THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD

THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD

Brian GC Huggett

Romans 1:16-20
“At the heart of New Testament thinking about righteousness is the notion of God’s righteousness (Matthew 6:33; Acts 17:31; Romans 1:17; Ephesians 4:24; James 1:20). Interpreters debate whether the phrase “righteousness of God” is a subjective genitive, meaning, “God is righteous,” or an objective genitive, meaning, “God gives righteousness.”
This grammatical distinction is more than a point about subtle linguistic nuance. In the New Testament, especially in Paul’s letters, “the righteousness of God” is the key to understanding the salvation of humanity.

Interpreters who take “the righteousness of God” to mean “God gives righteousness”, see salvation as a God-created human possibility.  Righteousness is that which God requires of humanity and which God gives as a gift to the person of faith. In this line of thought, faith is the condition for the reception of the gift of righteousness from God. God acts in Christ, and, in turn, humans react by having faith. Then God gives them righteousness or reckons them, on the basis of their faith, as if they were righteous.  

On the other hand, interpreters who understand “the righteousness of God” to mean “God is righteous” contend that salvation is purely the work of God; God’s saving activity in keeping the divine side of the covenant of creation. God acts in Christ, and part of that action is the creation of faith on the part of human beings who otherwise have no faith. Thus “the righteousness of God” is the power of God at work saving humanity (and the whole of creation), through the creation of faith in sinful persons.

The line between the camps of scholars holding these different interpretations of “the righteousness of God” is sharply drawn, and the debate over the validity of these interpretive options continues with intensity. (See Ethics; Grace; Law; Mercy; Salvation.)”
 
Romans 1:16-20.  “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith.
2 Corinthians 5:21.  “…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...”
2 Corinthians 5:21

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them.

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

Righteousness:

Dikaiosune – dik-ah-yos-oo-nay – New Testament Greek - Strong’s G 1343

Meaning:

equity (of character or act); specifically (Christian)  justification:—righteousness

Marion Soards writes:

If God is all in all, then perhaps both camps are right.  Faith is the key issue in this debate; is it a gift from God or is it an attribute of man?  If faith is an attribute belonging to man then the proponents of Interpretation A would be correct; if it is a gift from God then Interpretation B would be right.  But if faith is both a gift of God and an attribute of man then both may be right.  So! What is faith? 

The following was written in the year 2000.

“Faith is not the exclusive possession of religion.  It is a basic characteristic of all men from the youngest to the oldest and is therefore a God given quality set into the design and purpose of His creation.  It is first seen in Genesis 2:16-17 where the prohibition was given to the parents of mankind.  “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die",”.  Adam and his wife were to trust and obey God.

Faith is the very foundation of all learning, for at every stage of the process, our findings are dependent on the accuracy of what goes before.  We place our trust and faith in the accuracy of previous conclusions.  Even the atheistic evolutionist exercises faith in what he believes, for he places trust in information used in establishing the tenets of his belief.  The issue here is not the truth of a man’s conclusions, but the use of faith in making those conclusions.  In all learning there is this progression, the progression from knowledge to belief.

Having knowledge of something does not constitute a belief in that thing.  Though a man may have knowledge of the theory of evolution, it does not necessarily mean that he believes in it.  Knowledge only progresses to belief when knowledge is accepted as truth. We may have heard that the world is round, but until we accept it as truth we cannot claim it as a belief.  Although a man may have knowledge, it does not follow that he will put his trust in what he knows and here is that delicate difference between belief and believe: the object of belief and the action of believing.  It is this action of belief that is faith.  

Knowledge progresses to faith when the object (or subject) of that knowledge is implicitly trusted.  We may understand the principles of salvation, but until we actively trust in Gods’ word we cannot in truth, claim Christianity as a belief.

(The book of James is an extension of this truth within the spiritual life.  It is essential to believe in God our Saviour, but if that saving faith is not followed by obedience, it is a lifeless belief.  You may be saved, you may have eternal life, but your profession of faith is without power and you become a candidate for Gods’ call to awake and rise from the dead; Ephesians 5:14 “Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.”  True Christian faith includes both mental and physical obedience in loving God and your neighbour.  Obedience, shown in action, is the fundamental of faith)

As the progression from knowledge to belief is true in both the secular and spiritual field of learning, i.e. in both evolution and theology, the conclusion can only be that God has given all men the capacity for knowledge and faith.  The faculty of faith is Gods’ gift, trust or the act of faith is man’s responsibility.

It can now be seen that faith is a combination of both God’s sovereignty and man’s volition?  The evolutionist, as an example of all unbelief, uses his faith in trusting a lie; the Christian uses his faith in trusting God’s word.

The Scriptures have innumerable passages where man’s responsibility is commanded or encouraged.  Every command to believe is an acknowledgment by God of man’s obligation.  ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved’ is a simple statement of fact, added to an encouragement to act positively.   In effect we are being told, ‘You have the ability to believe, therefore in the interest of your eternal soul, act upon the knowledge received’.

The Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation, constantly exhort men to act upon God’s word in active belief.  Genesis 2:16-17; 2 Chronicles 20:20; Isaiah 7:9; Jeremiah Chapter 27; John 1:12; Acts 16:31; Romans 4:23-24; 1 Corinthians 1:21; Revelation 21:8.

The evidence of these and many more passages is overwhelmingly in favour of the free will of man, and therefore his obedience and faith, being an essential issue in his salvation.”

Dikiasune (righteousness) then, is both an attribute of God and a gift from God; it is both subjective (belongs to God), and objective (given by God) and this gift is received by faith for it is to every one who believes.

The gospel reveals God’s righteousness in the great act of condemnation and judgment at the Cross; the condemnation and judgment that are inherent in perfect righteousness.  Perfect righteousness (God’s righteousness) cannot empathize or identify with anything less than perfect righteousness.  To do so would be to lose its quality of perfection; therefore in disassociating Himself from the sinless sin bearer (Jesus the Son of God), God the Father, in maintaining His righteousness, judged sin in the flesh and Christ died. 

It is in the substitutionary aspect of the death of Christ that the other inherent qualities of divine righteousness are revealed; the qualities of mercy and grace. 

Isaiah 53:4-6

“Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

“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.”

Ephesians 2:4-6

“…But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)… And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:”

2 Timothy 1:9-10

“...Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:”  

So the gospel of Christ, with its message of sins judged and forgiven, of redemption bought and bestowed and everlasting life freely given reveals God’s righteousness in its absolute sense.