Some have requested a study in righteousness, especially as it pertains to our friends here.
In order to do that, we first must define the term, then note how righteousness is infused, not imparted via good deeds, or law keeping to the believer.
Righteousness Defined
Righteousness. God the Father is righteous (just); Jesus Christ his Son is the Righteous (Just) One; the Father through the Son and in the Spirit gives the gift of righteousness (justice) to repentant sinners for salvation; such believing sinners are declared righteous (just) by the Father through the Son, are made righteous (just) by the Holy Spirit working in them, and will be wholly righteous (just) in the age to come. They are and will be righteous because they are in a covenant relation with the living God, who is the God of all grace and mercy and who will bring to completion what he has begun in them by declaring them righteous for Christ’s sake.
The noun righteousness/justice (Gk. dikaiosunē) bears meanings in the New Testament related to two sources. The major one is the Hebrew thought-world of the Old Testament and particularly the sdq word group, which locates the meaning in the sphere of God’s gracious, covenantal relation to his people and the appropriate behavior of the covenant partners (Yahweh and Israel) toward each other.
The other is the regular use of the words in everyday Greek as spoken in New Testament times, which fixes the meaning in the sphere of a life in conformity to a known standard or law—thus honesty, legality, and so on. This latter meaning in terms of doing God’s will is of course also found in the Old Testament...
God’s righteousness is, for Paul, God’s saving activity in and through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, his Son. It is activity that is directly in line with the saving activity of God in the Old Testament. The acceptance of the unique saving deed of God at Calvary by faith in the person of Jesus Christ is that which God has ordained to be the means for sinners (the unrighteous and the disobedient ones) to enter into the right with God, the Father, and receive the forgiveness of sins.
God as the Judge justifies believing sinners by declaring them righteous in and through Jesus Christ; [emphasis added] then he expects and enables these sinners to become righteous in word and deed. Faith works by love.
My comment: To do otherwise is to place works before grace, and to make grace contingent on works, and therein lies the problem with all cults; they place works ahead of grace, and make one's salvation dependent upon the rules-keeping of whatever group to which they belong, such as Mormons, or SDAs.
The righteousness of which Paul speaks, especially in the letters to Galatia and Rome, stands in contrast to the righteousness that is based on the fulfillment of the law by man as the covenant partner of God. It is “the righteousness of faith” and “the righteousness of God” (Rom. 10:6; Phil. 3:9), and is most certainly the gift of God.
From the human standpoint what God looks for in those who receive the gospel is “faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). God’s gift to those who believe is a righteousness that exists and can be given only because of the sacrificial death of Jesus for sinners and his resurrection from the dead as the vindicated Lord of all.
So God as the righteous Judge justifies—places in a right relation with himself within the new covenant of grace—those who believe the gospel of the Father concerning his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he justifies Jew and Greek alike on precisely the same basis, by faith alone without works, and he makes no distinction whatsoever between the people of the Old Covenant and the Gentiles. Abraham, says Paul, was himself justified by faith alone (Gen. 12:3; 15:6; 18:18; Rom. 4:3; Gal. 3:8).
In fact, Paul confessed that the power of the gospel to be the word of salvation to both Jew and Greek was based on the revelation of the righteousness of God therein—of God the Father acting justly for the sake of his Son (Rom. 1:16–17).
Elwell, Walter A. ; Elwell, Walter A.: Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Baker Book House, 1997, c1996
a. The righteousness of faith. Ro 4:13; 9:30; 10:6.
b. The righteousness of God, without the law. Ro 3:21.
c. The righteousness of God by faith in Christ. Ro 3:22.
d. Christ being made righteousness to us. 1Co 1:30.
e. Our being made the righteousness of God, in Christ. 2Co 5:21.
5. Christ is the end of the law for. Ro 10:4.
6. Christ called THE LORD OF OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Jer 23:6.
7. Christ brings in an everlasting righteousness. Da 9:24.
8. Is a free gift. Ro 5:17.
9. God’s righteousness never to be abolished. Isa 5:16.
10. The promises made through. Ro 4:13.
11. Saints
a. Have, on believing. Ro 4:5,11,24.
b. Clothed with the robe of righteousness. Isa 61:10.
c. Exalted in righteousness. Ps 89:16.
d. Desire to be found in. Php 3:9.
e. Glory in having. Isa 45:24,25.
12. Exhortation to seek righteousness. Mt 6:33.
13. The Gentiles attained to. Ro 9:30.
14. Blessedness of those who have. Ro 4:6.
15. The Jews
a. Ignorant of. Ro 10:3.
b. Stumble at righteousness by faith. Ro 9:32.
c. Submit not to. Ro 10:3.
16. Exemplified
a. Abraham. Ro 4:9,22; Ga 3:6.
b. Paul. Php 3:7-9
Torrey, R.A.: The New Topical Text Book : A Scriptural Text Book for the Use of Ministers, Teachers, and All Christian Workers. c1897
There does seem to be a dichotomy of understanding. One group says it is all of Jesus, and nothing else, the other says that it is Jesus plus works such as Sabbath. diet and others.
Hi, John! I'm not a theological rocket scientist. My most basic observation on Righteousness that comes from Hebrews 11:4
4 By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
Abel was commended as a righteous man when God spoke well of his offerings. What that tells me is that Righteousness is what God says it is. If we really want to understand Righteousness, we need to try to see it through God's eyes.
Last edited by Telaquapacky; 17th April 2008 at 05:58 PM.
__________________ 1 Thess. 5:5: " ...sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness."
Are you the night of darkness or the day of light?
Here is every verse in the NASB that mentions "righteousness by faith":
.... .......
__________________ 1 Thess. 5:5: " ...sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness."
Are you the night of darkness or the day of light?
Hi, John! I'm not a theological rocket scientist. My most basic observation on Righteousness that comes from Hebrews 11:4
4 By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
Abel was commended as a righteous man when God spoke well of his offerings. What that tells me is that Righteousness is what God says it is. If we really want to understand Righteousness, we need to try to see it through God's eyes.
and if God is defining the term, it means he owns it as it were, likewise, it is he that gives "righteousness" to those in relationship with him.... if that is the case, does it do us any good to attempt to gain for ourselves something that only God can give?
__________________ Q: "What are your religious beliefs?" A: "Different... they might scare you....." -Stormyone
and if God is defining the term, it means he owns it as it were, likewise, it is he that gives "righteousness" to those in relationship with him.... if that is the case, does it do us any good to attempt to gain for ourselves something that only God can give?
and if God is defining the term, it means he owns it as it were, likewise, it is he that gives "righteousness" to those in relationship with him.... if that is the case, does it do us any good to attempt to gain for ourselves something that only God can give?
There does seem to be a dichotomy of understanding. One group says it is all of Jesus, and nothing else, the other says that it is Jesus plus works such as Sabbath. diet and others.
Which is it, exactly?
All of JC. None of that extra stuff avails anything for righteousness, though certain practices might make one happier and healthier as a human being. The only genuine righteousness a sinner can have comes entirely as a gift from God and bes a product of His mercy and grace only. You can never earn it and not even the most perfect behavior modification program on earth for the rest of your life will ever bestow it. A whitewashed tomb only houses a corpse.
and if God is defining the term, it means he owns it as it were, likewise, it is he that gives "righteousness" to those in relationship with him.... if that is the case, does it do us any good to attempt to gain for ourselves something that only God can give?
Good thought!
Likewise for you Telaquapacky !
However, that all begs the position held by others about the necessity of not eating warm bread (does a hot pizza count?) not eating shell fish, or maintaining Saturday worship, for example?
I ask because in all the times that I talked to some people, they deny the necessity of that position at first, but then revert to it as a way of "keeping favor with God" At least that is the way it comes off to me.
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