Righteousness

Righteousness

For much of my life my understanding of righteousness had to do with living in a morally exemplary way. I understood it to mean that I should refrain, and even distance myself, from certain conduct. I thought that I was to behave in ways consistent with the commands of God found in the Bible. That I should obey the law of the land in which I lived and abide by the rules of my church or religious denomination. For me, righteousness equated to clean living.

The Oxford American Dictionary agrees with this definition. It says that righteousness is “the quality of being morally upright or justifiable. But this is self-righteousness, which is no righteousness at all. In fact, it is antithetical to the true meaning of righteousness. Interestingly, the origin of the word righteous comes from Old English. The meaning of the original word was “right manner, state, or condition.” This definition is much closer to the mark.

The Greek word rendered righteousness is “dikay-osunay” δικαιοσύνη dikaiosúnē; (Strong’s 1343)

It means just, righteous. Justice, righteousness. It is the essence of that which is just or of one who is just or righteous. The súnē ending makes this an abstraction. It is speaking not of one who is righteous, but righteousness as a concept, idea, or trait.

Righteousness fulfills the claims of that which is just and right, which in the case of the believer, are God’s claims; and in the case of the nonbeliever, the claims of that higher authority which a person adopts as his own standard. Biblical righteousness is conformity to the claims of higher authority and stands in opposition to lawlessness.

In both the Old Testament and New Testament, righteousness is the state commanded by God and standing the test of His judgment, as in Ephesians 4:24 (KJV 1900), “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” It is conformity to all that He commands or appoints.

God Himself is the standard against which righteousness is measured. The righteousness of God means the righteousness which belongs to God or to oneself from God, or God–like righteousness. Matthew 6:33 (KJV 1900) tells us, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness…” Thus righteousness, in general, is God’s uprightness or standard, apart from any laws, rules, or moral tenets to which a person is expected to conform.

This is important for us to keep in mind because the world tells us otherwise. Day after day we are encouraged to judge good and evil; right and wrong. We hear that some politician is accused of misconduct. We are told of an altercation between law-enforcement and a citizen, and we are presented with a few allegations and urged to form an opinion about the guilt or innocence of the parties involved.

We are asked to form a judgement as to the righteousness of one person over another based upon their apparent conduct at one point in time. Righteousness does not work that way. Because it is God’s standard and God’s uprightness, none of our conduct can ever stand up to the test. Indeed Isaiah 64:8 tells us that “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” (KJV1900)

The righteousness of God is the claim which God has upon man. In order for man to recognize and fully submit to that claim of God upon his life, he must receive God and His righteousness as it is offered—as a gift. We read of this gift of righteousness in Romans 5:17, “For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.” (KJV 1900)

Righteousness is a gift, and as such it cannot be earned or worked for in any way. Because it is a gift, it must simply be received. We can only accept the claims of God upon our lives by placing our faith in Jesus Christ as our only claim to righteousness. Having done this, we become children of God as we learn from John 1:12–13 where we read, “12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (KJV 1900) This is spiritual birth.

This is the way righteousness has always been provided. In Romans 4:11–14 we find Abraham referenced as an example. It reads, “11 And he [Abraham] received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also: 12 And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised. 13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:” (KJV 1900)

This passage is clear. Righteousness is imputed, or set down to our account. And it is imparted, or given freely, because if it could come by obeying rules then the promise is void, as we see right at the end.

Righteousness equates to pleasing God. We read this in Romans 8 verse 8, “8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” This closes the door on self-righteousness—but there is good news in verse nine. “9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” (KJV 1900)

Do you see that? If Christ is in you, the life of God is yours and the reason it can be so is that you are righteous. Your righteousness in Christ is not based in any way whatsoever on your conduct or your moral excellence. It has been imputed (set down to your account) and imparted (given as a gift) to you because you have been re-born by the Spirit of God Himself.

We see this miraculous change clearly stated in 2 Corinthians 5:17 and 21 (KJV 1900), “17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” “21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

Righteousness is a state of being that conforms to the standard of God. That standard is perfection, and not the perfection of human behavior. It is the perfection of God Himself. Jesus clarified the spirit of the Law of Moses in His teaching that we call The Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5:48 (KJV 1900) He said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Being perfect is not morally exemplary behavior. Neither is it simply doing the best you can. It requires a state of being. It requires true perfection. This is the standard of God. This is righteousness.

We find this clarified in Romans 9:30–32. There Paul wrote, “30 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. 31 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. 32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law.” (KJV 1900)

We are not righteous because of anything we do or because of anything we refrain from doing. We are righteous because God made us righteous by spiritual rebirth. This is clear from passages such as Ephesians 4:24 (KJV 1900) where we read, “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

The new you has been created in righteousness and true holiness.

God is not faking Himself out.

He is not simply calling you righteous.

He is not looking at you through a filter of the blood of Jesus.

He is not looking at you, but actually seeing Jesus.

He knows you intimately.

He knows everything about you.

He knows all that, and He calls you righteous.

He says you conform to His standard.

The world defines righteousness as being morally upright or justified. Using this definition, they have created a standard of their own. But this is not the righteousness of the Bible.

Galatians 3:21–22 is an interesting passage. It reads, “21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.” (KJV 1900)

This means that the Law was never meant to make anyone righteous. Indeed, even if someone had been able to keep all 613 Old Testament laws, the result would not have been righteousness. The Law simply shows people that they are hopelessly sinful apart from Jesus Christ. The reason the Law was given was so that people would recognize this fact and put their faith in Jesus so that the promises of God would be delivered to them through Him. We see this point made in 2 Corinthians 1:20, which reads in part, “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God…” (KJV 1900) It is in Christ that the promises are delivered upon.

Nevertheless, the world insists upon setting up their own standard. Romans 10:3–4 says it this way, “3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.” (KJV 1900)

The world does not submit itself to God’s standard. Instead, they set up a standard of their own. This leads to conflict and pain in the world because not everyone agrees upon the standard. What’s more, people find that they cannot keep their own standard and work to change it. Consequently, it ceases to be a standard and becomes a moving target making it even further out of reach.

Scripture tells us that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. This means that there is no law that makes anyone righteous. Because righteousness is conformity to the standard of God, only God can make us righteous. We can only become righteous when we stop defining righteousness as rule keeping or moral excellence and put our trust in Jesus’ claim that He will give us the righteousness of God. Jesus gives us the righteousness of God by bringing about our spiritual rebirth, our spiritual re-creation. Because we are then born of God, we participate in His nature. We inherit traits from Him. One of those traits is conformity to His standard and that’s real righteousness.

This righteousness is the state of our innermost being, our spirit. We are righteous at the core, though we do not always display righteous attitudes and actions. That we behave in ways that do not reflect the reality of who we are does not change that reality.

We can rest in the sure knowledge that we are indeed righteous. Ephesians 6:14 encourages us to, “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;” (KJV 1900) When we know the truth that we are righteous as a matter of fact, we never need to doubt Father’s love for us or blessing upon us.

He is not faking Himself out or looking at us through Jesus glasses. We are righteous holy children of God

Portions of this are taken from, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament by Spiros Zodhiates (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).