Romans 3:19-20, “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
Throughout history, people have become stuck on the LAW of God, never moving onto the GRACE of God. Many Bible students fail to comprehend this truth, which is why they get sucked into the damnable heresy of Lordship Salvation.
The Jews in particular had a hard time breaking away from trying to keep the law to be saved. Why did God give the law? You see, you cannot have darkness without light. You cannot have beauty without ugliness, nor high without low, nor truth without heresy, nor life without death. You cannot swim upstream until you've been downstream. Every positive needs its correspondence negative, and vise versa. Without God's LAW in the Old Testament, GRACE in the New Testament wouldn't make any sense! We need the law of God, that is, the Mosaic law, to show us our sinnership. Our text passage above gives us the purpose of the law, which is to stop every mouth from boasting of self-righteousness, and that all the world may become guilty before God.
Both Jesus and the apostle Paul spent much of their time trying to get Jews unsaved, so they could get them saved! That is, the Jews were stuck on keeping the law, failing to understand the purpose for which God gave the law. Instead of realizing that salvation can only come through God's grace, by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, they were still trying to keep the law to enter into the Kingdom of God. Let's take a look at someone in the New Testament who boasted of his own goodness, whose mouth needed to be stopped. Jesus used the law in the following Scripture passage to silence this young rich man from his self-righteous boasting, and it worked! ...
Luke 18:18-23, “And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. [HE'S BOASTING] Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich. [JESUS USED THE LAW TO SHOW THIS RICH YOUNG MAN THAT HE IS COVETOUS, AND THAT STOPPED HIS MOUTH FROM BOASTING.”
So the Lord was using the law as it
was intended to be used, which is, as a measuring stick by which when men are
compared, they fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23); thus seeing their
desperate condition as a guilty sinner in the sight of a holy God (Romans
3:19), they are pointed to the Gospel of free grace, which is through faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:24-26). Romans 3:19, “Now we know that
what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law:
that every mouth may be stopped [STOPPED FROM BOASTING], and
all the world may become guilty before God.”
Corrupt Preachers Who Are Stuck On the Law
Let
me list a few from the start: Paul Washer, Ray Comfort, Billy Graham and John
MacArthur (and there are many more). There are some very dangerous false
teachers today, who horribly misinterpret the interaction between Jesus and
the rich young ruler.
One such false teacher is Dr. John MacArthur, who says that the rich young ruler only wanted eternal life as an add on to what he already possessed, but he wasn't willing to surrender fully to live for God. Read for yourself the satanic garbage that MacArthur teaches about the rich young ruler...
“The bottom line is: He wanted eternal life, but he wasn't willing to give up his pride and his possessions. That's the bottom line! ... But there are very evident things here, that become crystal clear to us. Whatever Jesus was offering, was going to cost cost him his pride, and it was going to cost him his possessions, and the price was too high, even for eternal life. He wanted eternal life, only as an add-on to what he already possessed. He loved himself, not God. He loved earth, not Heaven. He loved the material, not the spiritual. The issue here is really salvation. It's about salvation!”
SOURCE: Dr. John MacArthur, YouTube sermon titled: The Blasphemy of the Rich Young Ruler.
BLASPHEMY!!! Folks, John MacArthur is not saved!!! He is the one who is blaspheming God! Mr. MacArthur is going straight to Hell when he dies if he doesn't repent of his works-based plan of salvation. Jesus was NOT giving the rich young ruler a plan of salvation; but rather, He was using the law to stop this young man from his self-righteous boasting. That is what the law does according to our text verse from Romans 3:19, “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.”
Ladies and gentleman, John MacArthur is a wolf in sheep's clothing! It breaks my heart to see countless multitudes of people being led them astray into the Lake of Fire by Mr. MacArthur. If you follow the teaching of John MacArthur, you are treading on thin ice. I admit that John MacArthur is brilliant in his deliverance, and in most of the subjects which he teaches, which makes him so dangerous. But if a man is wrong on repentance he is going to be wrong on everything else. If you get the first button wrong while getting dressed, all the other buttons are also going to be wrong. In other words, as good as Mr. MacArthur is in many of his teachings, you simply cannot trust him and should avoid him. Judas looked so convincing, that when Jesus told his disciples one of them was going to betray him, no one even suspected that it would be Judas. John 6:70 says that Judas had a devil in him, yet no one suspected him! I tell you, kindly, John MacArthur has a devil in him! Ray Comfort has a devil in him! Beware of Paul Washer, Billy Graham and other false teachers concerning salvation!
Evangelist Ray Comfort teaches the same exact damnable heresy as John MacArthur. In his horribly corrupt “The Evidence Bible,” he comments on page 1321 concerning the account of the rich young ruler...
“Jesus gave him five 'horizontal' Commandments having to do with his fellow man. When he said that he had kept them, Jesus then used the First of the Ten Commandments to show this man that his god was his money, and you cannot serve God and money.” [emphasis added]
SOURCE: Evangelist Ray Comfort, commentary for Luke 18:20, “The Evidence Bible,” pg. 1321; © 2003.
Ray Comfort lied! Go read Luke 18:18-27 and you WON'T find any mention of the FIRST of the Ten Commandments. Ray made that up in a lame attempt to support his heresy! Jesus only mentioned the TENTH Commandment, against covetousness. Like John MacArthur, Ray Comfort gets it wrong! They claim that the rich young ruler didn't get saved because he wasn't willing to forsake his sin of covetousness. That is not what is happening here! Jesus is using the law as it was intended to be used, to show this young man that he is a guilty sinner in God's eyes! A person cannot get saved until they admit they are a sinner in God's sight (1st John 1:10).
Carefully
notice that Ray Comfort associates not being able to serve God and mammon
(money) with salvation. This is gross theological incompetence!!! The love of
money (a sin) can certainly hinder a person from coming to Christ to be saved,
but there is no biblical requirement to forsake the sin of covetousness to be
saved. Serving mammon is a matter of discipleship, not sonship (salvation).
Repentance is the admission of one's sinnership in the sight of a holy God,
which facilitates placing one's trust in the Good News of Jesus Christ to be
saved. We don't get saved by repenting, we get saved by placing our trust in
the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but no one has
ever believed who didn't repent (i.e.,
change their mind).
Since Mr. Comfort cannot use the Bible to support his strawman argument of Lordship Salvation, he often attempts to use doctrinally-flawed men as a secondary authority. For example: Ray Comfort quotes from George Whitfield (another heretic on salvation), to try to prove his heresy. Proverbs 16:5, “Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.” Some of the greatest preachers in history are now burning in Hell forever; Matthew 7:21-23 proves what I say! Martin Luther is one of them! Anyone who believes that giving up the world or sinful ways is a requirement to be saved, IS NOT SAVED!!! Eternal life is a free gift, that you simply receive by faith alone in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:15, 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-9).
These modern-day prophets of Balaam are stuck on the law! The apostle Paul, just like Jesus, had a hard time convincing the Jews that they couldn't obtain salvation through keeping the law. Romans 2:13, “For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.” Paul saw that they were trying to merit salvation through keeping the Mosaic law. The problem is that no man can perfectly obey the law. So Paul tells them that not the HEARERS of the law will be justified, but the DOERS of the law! They weren't doing it! Paul tells them that they actually have to keep the law to obtain eternal life, which no man has ever done. Jesus Christ is the only sinless man, Who is the precious Lamb of God (John 1:29).
In Romans chapter 3, Paul teaches that “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10). Paul goes into detail in the verses to follow, describing the wickedness of mankind...
Romans 3:11-24, “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
Isn't that last verse beautiful?
Notice that after describing the rottenness of humanity, Paul upholds the
wondrous truth that through the precious blood of Jesus Christ any man can
find redemption! Any man can be freely justified by God's GRACE through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus!!! That is the great lesson that Paul was
teaching the Jews, not that by doing the law they could be justified
(Dan Corner and other heretics teach the latter). The adherents of Lordship
Salvation are stuck on Old Testament LAW! They have never moved on to GRACE.
They are caught between the Old and New Testaments, caught between LAW and
GRACE! If it's not free, it's not grace! If it's not eternal, it's not grace!
If it's not permanent, it's not grace! If it's not without works, it's not
grace! If you don't trust in Christ alone, because of what He did through the
cross to pay for your sins, believing that He raised up from the dead the
third day, you don't get grace!
The Law Stops Self-Righteous People from Boasting!
The
rich young ruler boasted to Jesus in Luke 18:21b,“All these have I kept
from my youth up.” When the young man first approached Jesus, he called
Him “Good Master”! Jesus replied, “Why
callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.”
This was a question, not a statement. Jesus wasn't saying that He Himself
wasn't good, he was asking the young man a question, to teach him something.
The Lord was challenging the young man's wrong perception that some people are
sinless. The Lord knew his heart. Jesus is trying to teach this young man that
he is a sinner, and not “good” as he thinks he is. Jesus even says that no one
is good, but God. And of course, Jesus is almighty God (John 10:33; John
8:52). The Lord pointed out the rich young ruler's sin of covetousness, his
love for wealth, which was a violation of God's law.
Theoretically, if any man could keep the law 100%, and never break it even one time, he could enter into the Kingdom of God; but the Bible plainly teaches in Romans 3:10b, “There is none righteous, no, not one.” Only Jesus Christ is without sin (2nd Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15).
How about you my friend, are you hung-up on the LAW? If there were anything you could do to be saved, then Christ died in vain! The whole reason why God sent His only begotten Son into the world, to die on the cross for our sins, is because there is NOTHING we can do to save ourselves. Satan is a beautiful liar, who for millenniums has been deceiving people to add works to faith, which is no faith at all. This was the error of Galatianism in the New Testament, as exposed in the Epistle of Galatians. The church Paul had started had been contaminated, infiltrated and bewitched by a satanic cult who added circumcision to the Gospel to be saved (Galatians 3:1-4). Paul said anyone is “accursed” by God if they believe “another gospel” (Galatians 1:6-9).
Please don't get stuck on the LAW. You can only be saved by God's GRACE, which is solely through faith in the redemption provided through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. Philippians 3:9, “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.”
