In this final part of Paul’s polemic, he hammers the nails in the coffin of our self-justification and illustrates with finality how all, Jew and Gentile alike, are under sin’s power and without hope. It is only when we are rendered speechless by the gravity of our own sin that we are ready to move on to v21 and the BUT NOW of God. It is only when we have fully appreciated the bad news that we are ready to receive the gospel. That ‘works of the law’ will never save us, salvation is found only through faith in Jesus Christ.
