Who becomes guilty before God?
The whole world—Jew and Gentile alike—becomes guilty before God. The Law was given to Israel, but as the Law of the sovereign Creator, its influence reaches to the ends of the earth. Every mouth is stopped; no one can claim innocence, for God's Law declares sin to be against His will.
Les explains that the Law was given directly to the nation of Israel, not to the Gentile world. Yet because it is the Law of the sovereign Creator God, its influence extends to the ends of the earth. So every mouth is stopped, and even a Gentile cannot say he never did anything wrong after stealing, because God's Law says stealing is against His will. All the world, not just Israel, becomes guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the Law no flesh, Jew or Gentile, will be justified, because the Law's one function is to show mankind how sinful they really are.
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.
More Questions
Why is the whole world guilty before God and not just Israel?
The law's effect is that every mouth is stopped and all the world, not just Israel, becomes guilty before God, so even a Gentile cannot claim he did nothing wrong when he steals.
Does Romans 3:19 say the world becomes righteous or guilty before God?
According to Romans 3:19, what the world becomes before God is guilty, not righteous; many people wrongly think keeping the law will let them make it.