The righteousness of God is God acting in love for the salvation or deliverance of man. This righteousness of God has been manifested, that is, publicly displayed, in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:21-22). God was active in Jesus Christ, particularly in His death and resurrection, for salvation (Acts 4:12; I Thess. 5:9; I Tim. 2:10; 3:15; Heb. 5:9). Because He is the act of God for our salvation, Jesus Christ is the righteousness of God (I Cor. 1:30). The gospel or good news is about this manifestation of the righteousness of God. The gospel tells us about God's act of salvation in the person and work of Jesus Christ (I Cor. 15:3-4; Eph. 1:13). God acted in Him to deliver man from death, from sin, and from wrath. But since wrath is caused by sin and sin is caused by death, salvation is basically the deliverance from death to life. Man cannot make himself alive. Only God can make alive for He is the living God and the source of all life. Because God loves man, He did not leave him in death but has provided for deliverance from death by sending His Son into the world.
"For God so loved the world,Thus God in His love for man sent His Son to become a man -- Jesus Christ, the God-man (John 1:14). He was the perfect man; He lived perfect fellowship with God and perfectly trusted God throughout His entire life (John 1:4; 8:28-29; 12:50; 16:32; 17:25). But He came not just to be what we should have been or to give us a perfect example. He came to die on our behalf in order that we might have life in Him.
that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth on him should not perish,
but have eternal life." (John 3:16 KJV)
"10 I came that they might have life,He entered not only into our existence as man, but he entered into our condition of spiritual and physical death. On the cross He died not only physically but spiritually. For only this once during His whole life was He separated from His Father. "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matt. 27:46 KJV) He was forsaken for us; He died for us. "Hereby know we love, because he laid down his life for us" (I John 3:16).
and have it more abundantly.
11 I am the good shepherd:
the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep."
(John 10:10-11 KJV)"In this was manifested the love of God toward us,
because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world
that we might live through him."
(I John 4:9)}
But God raised Him from the dead. He entered into our death in order that as He was raised from the dead we might be made alive with and in Him (Eph. 2:5). Hence Christ's death was our death, and His resurrection is our resurrection (II Cor. 5:15). He became identified with us in death in order that we might become identified with Him in His resurrection and have life. He became like us that we might become like Him. As Irenaeus said,
"...but following the only true and steadfast teacher,He tasted death for every man (Heb. 2:9).
the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ,
who did, through His transcendent love, become what we are,
that He might bring us to be even what He is Himself." [1]
"14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood,He acted as our representative, on our behalf and for our sake.
he himself likewise partook of the same nature,
that through death he might destroy him
that has the power of death, that is the devil,
15 and deliver all those who through fear of death
were subject to lifelong bondage." (Heb. 2:14-15)
"For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge,Adam acting as a representative brought the old creation under the reign of death. But Christ acting as our representative brought a new creation in which those "who have received the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life (Rom. 5:17).
that one died for [on the behalf, huper] all,
therefore all died," (II Cor. 5:14)
that is, in Christ who represents all.
"21 For since by man came death,
by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die,
even so in Christ shall all be made alive."
(I Cor. 15:21-22)"Wherefore if any man is in Christ,
he is a new creature:
the old things are passed away;
behold, they are become new." (II Cor. 5:17)[Jesus said,] "Because I live ye shall live also."
(John 14:19 KJV)
Acting through our representative, God has reconciled us to Himself through Him, that is, God has brought us into fellowship with Himself.
"18 But all things are of God,
who reconciled us to himself through Christ...
19 to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself."
(II Cor. 5:18-19; see also Rom. 5:10-11; I Cor. 1:9; I John 1:2-3.)
This representative work of Christ should not be understood as a vicarious act instead of another, but as a participation, a sharing in the act of another. Christ took part or shared our situation. He entered not only into our existence as a man, but also into our condition of spiritual and physical death. On the cross He died not only physically but also spiritually (Matt. 26:46). We were reconciled to God through the death of Christ because He shared in our death (Rom. 5:10; Heb. 2:9). But He was raised from the dead, and that on behalf of all men (II Cor. 5:15). He was raised from the dead so that we might participate in His resurrection and be made alive with Him (Eph. 2:5-7). His resurrection is our resurrection. He was raised from dead for us so that we might participate in His resurrection and life, both spiritual and physical, in Him. Since spiritual death is no fellowship with God, being made alive with Christ we are brought into fellowship with God. Hence we are reconciled to God (Rom. 5:10; II Cor. 5:17-19). Reconciliation can therefore be defined as that aspect of salvation whereby man is delivered from death to life. The source of this act of reconciliation is the love of God. It is a legalistic misunderstanding of reconciliation which says that God was reconciled to man. The Scriptures never say that God is reconciled to man but that man is reconciled to God (Rom. 5:10; II Cor. 5:18-19). The problem is not in God but in man. Man is the enemy of God; God is not the enemy of man. God loves man, and out of His great love He has acted to reconcile man to Himself through the death and resurrection of Christ. It is true that God in His wrath opposes man's sin and in His grace has provided a means by which His wrath may be turned away. But this aspect of salvation is propitiation, not reconciliation. Reconciliation should not be confused with propitiation. God in reconciling man to Himself has saved man from death, the cause of sin, and hence has removed sin, the cause of His wrath -- no sin, no wrath. Reconciliation is salvation from death to life.
Salvation may be viewed in three different ways.
(1) First, from the point of view of family,
it is the new birth. We have been born into God's family;
we are now children of God (John 1:12-13).
(2) Second, from the point of view of creation,
salvation is new creation. We are now new creatures in
Christ (II Cor. 5:17).
(3) Finally, from the point of reconciliation,
salvation is resurrection from the dead.
We who were dead are now alive in Christ (Eph. 2:5).
Because He lives, we are now alive (John 14:19).
Life is not a "thing," but it is a person -- Jesus.
Jesus, God's Son, is the life (John 14:6).
And to know Him personally is to have
eternal life. Jesus prayed,
"This is eternal life,To know Him personally is to have Him. And "he that has the Son has life and he that has not the Son has not life" (I John 5:12). If we have God's Son, we are alive to God; we have eternal life; we have been raised from the dead, spiritually; we are saved. Salvation is first of all from death to life.
that they may know thee the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3).
God not only acted in Jesus Christ to reconcile us to Himself, that is, to deliver us from death unto life, but also to redeem us from sin.
"In Whom [Christ] we have our redemption through his blood,The redemption that is in Christ (Rom. 3:24) is deliverance from sin by the payment of a price which is the blood of Christ, that is, His death.
the forgiveness of our trespasses,
according to the riches of his grace"
(Eph. 1:7; see also Col. 1:14).
"18 Knowing that ye were redeemed not with corruptible things,According to Eph. 1:7 and Col. 1:14 redemption is equivalent to forgiveness of sins. But the basic meaning of the Greek word here translated "to forgive" is "to send off or away." Hence to forgive one's sins is send them away. Jesus was manifested in order to take away sins (I John 3:5). He is "the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).
with silver or gold,
from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers;
19 but with the precious blood,
as of a lamb without blemish and without spot,
even the blood of Christ."
(I Pet. 1:18-19; see also Heb. 9:14-15)
This redemption from sin was accomplished by the death of Jesus Christ because His death is also the means by which we were delivered from death, the cause of sin. Since spiritual death leads to sin (Rom. 5:12d ERS), sin reigns in the sphere of death's reign (Rom. 5:21). And since Christ's death is the end of the reign of death for those who died with Christ, it is also the end of the reign of sin over them. They are no longer slaves of sin, serving false gods. We were all slaves of sin once, serving our false gods when we were spiritually dead, alienated and separated from the True God, not knowing Him personally. But we were set free from this slavery to sin through the death of Christ. For when Christ died, He died to sin (Rom. 6:10a) as a slave master. Sin no longer has dominion or lordship over Him. For he who has died is freed from sin (Rom. 6:7). That is, when a slave dies, he is no longer in slavery, death frees him from slavery. Since Jesus died for all, then all have died (II Cor. 5:14). His death is our death. Since we have died with Him and He has died to sin, then we have died to sin. We are freed from the slavery of sin and are no longer enslaved to it (Rom. 6:6-7). But now Christ is alive, having been raised from the dead, and we are alive to God in Him. His resurrection is our resurrection. "But the life He lives He lives to God" (Rom. 6:10b). This is the life of righteousness. And so we who are now alive to God in Him are to live to righteousness. For just as death leads to sin, so life leads to righteousness.
"And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross,Having been redeemed from the slavery of sin through the death of Christ, we who are now alive in Him have become slaves of righteousness (Rom. 6:17-18). Redemption is salvation from sin to righteousness.
that we might die to sin and live righteousness;
for by His wounds you were healed." (I Pet. 2:24)
Now that God has redeemed us from sin, we also are delivered from the wrath of God. Salvation is not only deliverance from sin but also deliverance from the wrath of God (Rom. 5:9). God put forth Jesus Christ as a propitiation through faith in His blood (Rom. 3:25). The death of Jesus Christ is a propitiation because it is the means that God has appointed for turning away His wrath from man. While God in His love could have mercy on man and turn away His wrath from man (Psa. 78:38; Exodus 34:6; Numbers 14:19-20), He has appointed means whereby His wrath will be turned away. In the Old Testament God's appointed means for turning away His wrath were the sacrifices and offerings. When these sacrifices were offered in true repentance and faith, they were an atonement or propitiation. But the Old Testament sacrifices could never take away sin (Heb. 10:4,11). On the contrary, there is in those sacrifices a continual remembrance of sin year by year (Heb. 10:3). That is, the worshippers, not having been cleansed of their sins, still have a consciousness of sin (Heb. 10:2). Therefore, those that draw near could never be made perfect by those sacrifices (Heb. 10:1). But Christ has put away sin once for all by the sacrifice of Himself (Heb. 9:26; 10:12), and has made perfect them that are being sanctified or set apart to God (Heb. 10:14). Now there is no more remembrance of sins (Heb. 10:17) since those drawing near having been cleansed from their sins have no more consciousness of sins (Heb. 10:22). It was to accomplish our cleansing for sin that Christ "gave Himself for our sins" (Gal. 1:4) and "died for our sins" (I Cor. 15:3). God acted in Jesus Christ to to redeem us from sin.
The Old Testament sacrifices could never take away sin (Heb. 10:4,11), that is, they could not bring about repentance and faith, because they could not make alive (Gal. 3:21). The Old Testament sacrifices could not reconcile man to God. But through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ man is reconciled to God and his sins are taken away. And since there are no sins to cause wrath, the wrath of God is turned away. Thus Christ's death is the perfect sacrifice for turning away God's wrath because by it man is redeemed from sin. Christ's death is a propitiation because it is a redemption; it is both a propitiation and a redemption. Propitiation is the sacrificial aspect of Christ's work of salvation. Redemption is the liberation aspect of Christ's work of salvation. And it is a propitiation and a redemption because it is a reconciliation to God. Being made alive to God, the cause of sin and wrath has been removed.
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.
These three aspects of salvation are accomplished through
the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
(1) Propitiation is the sacrificial aspect of His work,
(2) redemption is the liberation aspect of His work, and
(3) reconciliation is the representative aspect of His work of
salvation.
This threefold act of God for the salvation of man
is the righteousness of God. The righteousness of God
(salvation) has been manifested (publicly displayed) in the
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:21-26).
The gospel tells us about this act of God, about this
manifestation of the righteousness of God. And in the preaching
of the gospel the righteousness of God is being continually
revealed or actualized (Rom. 1:17). That is, God is
exerting His power for the salvation of man in the preaching
of the gospel (Rom. 1:16).
But the gospel is not only about the righteousness of God manifested in the past on our behalf, but in it the righteousness of God is being continually revealed in the present.
"For in it [the gospel] the righteousness of GodRevelation in this verse 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. 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 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. 1:16-17 with Isa. 56:1 which is no doubt the source of Paul's concepts and words in these verses.)
is being revealed from faith unto faith" (Rom. 1:17a ERS).
[1] Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book V,
preface Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, ed.
The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol.1,
The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus
(Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1956), p. 526.
