Righteousness & Justification

[DeaconDean]

At what point is the Christian declared righteous before almighty God? At justification, sanctification, or glorification?

You have quoted 3 separate things.

First off, according to the Greek, both "righteous" and "justified" have the same Greek root:

"The Meaning of “dikiaow”

Our Greek word has its root in the Greek word “dikh”. This word means “right”, “justice”; in the NT, judicial punishment, vengeance; 2 Thes. 1:9; Jude 7; sentence of punishment, judgment, Acts 25:15; personified, the goddess of justice or vengeance, Nemesis, Paena, Acts 28:4.


This word draws directly from the Hebrew word “tsadag” (tsaw-dak). Which is rendered in the OT as “justify”, “righteous”, “just”, “justice”, “cleansed”, “cleanse ourselves”, “righteousness”.

From my paper "The Doctrine of Justification, Restated and Reviewed", By DeaconDean

Sanctification, is a process.

So is glorification.

It would not be improper to substitute "justify" for "righteous" or to substitute "righteous" for "justify" whenever they occur in the NT.

Lets go a bit deeper.

Our ebrew word "tsaw-dak" is found in Lev. 19:15 where they are told:

"Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor."

Righteousness and justification are forensic in nature, they are a judgment which no one in this world can do. Judges can be bribed. Judges can be influenced, But God can't, so it must come from Him and Him alone.

When you come to faith, when you become saved, just like Abraham, you become both "righteous" and "justified" in God's sight by a decree from Him.

God Bless

Till all are one.

 

[Sola1517]

It means that God's purpose is more than to simply save a few otherwise wretched worms-the "elect"-and damn the rest. His purpose has always been about steering His wayward creation, which He loves lavishly, back into "unwaywardness". Adam had a problem of the will-and God would not prevent or override the choice Adam made. By the same token He still doesn't intend to violate man's will now-even as we need help in willing rightly. So he draws us-He's been working on drawing humanity throughout history - into justice, into alignment with His will. He wants us to choose rightly, as opposed to Adam's wrong choice; He wants us to choose good over evil, life over death, God over no God-but will never force it. The justice/righteousness He desires to bestow on us is directly connected to our willingness to receive, cooperate with, and grow in it.

I basically agree.