Featured What is the Righteousness of God?

Thanks for considering the article, Van. I can't say that I completely agree with Wright, but I do view righteousness as pointing towards God's covenantal relationship with man.

I will point out that Paul does use words in different ways throughout his writings (for example, "flesh"). But with the "righteousness of God," I don't think that a change is necessary to have it looking towards a covenantal relationship.

I agree with the theology that you present, but I am not willing right now to agree that this is the "righteousness of God."

Yes, before Christ died.

Genesis 15:5-6 And He took him outside and said, "Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be." Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.


So working off of Genesis, where Abraham is reckoned via faith, I encounter Paul in Romans.

Romans 4:19-25 Without becoming weak in faith he [Abraham]contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. Therefore IT WAS ALSO CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.

I understand this righteousness of God to reflect the covenant with Abraham, and a right standing in that covenant (the Promise). My understanding is that the same righteousness that was credited to Abraham that is credited to us. It is a righteousness by faith, but a righteousness with respect to the promise of God (God’s own covenant with Abraham which spelled out the plan of redemption for the world).

Perhaps my understanding is clouded because I start with the righteousness of Abraham in Genesis rather than with Paul. I think that this is where Paul is starting, but it may be (as you indicated earlier) a presupposition that I have yet identified. I don’t, of course, think so…but I recognize the possibility. I see righteousness as based on God's covenant...the Promise.


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Thank you for walking me through your understanding here. At the start we seem to part to a degree, and I think this difference effects our conclusions. I believe the "it" in Gen 15:6 does not refer to a belief in God but a faith "that what God had promised He was able to do." That is covenantal and affects my view of this "righteousness."

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I disagree here. Paul is quoting Genesis when he says that by faith was reckoned as righteous. The New Testament does not stand alone theologically (and I’m not, BTW, accusing you of that opinion. I just think it very applicable here as well). Paul not only points to that passage in Genesis, but he also expounds on this righteousness of Abraham being reckoned 400 years before the Law. Abraham’s righteousness was before the Cross.

We do become this righteousness, I agree. Jesus Christ is this righteousness in a very real and meaningful way (Jesus embodied the covenantal aspects spelled out to Abraham, He fulfilled the Old Covenant - but more important to this conversation, He is the fulfillment of the covenant made with Abraham, the Promise upon which Abraham believed and was considered righteous in Genesis) so Abraham’s faith in God’s faithfulness to his Promise is a faith in Christ. We become this righteousness and it is through us that Christ continues this ministry of reconciliation.

You do make a good point that the righteousness of God is not something that "God is." This righteousness reflects God's own faithfulness and His nature, but it is not what God "is." My earlier conclusion that this was what you were speaking of was wrong (and I apologize for that misunderstanding).

 

Van,

Thank you for an interesting discussion, and I apologize that I have misunderstood our disagreement here. I did not distinguish between Abraham being made righteous and the righteousness of his faith. As such, I was speaking past your comment and responding without completely understanding you.

In Genesis, you are right that the object of reference is Abraham’s faith in the Promise and not Abraham himself. Abraham had faith that God would actualize in the future God's covenantal promises. We are, as the Body of Christ, the "righteousness of God" in a way that Abraham was not. You are correct, and I overlooked the distinction that you were making.

But on us “becoming the righteousness of God” we have to leave Romans and deal with the context within which Paul speaks. In Romans Paul is specifically dealing with faith, and in 2 Corinthians, I believe the definition itself remains consistent (covenantal), although the subject may shift. This is clear to me in 2 Cor 5, when Paul actually speaks of us becoming the" righteousness of God," that the context is one of God's faithfulness to His redemptive Promise through us.

God has reconciled us to Himself through Christ. God gave us the ministry of reconciliation - that is, God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us. We beg, on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. It is in this context that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ. If that is true, and it is, then it follows that we are not “changed” into the righteousness of God, but instead we become the righteousness of God within this “ministry of reconciliation.” It is still a covenantal faithfulness, of which we (like Christ) are representative as we become God’s fulfillment of that promise.

Another rule of Bible study is to allow the content to define the passage. All through the OT God's righteousness is descriptive of His faithfulness to his word. In Romans it is the same. I think, perhaps, it is also the same when we come to 2 Cor and Phil 3. I believe that if you will allow the passage to speak for itself you may find difficulties in your definition.

I do believe in regeneration and that we are cleansed and given a new spirit. I do believe that we are sanctified, cleansed and justified in Christ. But I disagree that this is how Paul is using the term the “righteousness of God.”

 

I think that we are closer to seeing eye to eye than we realize, and much of the cloudiness is my working through this. I will have to think a bit more about your objection in #2. I don't understand this righteousness to be our "efforts," per se, as ambassadors of Christ as much as our identity (it is another aspect of actual salvation rather than works). So I agree completely that our "good works" don't add to that righteousness.

I Know I'm taking us "becoming the righteousness of God" in a different way than you are. You see it as (correct me if I am wrong) a holiness that we become in Christ (or because of His work). I see it as our identity within God's work of reconciliation. We are the righteousness of God to the world as Christ was on earth (and as faith in God's faithfulness to his word was in the Old Testament). I read Philippians 3:9 the same way (being right or faithful in a covenantal sense by faith where he could not through works).

We may never agree on this term, but I do need to point out that I agree with what you have said regarding salvation and the newness of life. I just think "righteousness" is a different but related term. We are seeing things differently, but at the same time I think that they are closer than we have worked out (because I also see Christ as God's Righteousness...in that same covenantal sense).

Anyway, I will go back and review what you said as I study the "righteousness of God." I am open to correction, and will consider what you have offered. I've found it takes time as I am often a bit stubborn. Thank you for taking the time to explain your view, and for putting up with me when I misunderstood your points.

 

Abraham lived 400 years before the Law (which was more than moral standards of holiness), but his faith in God's Promise was faith in Christ (Christ is the fulfillment of that Promise). I think that it is a mistake not to recognize God's one plan of redemption worked out through salvation history. Both the Old and New Covenants are within the covenant (or promise) that God made with Abraham. I am not saying that you are making that mistake here, but I also am not sure reading your reply. Jesus Christ is and was always the object of saving faith.

 

I disagree. The means, ways, and method of salvation has always been through faith in God's Provision, in His Word, in Christ. When we look at salvation history we can see a progression, but never a different way, means or method of salvation.