Gospel Words: Righteousness
You can also watch a video that deals with this topic: Righteousness.
This time we are looking at what it means to be righteous or be considered righteous before God. The basic idea is easy to understand, but I hope that by looking at how the word is used in more detail, we will find a deeper understanding and appreciation of the gospel in relation to righteousness.
The Greek word “righteous” is translated from is δικαία (dikaia) or variations on that word. This same word is also translated as just or right. For instance, in Philippians 1:7, it reads:
just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace.
Essentially, when we say that something is righteous, we are saying that it is the right thing. It is right in the sight of God. When we think of man being righteous, there are a few different ideas about that in the scriptures. Can man be righteous before God? Let’s take a look. We will also look at Old Testament passages that have this idea of righteousness.
Righteous Behaviour
Genesis 6:9
This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.
In the NASB, it is translated:
These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.
This tells us something about whether a man can be righteous or not. He can. Noah was. Some will argue that Noah was made to be righteous by God and did not have that capability in himself. The problem with that is found in our next passage:
Genesis 7:1
Then the Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.
God does not say here that He has made Noah righteous but rather He has seen that Noah was righteous. Other passages that demonstrate that there are righteous people in relation to their actions is found in the following scriptures.
Exodus 23:7
Keep yourself far from a false matter; do not kill the innocent and righteous. For I will not justify the wicked.
In this case, God is commanding the Israelites to judge properly. He talks about two groups of people they must not kill–those who have done nothing wrong (innocent) and those who have done what is right (righteous). Generally these are the same people, but looking at both sides of the issue. If God gives this command, then it must be possible for people to be innocent and righteous.
Psalm 7:8
The Lord shall judge the peoples; Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, And according to my integrity within me.
In this Psalm, David asks the Lord to judge him according to his righteousness and integrity. This is not the idea of just simply being seen as righteous even though he is not behaving in a righteous way. David is convinced (and says through the Holy Spirit) that he is righteous in his actions and integrity.
Proverbs also has the idea that there are righteous people and this righteousness is based on their thoughts, words, and actions.
Proverbs 12:5
The thoughts of the righteous are right, But the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.
Proverbs 8:8
All the words of my mouth are with righteousness; Nothing crooked or perverse is in them.
Proverbs 13:6
Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless, But wickedness overthrows the sinner.
One of the most powerful passages in talking about God’s treatment of man based on our actions is in Ezekiel 18.
Ezekiel 18:20-27
The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
“But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live. Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord God, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?
“But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.
“Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair? When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive.
God makes it clear that righteousness is a choice we must make. It is not something that just happens in our lives or some people are just naturally righteous and some are just naturally wicked. The wicked can choose to practice righteousness and the righteous can choose to practice wickedness. We must choose rightly.
The concept of people practicing righteousness did not change in the New Testament. Jesus holds us to a high standard of righteousness.
Matthew 5:20
For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
In the following verses, He demonstrates the problems with how the Pharisees viewed God’s law as something where only your actions mattered and your heart and words did not. Our righteousness must include our heart and words as well as our actions. When we leave the heart out, we are anuling some of God’s commandments as the Pharisees did.
Also in the New Testament, we find that there were people whom God considered to be righteous in their behavior. In writing about Zecharias and Elizabeth, Luke says:
Luke 1:6
And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
Here we find that they were righteous before God and this was because they were practicing righteousness. They were blameless in walking the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. What a wonderful thing to have the Holy Spirit say about you.
2 Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
In the word of God, we find instruction in righteousness. This involves being corrected. God has taught us how to live righteous lives. What a great blessing to know what the right thing is!
But can man really be righteous? What about passages like Romans 10:3?
Romans 3:10-12
As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.”
How does this match up with the things we have already read about people who were righteous? It is important when we look at these quotations in Romans to look at the original context and see what it is talking about. Look at Psalm 14.
Psalm 14:1-3
The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good.
He is talking about those who are fools and say in their hearts that there is no God. They are all wicked and none of them are righteous.
Psalm 14:4-6
Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, Who eat up my people as they eat bread, And do not call on the Lord? There they are in great fear, For God is with the generation of the righteous. You shame the counsel of the poor, But the Lord is his refuge.
Here he contrasts these wicked fools among whom none are righteous and contrasts them with his own people–the righteous. So what is Paul’s point? We find that back in Romans 3.
Romans 3:19-20
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Paul is making the point that this passage about the wicked, unrighteous fools is not constrained to the Gentiles. The Jews were just as guilty of falling into this category as the Gentiles. Having the law did not make them any more righteous. So, it is then possible to be righteous in the sight of God as a result of our own heart, words, and actions. Of course this was proven by Jesus, who did exactly this. However, none of us have or will fully achieve this.
1 John 1:8
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
The truth is that we have all sinned. We may be practicing righteousness now in the same way that Noah or Zecharias did. But if we have ever sinned, we cannot be truly righteous in the sight of God.
Imputed Righteousness
There is another way the Bible talks about us being righteous in the sight of God and that is not through doing everything right. It is the idea of righteousness being imputed or considered to be ours even though in ourselves we are not truly righteous.
The Greek word for impute or credit is λογίζομαι (logizomai). Strongs says that it means, “to reckon, to consider.” Let’s look at how this word is used in ways other than talking about righteousness.
Mark 15:28
So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with the transgressors.”
John 11:50
nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.”
Acts 19:27
So not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana may be despised (be regarded as worthless) and her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship.”
Romans 2:26
Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision?
Romans 9:8
That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.
These passages are useful to see that this word basically just means to think about something as something that it really isn’t. To consider something as true that in itself is not true. This same word is used in Romans 4.
Romans 4:3-8
For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.
But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”
So what is this saying about righteousness? It says that God can either consider us to have righteousness or consider us to have sin. It says that God does not really consider us righteous on account of works–that would mean that we behaved perfectly righteous at all times. Since we have sinned, we can only be considered righteous by being forgiven of our sins. This is how righteousness is imputed apart from works–it is not something we have earned by being perfectly righteous in our behavior but rather by being forgiven of our sins.
At the beginning, we saw that Noah was righteous in his behavior. However, even Noah was not fully righteous and needed forgiveness. That is why we read:
Hebrews 11:7
By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
We can have this same righteousness which is according to faith.
Philippians 3:9
and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;
We can have a righteousness from God by faith. We can be forgiven of our sins and considered righteous even though we do not deserve that description from God. The gospel provides for this righteousness.
However, this does not excuse the need to live righteously. This is not a righteousness based on faith where as long as we believe in Christ, we can live any way that we want to. Saving faith always leads to obedience.
Hebrews 10:38
Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”
We can be made righteous by faith in Christ and obedience to the gospel. But we must continue practicing righteousness by faith. If we shrink back, we will not be heirs of that righteousness.
There is a sense in which we are currently righteous. We have been forgiven and righteousness is counted to us. We are living righteously as the scriptures instruct us to do. But as 1 John 1 points out, we will never be fully without sin and always righteous in this life. Just as there is a hope of a final salvation in the future, there is a hope of a final righteousness we will receive–being declared righteous by God and never ever shrinking back.
Galatians 5:5
For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
2 Timothy 4:8
Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
Hebrews 12:22-23
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect,
If you wish to be part of this wonderful inheritance, to have this great hope of righteousness, to receive the crown of righteousness, to be made perfect in righteousness, then you need to have your sins forgiven. You need to receive the blessing of those to whom righteousness is considered apart from works–because our works are not perfect in the sight of God. We need the righteousness that comes by faith–an obedient faith in Christ. And we need to continue learning how to be righteous from the word of God and walk in righteousness with Him.