers are only the Bible. Even if a believer is confident in his or her thoughts, if the Bible says 'no', he must immediately throw away his thoughts. This is what it means to be a believer and to obey God's Word. However, many believers try to obey themselves and believe in themselves. They try to believe in the God they think, but they turn their heads about the God spoken of in the Bible. It is nothing more than being completely surrounded by the frame of one's self and rushing toward destruction with one's own stubbornness and self-will.
Believers should be grateful for God's declaration that 'human beings are sinners and cannot do good'. It is God's love and mercy that He will not see our actions. However, feeling displeased with these words and reacting to them is nothing more than insistence on saying, 'I can do good things and show myself righteously, but God ignores me too much'.
In verse 12 it says, “There is a law, and by the law those who sin will be judged.” This means that those who claim the law will be treated with the law they hold on to and rely on. But who will survive when dealing with humans with the law? In the same way, it means that humans who have not given up on the insistence that 'I can do good deeds' will be treated based on 'good deeds'. The conditions are perfect. It is not to the extent of imitating goodness, nor to the extent that it is sometimes done when it feels good, it demands perfect goodness. And the word of God is that if you do not meet that requirement, you will be judged.
If so, what would you choose based on? Will man obey the saying that he cannot do good, confess his sins, and rely on the righteousness of Christ? Or will you believe in your conscience and beliefs and persevere with good deeds to the end? Please carefully consider which is the path to life.
And if you are going to obey the saying that human beings cannot do good, from this moment on, no words from your mouth should come out of what you must do, do, and keep. It does not mean that it does not come out of your mouth, but it must be erased from your heart. However, since human beings are born with knowledge of good and evil, it is impossible for the knowledge of good and evil to be erased.
However, what you need to know clearly is that you must accurately diagnose what happens when humans live with the knowledge of good and evil. This is because you will be able to know whether your actions or attitudes are derived from knowledge of good and evil or beliefs.
The only thing God forbade the first humans to do was not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Here we are asking why God specifically forbids human beings from knowing good and evil. Have you ever wondered why? God hated human beings knowing good and evil so much that He took the tree of life from them. What would be the reason?
Human beings are ignorant of good and evil, meaning that they do not choose right or wrong for themselves. When human beings choose right and wrong for themselves, they decide their own actions. 'Do this because this is good, and don't do that because it is evil' You always act according to your own good and evil standards without being controlled by anyone. And the more good deeds are repeated, the more goodness accumulates, and in the end, goodness becomes the basis for self-evaluation. This is the opposite of grace.
Humans live by the grace of God. To live by grace means to live by the grace of God, not by human actions. However, people who know good and evil keep looking at the good they have built up. And people who know good and evil are the ones who think they can enjoy this much thanks to the good they have accumulated. In the end, life is only given to those who know grace, and life is not worthwhile for humans who have come to exist in the way of good and evil, not the way of grace. This is because, when you give life to such a human being, in the end, there is nothing but grace, but 'because I was good, you made me enjoy life'. This is the heart of God that hated the knowledge of good and evil.
It is God's immutable law that only those who know grace can enjoy life. Again, the declaration that all human beings are under sin must not be forgotten that nothing good can come from human beings, and therefore there is nothing in human beings that can be a condition of salvation.
So verse 19 says, “Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be shut and the whole world may be brought under the judgment of God.” This verse reveals the purpose of the law as telling the law to man. The law is said to shut the mouths of all who are under the law. Closing your mouth means that you won't be able to say anything. According to the law, all those who come to God with the so-called good or bad will be pushed to judgment.
People try to prove their beliefs for themselves. By giving alms, we try to confirm our faith, and by serving and donating, we have the conviction that 'I am also a person of faith'. But faith is not proven by humans. If belief can be proven and demonstrated through human actions, it means that humans have the ability to create beliefs in the first place. Faith is not proved by man, but faith is proved by faith. In other words, we prove ourselves by choosing people without faith to show us what faith is that leads us to life, and that that faith clearly exists. However, it is the reality of today's Christianity that human beings jump into it and set it up by saying, 'I will try.' We are making the Holy Spirit do nothing, making the faith that the Lord has given us useless, and making the God who controls all our lives a scarecrow. This is human behavior based on the standard of good and evil.
This error can be found in many believers. When we say, 'We are not saved by doing good deeds,' we say, 'Who does not know that? I do not think that I am saved by doing good deeds,' but in the end, they do not know that what separates Christian behavior is itself a result of the mindset of being saved by good deeds. If we separate the act of a believer, it will be concluded that a person who does not have the act of a believer in his/her own opinion has no faith. Wouldn't that lead to the conclusion that we are not saved?
Please remember that verse 20 clearly declares the function of the law, "Therefore by the works of the law no flesh will be justified before him, by the law the knowledge of sin." The law makes us speechless when it comes to good. It only brings out the sins hidden within us and prevents us from showing off what we call 'I'm good'. Those who open their mouths and shout loudly in front of the Law will be judged by God according to the Law. Under the law, all human beings cannot escape judgment. Isn't it the grace of Christ that freed us from that law and set us free from judgment? So all we have to do is to thank and show the grace of Christ. All of our lives are opportunities and instruments to show the grace of Christ.