The righteousness of God in the Scriptures is not an attribute of God whereby He must render to each what is he has merited nor a quantity of merit which God gives, but is an act or activity of God whereby He puts or sets right that which is wrong. [1] Very often in the Old Testament, the Hebrew noun, tsedeq and tsedaqah, is derived from the Hebrew verb, tsadaq. [2] Although it is usually translated "to be righteous" or "to be justified," the verb has the primary meaning "to be in the right" rather than "to be righteous." (Gen. 38:26; Job 11:2; 34:5) [3] The causative form of the verb (hitsdiq) generally translated "to justify" means not "to make righteous" nor "to declare righteous" but rather "to put in the right" or "to set right." (Ezekiel 16:51-55). Thus it very often has the meaning "to vindicate" or "to give redress to" a person who has suffered wrong. Thus the Hebrew noun (tsedeq) usually translated "righteousness" means an act of vindication or of giving redress. When applied to God, the righteousness of God is God acting to put right the wrong, hence to vindicate and to deliver the oppressed. Thus in the Old Testament, the righteousness of God is the action of God for the vindication and deliverance of His people; it is the activity in which God saves His people by rescuing them from their oppressors.
"In thee, O Lord, do I seek refuge;Thus the righteousness of God is often a synonym for the salvation or deliverance of God. In the Old Testament, this is clearly shown by the literary device of parallelism which is a characteristic of Hebrew poetry. [4] Parallelism may be defined as that Hebrew literary device in which the thought and idea in one clause is repeated and amplified in a second and following clause. This parallelism of Hebrew poetry clearly shows that Hebrew poets and prophets made the righteousness of God synonymous with divine salvation:
let me never be put to shame;
in thy righteousness deliver me!" (Psa. 31:1)"In thy righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
incline thy ear to me, and save me!" (Psa. 71:2)"11 For thy name's sake, O Lord, preserve my life!
In thy righteousness bring me out of trouble!
12 And in thy steadfast love cut off my enemies.
and destroy all my adversaries,
for I am thy servant." (Psa. 143:11-12)
"The Lord hath made known His salvation:(See also Psa. 71:1-2, 15; 119:123; Isa. 45:8; 61:10; 62:1)
His righteousness hath he openly showed in the
sight of the heathen." (Psa. 98:2 KJV)"I bring near my righteousness,
it shall not be far off,
and my salvation shall not tarry;
and I will place salvation in Zion
for Israel my glory." (Isa. 46:13 KJV)"My righteousness is near,
my salvation is gone forth,
and mine arms shall judge the people;
the isles shall wait upon me,
and on mine arm shall they trust."
(Isa. 51:5 KJV)"Thus saith the Lord, keep ye judgment
and do justice [righteousness]:
for my salvation is near to come,
and my righteousness to be revealed."
(Isa. 56:1 KJV)
The righteous acts of the Lord, or more literally, the righteousnesses of the Lord, referred to in Judges 5:11; I Sam. 12:7-11; Micah 6:3-5; Psa. 103:6-8; Dan. 9:15-16, means the acts of vindication or deliverance which the Lord has done for His people, giving them victory over their enemies. It is in this sense that God is called "a righteous God and a Savior" (Isa. 45:21 RSV, NAS, NIV) and "the Lord our righteousness" (Jer. 23:5-6; 33:15-16).
A judge or ruler is "righteous", in the Hebrew meaning of the word, not because he observes and upholds an abstract standard of Justice, but rather because he comes to the assistance of the injured person and vindicates him. For example, in Psalm 82:2-4:
"2 How long will you judge unjustly
And show partiality to the wicked?
3 Vindicate the weak and fatherless;
Do justice [judgment] to the afflicted and destitute.
4 Rescue the weak and needy;
Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked."
(NAS. See also Psa. 72:4; 76:9; 103:6; 146:7; Isa. 1:17.)
For the judge to act this way is to show righteousness.
A judge in the Old Testament is not one whose business it
is to interpret the existing law or to give an impartial
verdict in accordance with the established law of the land,
but rather he is a deliverer and thus a leader and savior
as in the book of Judges (Judges 1:16-17; 3:9-10). His
duty and delight is to set things right, to right the
wrong; his "judgments" are not words but acts, not legal
verdicts but the very active use of God's right arm.
The two functions of a judge are given in Psalm 75:7:
"But God is the judge: he puts down one and exalts another."
Since this is a statement concerning God as a judge,
it could be taken as a general definition of a Biblical judge.
In Psa. 72:1-4, these two functions of Biblical judge are
given to the king of Israel:
"1 Give the king thy judgment, O God,These same two functions are ascribed to the future ruler of Israel, the Messiah, according to Isaiah 11:3-5:
and thy righteousness unto the king's son.
2 He shall judge thy people with righteousness,
and thy poor with judgment.
3 The mountains shall bring peace to the people,
and the little hills, by righteousness.
4 He shall judge the poor of the people,
he shall save the children of the needy,
and break in pieces the oppressor."
(Psa. 72:1-4 KJV)
"3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.His righteousness is shown in His judging the poor, that is, in the vindication of those who are the victims of evil, the poor and meek of the earth, and in the smiting of the wicked who oppress them.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear;
4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall smite the earth with a rod of his mouth;
and with the breath of his lips He shall slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist
and faithfulness the girdle of his loins."
There is a difference between the righteousness of God in the Old Testament and that in the New Testament. In the Old Testament the righteousness of God is the vindication of the righteous who are suffering wrong (Ex. 23:7). God vindicates the righteous who are wrongfully oppressed. In the Old Testament the righteousness of God requires a real righteousness of the people on whose part it is done. In Isa. 51:7 the promise of deliverance is addressed to those "who know righteousness, the people in whose hearts is my law." Similarly, in order to share in the promised vindication, the wicked must forsake his ways and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and return unto the Lord (Isa. 55:7). In the New Testament, the righteousness of God is not only a vindication of a righteous people who are being wrongfully oppressed (this view is in Jesus' teaching in Matt. 5:6; 6:33; Luke 18:7), but is also a deliverance of the people from their own sins; it is also the salvation of the ungodly who are delivered from their ungodliness (trust in a false god) and unrighteousness. The righteousness of God saves the unrighteous by setting them right with God Himself through faith (Rom. 1:17a).
The righteousness of God is not opposed to the love of God nor does it condition it. On the contrary, it is a part of and the proper expression of God's love. It is the activity of God's love to set right the wrong. In the Old Testament, this is shown by the parallelism between love and righteousness.
"But the steadfast love of the Lord is fromGod expresses His love as righteousness in the activity by which He saves His people from their sins. In His wrath, He opposes the sin that would destroy man whom He loves. In His grace, He removes the sin. The grace of God is the love of God in action to bring salvation.
everlasting to everlasting upon those who fear him,
and His righteousness to children's children."
(Psa. 103:17; see also Psa. 33:5; 36:5-6; 40:10; 89:14.)
"4 But God, who is rich in mercy,Thus the grace of God may properly be called the righteousness of God. For in His love, God acts to deliver His people from their sins, setting them right with Himself.
out of the great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses,
made us alive together with Christ
(by grace you have been saved)."
(Eph. 2:4-5)"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men."
(Titus 2:11 NIV).
The righteousness of God must be carefully distinguished from the righteousness from God, that is, the righteousness man receives from God through faith. Paul writes in his letter to the Philippians,
"8b For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things,The righteousness from God is not the righteousness of God. These are different though related ideas and must be carefully distinguished. The righteousness from God is the righteousness of faith (Rom. 4:13) which is that right personal relationship to God that results from faith in the true God (Rom. 4:3). To trust in God is to be righteous (Rom. 4:5).
in order that I may gain Christ
9and be found in him,
not having a righteousness of my own, based on law,
but that which is through faith,
the righteousness from [ek] God that depends upon [epi] faith,..."
(Phil. 3:8b-9).
"3 For what does the scripture say?The righteousness of God, on the other hand, is God acting to set man right with God Himself and, as we have seen above, is synonymous with salvation.
'Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.'
4Now to one who works,
his wages are not reckoned as a gift but as his due.
5And to the one who does not work
but trusts him who justifies the ungodly,
his faith is reckoned as righteousness....
13The promise to Abraham and his descendants,
that they should inherit the world,
did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith."
(Rom. 4:3-5, 13)
The righteousness of God (salvation) has been manifested (publicly displayed) in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
"21 But now apart from lawThe gospel tells us about this act of God, about this manifestation of the righteousness of God.
the righteousness of God has been manifested,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets,
22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ
for all those who believe; for there is no distinction;
23 for all have sinned, and are in need of the glory of God,
24 being set right as a gift by His grace
through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;
25whom God set forth as a propitiation
through faith in His blood.
This was to show forth His righteousness
through the passing over sins in the past in the forebearance of God,
26 for the showing forth of His righteousness in present time,
that He is righteous and the One setting right
the one having faith in Jesus."
(Rom. 3:21-25 ERS).
And in the preaching of the gospel, the righteousness of God is also being continually revealed or actualized. That is, God is exerting His power for the salvation of man in the preaching of the gospel.
"16For I am not ashamed of the gospel:The gospel is not only about the righteousness of God manifested in the past on our behalf, but in the gospel the righteousness of God is being continually revealed in the present. The revelation in Rom. 1:17 is not just a disclosure of truth to be understood by the mind, but it is a working that makes effective and actual that which is revealed. [5] Hence, the revelation of the righteousness of God is that working of God that makes effective and actual that which is revealed, the righteousness of God. In other words, the revelation of the righteousness of God is the actualization of God's salvation. And the righteousness of God is revealed when the salvation of God is made actual and real, that is, when salvation or deliverance takes place. In the preaching of the gospel, there is taking place continually in the present an actualization of the righteousness of God. That is, salvation or deliverance is taking place as the gospel is preached. This is the reason that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. (Rom. 1:16. Compare Rom. 1:16-17a with Isa. 56:1 which is no doubt the source of Paul's concepts and words in these verses.)
for it is the power of God unto salvation
to all who believe, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
17For in it [the gospel] the righteousness of God
is being revealed from faith unto faith" (Rom. 1:16-17a ERS).
[2] C. H. Dodd, The Epistle of Paul to the Romans
(London and Glasgow: Fontana Books, 1959), p. 38.
[3] C. H. Dodd, The Bible and the Greeks
(London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1964), p. 46.
[4] Edward J. Young, An Introduction to the Old Testament
(Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1950), pp. 281-282.
See also Gleason L. Archer, Jr.,
A Survey of Old Testament Introduction
(Chicago: Moody Press, 1964), pp. 418-420.
[5] Burton on Galatians in the ICC
in contrasting phaneroo and apokalupto points out that
"for some reason apokalupto
has evidently come to be used especially of a subjective
revelation, which either takes place wholly within the mind
of the individual receiving it, or is subjective in the
sense that it is accompanied by actual perception and
results in knowledge on his part:
Rom. 8:18; I Cor. 2:10; 14:30; Eph. 3:5."
Ernest deWitt Burton,
A Critical and Exegetical Commentary
on the Epistle to the Galatians, in
The International Critical Commentary
(New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1896), p. 433.
He goes on to say that
"phaneroo throws emphasis on the fact that that
which is manifested is objectively clear, open to perception.
It is thus suitably used of an open and public announcement,
disclosure or exhibition:
I Cor. 4:5; II Cor. 2:14; 4:10-11; Eph. 5:13." Ibid.
The use of the word apokalupto
by Paul in Rom. 1:17 thus seems to place an emphasis on
something happening to the individual receiving the
revelation. The word "subjective" is probably not the right
word to use to describe this event because it suggests that
the source of revelation is from within the individual, the
subject. Clearly the revelation that Paul is speaking of is
from without the individual, from God. But it does make a
difference, a change; a response does take place in the
person receiving the revelation. It does bring about that
which is revealed, salvation.
Faith is the actualization of the salvation of God. Faith is not the means nor the condition of salvation but is the actualization of salvation. Salvation is not a thing which is received by faith but is God's activity of deliverance which produces faith and is accomplished in that faith. This is expressed by Paul in Romans 1:17 in a twofold way: "from faith unto faith". These two prepositional phrases modify the verb "being revealed", not the words "the righteousness of God." The revelation is "from faith unto faith."
In this decision of faith, those who believe are saved from death to life. To have faith in God is to believe in Jesus Christ, His Son (John 14:1; 6:29; 8:42; 5:38). And to believe in Jesus Christ is to receive spiritual life. For Jesus is the life (John 5:26; 6:33-35, 38-40, 57-58).
"11 And this is the testimonyTo have life is to have passed from death to life. Jesus said,
that God gave us eternal life,
and this life is in His Son.
12 He who has the Son has life;
he who has not the Son of God has not life."
(I John 5:11-12)
"Truly, truly, I say to you,The one who believes has passed from death to life because he has in the decision of faith also identified himself with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christ identified Himself with us in death; He entered into our spiritual death on the cross and died physically for us. His death was our death. In faith, we accept His death as our death and identify ourselves with His death. But since God has raised Jesus from the dead, so also are we made alive with Christ. His resurrection is our resurrection. In faith we, identify ourselves with Him and His resurrection. To receive life in Christ is to be raised from the dead with Him. To pass from death to life is to have died and been raised with Jesus from the dead. We are now spiritually alive in Him. We have entered into fellowship with God and are now reconciled to God. As the gospel is preached, God exerts His power and men are made alive, raised from the dead.
he who hears my word and
believes Him who sent me has eternal life;
he does not come into judgment,
but has passed from death to life."
(John 5:24)
"Truly, truly, I say to you,When the good news of the death and resurrection of Jesus for us is proclaimed, God speaks to men, revealing Himself in Jesus Christ. Those who hear and believe in Jesus are made alive in Him, being raised from the dead. They are reconciled to God (II Cor. 5:20). They are saved from death to life.
the hour is coming and now is
when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God,
and those who hear will live." (John 5:25)
But in the decision of faith, men are not only saved from death to life but also from sin to righteousness. To have faith in God is to acknowledge Jesus as Lord. In general, faith is not just belief that certain statements are true but is one's commitment and allegiance to something or someone as one's own personal ultimate criterion of all decisions, intellectual and moral. Saving faith in Jesus Christ is the commitment of oneself to Jesus Christ as one's own personal ultimate criterion ("My Lord and my God," John 20:28). The living person, the resurrected Jesus Christ, not just what He taught, in the decision of faith becomes our ultimate criterion. This is what it means to acknowledge Jesus as Lord. This decision of faith is a turning from false gods (idols) to the living and true God (I Thess. 1:10). As faith in a false god is sin, so faith in the true God is righteousness.
"3 ...'Abraham believed God, and it [his faith]To believe God that He raised Jesus from the dead is to be righteous.
was reckoned to him as righteousness.'...
5 But to the one who does not work,
but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly,
his faith is reckoned as righteousness."
(Rom. 4:3, 5 NAS).
"23 Now not for his sake only was it written,To acknowledge and confess Jesus as Lord is to believe God that He raised Him from the dead.
that it was reckoned to him,
24 but for our sake also, to whom it will be reckoned,
as those who believe in Him
who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead."
(Rom. 4:23-24 NAS).
"9 That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord,To believe God that He raised from the dead Jesus, who in faith we confess as Lord, is to be righteous. Thus, this decision of faith is salvation from sin to righteousness.
and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead,
you Will be saved;
10 for with the heart man believes unto righteousness,
and with the mouth he confesses unto salvation."
(Rom. 10:9-10 ERS).
But in this decision of faith, men are not only saved from death to life and from sin to righteousness but also from wrath to peace. Since the wrath of God -- God's "no" or opposition to sin -- is caused by sin (trust in a false god) (Rom.1:18), the removal of this sin brings with it also the removal of the wrath of God; no sin, no wrath. Now faith in Christ is also faith in the death of Christ for us; His death is our death. Since Christ's death was the means that God has provided for turning away His wrath -- his death is a propitiation for our sins --, faith in Christ's death turns away God's wrath.
"24 Being set right freely by his graceFaith in Christ's death (his blood) turns away God's wrath, since God has appointed His sacrificial death as the means to turn away God's wrath. The result is peace with God; God is no longer opposed to man's sin, since the sin has been removed by Christ's death and resurrection.
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 whom God set forth as a propitiation
through faith in his blood...."
(Rom. 3:24-25; ERS).
"Being therefore set right by faith,Thus, this decision of faith in Christ's death is also salvation from wrath to peace with God.
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."
(Rom. 5:1 ERS)"Much more then, being set right by his blood,
we shall be saved from wrath through him."
(Rom. 5:9 ERS)
The revelation of the righteousness of God ( Rom. 1:17) is also called justification ( Rom. 3:24). As we have seen, the righteousness of God is the act or activity of God whereby God sets man right with God Himself. Hence the revelation of the righteousness of God is this act of setting right, and this act of setting right is called justification. Justification is not just a pronouncement about something but is an act that brings about something; it is not just a declaration that a man is righteous before God but is a setting of a man right with God: a bringing him into a right relationship with God. Justification is then essentially salvation: to justify is to save (Isa. 45:25; 53:11; see Rom. 6:7 where dikaioo is translated "freed" in RSV). [1] This close relationship between these two concepts is more obvious in the Greek because the words translated "justification" and "righteousness" have the same roots, not two different roots as do the two English words.
Since salvation is from death to life (reconcilation), from sin to righteousness (redemption), and from wrath to peace with God (propitiation), these are the three aspects of salvation. And these three aspects of salvation are the three aspects of justification.
The righteousness of God is God acting in love for the
salvation or deliverance of man. God has acted in the
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the salvation of
man from death, sin and wrath. Since wrath is caused by
sin (Rom. 1:18) and sin by death (Rom. 5:12d ERS), salvation
is basically from death to life and then from sin to
righteousness and then from wrath to peace with God.
Reconciliation is salvation from death to life;
redemption is salvation from sin to righteousness; and
propitiation is salvation from wrath to peace with God.
These three aspects of salvation are accomplished
through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This threefold act of God for the salvation of man is
the righteousness of God.
There is a difference between justification in the Old Testament and that in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, justification is the vindication of the righteous who are suffering wrong (Ex. 23:7). God justifies, that is, vindicates the righteous who are wrongfully oppressed. Justification requires a real righteousness of the people on whose part it is done. In Isa. 51:7, the promise of deliverance is addressed to those "who know righteousness, the people in whose hearts is my law." Similarly, in order to share in the promised vindication, the wicked must forsake his ways and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and return unto the Lord (Isa. 55:7). However, in the New Testament, justification is not only a vindication of a righteous people who are being wrongfully oppressed but is also a deliverance of the people from their own sins. Thus, Paul says that God is He "that justifies the ungodly" (Rom. 4:5). In the New Testament, justification is not just a vindication of the righteous who has been wronged (this view is in Jesus' teaching in Matt. 5:6; 6:33; Luke 18:7), but is also the salvation of the ungodly who are delivered from their ungodliness and unrighteousness. [2] But justification not only saves the ungodly from their sins, it also brings them into the righteousness of faith. To be set right with God is to have faith in God. "Abraham believed God, and it [his faith] was reckoned unto him for righteousness" (Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4:3, 9; cf. Rom. 10:9; Phil. 3:9). Justification as God's act of setting man right with Himself brings man into faith, which is to be in right relationship with God. Thus justification is through faith (dia pisteos, Rom. 3:30; Gal. 2:16) and out of or from faith (ek pisteos, Rom. 3:26, 30; Gal. 2:16; 3:8, 24).
But justification as salvation is not only the deliverance from sin to righteousness but also the deliverance from wrath to peace and from death to life. Justification as deliverance from wrath to peace is set forth by the Apostle Paul in Romans 3:24-25:
"24 Being justified freely by His grace,Here Paul connects justification with redemption, the liberation aspect of salvation, and with propitiation, the sacrificial aspect of salvation. Redemption is the deliverance from sin by the payment of a price called a ransom which is the death of Jesus Christ. And propitiation is the deliverance from the wrath of God by the sacrificial death of Jesus ("His blood") which turns away or averts the wrath of God through faith in that sacrifice ("through faith in His blood"). Christ's death as a propitiation turns away God's wrath from the one who has faith in that sacrifice. The wrath is turned away because the sin has been taken away ("forgiveness") by the death of Christ as a ransom, by which a man is redeemed or set free, delivered from sin. When sin has been removed, there is no cause for God's wrath. No sin, no wrath. Man is saved from wrath because he is saved from sin.
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation,
through faith in His blood..."
(KJV; see also Isa. 32:17)
"Being justified freely by faith we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Rom. 5:1)"Much more then, being justified by His blood,
we shall be saved through Him from the wrath of God."
(Rom. 5:9)
Justification is also deliverance from death to life. Man is delivered from sin to the righteousness of faith because he is delivered from death to life. As sinners, we were enemies of God, but through the death of God's Son we have been reconciled to God and are now no longer enemies. To be reconciled to God means we have passed from death to life and we are saved in His resurrected life (Rom. 5:10; see II Cor. 5:17-21). We are delivered from death by being "made alive together with Him" in His resurrection (Eph. 2:5). He was "raised for our justification" (Rom. 4:25). Thus justification is "justification of life" (Rom. 5:18 KJV). To be set right with God is to enter into fellowship with God. And this right personal relationship to God is life. Justification puts us into right personal relationship to God and hence is a justification of life. Fellowship with God is established when God reveals Himself to man in the preaching of the gospel and man responds to that revelation in faith. Life is a personal relationship between God and man that results from this revelation and the faith that response to it. Apart from this revelation, the response of faith is not possible, and this revelation is the offer of life and the possibility of faith. But life is not actual unless man responds in faith to this revelation of God Himself. Life is received in the act of faith. Since God's act of revelation is first, and man's response in faith is second and depends upon God's revelation, life results in the righteousness of faith and man is righteous because of life. Justification as the revelation of the righteousness of God brings about life and the righteousness of faith.
Justification is the free act of God's grace ( Rom. 3:24; Titus 3:7). The source of justification is the love of God. And the love of God in action to bring man salvation is the grace of God (Titus 2:11). Hence justification is the true expression of the grace of God and the act of the love of God. Because justification is a gift ( Rom. 3:24; 5:15-17), justification is free and is not something that can be earned (Rom. 4:4; 11:6). Being a free act of God's grace, justification has nothing to do with the works of the law (Rom. 3:20, 28; 4:6; Gal. 2:16; 3:11; see also Eph. 2:2-9; Phil. 3:9; 2 Tim. 1:9; Tit. 3:5).
[2] Dodd, The Epistle of Paul to the Romans, pp. 39-40.
