¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says, it is speaking to those who are “in the law.” The purpose of this is that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be brought to the bar of God’s judgment. ²⁰ No mere mortal, you see, can be declared to be in the right before God on the basis of the works of the law. What you get through the law is the knowledge of sin.

The unveiling of God’s covenant justice

²¹ But now, quite apart from the law (though the law and the prophets bore witness to it), God’s covenant justice has been displayed.