Righteousness.
`He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?' - Micah 6:8
`Present yourselves unto God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness. Even so now present your members as servants to righteousness unto sanctification.' - Rom. 6:13,18,19
The word of Micah teaches us that the fruit of the salvation of God is seen chiefly in three things. The new life must be characterized, in my relation to God and His will, by righteousness and doing right; in my relation to my neighbour, by love and beneficence; in relation to myself, by humility and lowliness. For the present, we meditate on righteousness.
Scripture teaches us that no man is righteous before God, or has any righteousness that can stand before God; (Ps. 14:3; 143:2; Rom. 3:10,20) that man receives the rightness or righteousness of Christ for nothing; and that by this righteousness, which is received in faith, he is then justified before God, (Rom. 3:22,24; 10:3,10; 1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 2:16; Phil. 3:9) he is right with God. This righteous sentence of God is something effectual, whereby the life of righteousness is implanted in man, and he learns to live as a righteous man, and to do righteousness. (Rom. 5:17,18; 6:13,18,19; 8:3; Tit. 1:8; 2:12; 1 John 2:29; 3:9,10) Being right with God is followed by doing right. `The righteous shall live by faith' a righteous life.
It is to be feared that this is not always understood. One thinks sometimes more of justification than of righteousness in life and walk. To understand the will and the thoughts of God here, let us trace what Scripture teaches us on this point. We shall be persuaded that the man who is clothed with a divine righteousness before God must also walk before God and man in a divine righteousness.
Consider how, in the word, the servants of God are praised as righteous; (Gen. 6:9; 7:1; Matt. 1:19; Luke 1:6; 2:25; 2 Pet. 2:7) how the favour and blessing of God are pronounced upon the righteous; (Ps. 1:6; 5:13, 14:5; 34:16,20; 37:17,39; 92:13; 97:11; 144:8) how the righteous are called to confidence, to joy. (Ps. 32:11; 33:1; 58:11; 64:11; 68:4; 97:12) See this especially in the Book of Psalms. See how in Proverbs, although you should take but one chapter only, all blessing is pronounced upon the righteous. (Prov. 10:3,6,7,11,16,20,21,24,25,28,30,31,32 See how everywhere men are divided into two classes, the righteous and the godless. (Eccles 3:17; Isa. 3:10; Ezek. 3:18,20; 18:21,23; 33:12; Mal. 3:18; Matt. 5:45; 12:49; 25:46) See how, in the New Testament, the Lord Jesus demands this righteousness; (Matt. 5:6,20; 6:33) how Paul, who announces most the doctrine of justification by faith alone, insists that this is the aim of justification, to form righteous men, who do right. Rom. 3:31; 6:13,22; 7:4,6; 8:4; 2 Cor. 9:9,10; Phil 1:11; 1 Tim. 6:11) See how John names righteousness along with love as the two indispensable marks of the children of God. (1 John 2:4,11,29; 3:10; 5:2) When you put all these facts together, it must be very evident to you that a true Christian is a man who does righteousness in all things, even as God is righteous.
And what this righteousness is, Scripture will also teach you. It is a life in accordance with the commands of God, in all their breadth and height. The righteous man does what is right in the eyes of the Lord. (Ps. 119:166,168; Luke 1:6,75; 1 Thess. 2:10) He takes not the rules of human action; he asks not what man considers lawful. As a man who stands right with God, who walks uprightly with God, he dreads above all things even the least unrighteousness. He is afraid, above all, of being partial to himself, of doing any wrong to his neighbour for the sake of his own advantage. In great and little things alike, he takes the Scriptures as his measure and line. As the ally of God, he knows that the way of righteousness is the way of blessing, and life, and joy.
Consider, further, the promises of blessing and joy which God has for the righteous, and then live as one who, in friendship with God, and clothed with the righteousness of His Son through faith, has no alternative but to do righteousness.
O Lord, who hast said, `There is no God else beside Me: a just God and a Saviour,' Thou art my God. It is as a righteous God that Thou are my Saviour, and hast redeemed me in Thy Son. As a righteous God Thou makest me also righteous, and sayest to me that the righteous shall live by faith. O Lord, let the new life in me be the life of faith, the life of a righteous man. Amen.
1. Observe the connection between the doing of righteousness and sanctification in Rom. 6:19,22; `Present your members as servants to righteousness unto sanctification.' `Having become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto sanctification.' The doing of righteousness, righteousness in conduct and action, is the way to holiness. Obedience is the way to become filled with the Holy Ghost. And the indwelling of God through the Spirit - this is holiness.
2. `Suffer it now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. It was when the Lord Jesus had spoken that word that He was baptized with the Spirit. Let us set aside every temptation not to walk in full obedience towards God, even as He did, and we too shall be filled with the Spirit. `Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness.'
3. Take pains to set before yourselves the image of a man who so walks that the name of `righteous; is involuntarily given to him. Think of his uprightness, his conscientious care to cause no one to suffer the least injury, his holy fear and carefulness to transgress none of the commands of the Lord - righteous, and walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless; and then say to the Lord that you should so live.
4. You understand now the great word, `The righteous shall live by faith.' By faith the godless is justified, and becomes a righteous man; by faith he lives as a righteous man.
Righteousness
The English word "righteousness" has no equivalent in Hebrew, and is used to translate various Bible concepts. The basic word tzedek refers to weights and balances (e.g. Lev 19:36) and things which are correct and precise (cf Deut 33:19; Ps 23:3). Applied to legal processes, it means "just" ("You shall follow what is altogether just" -– Deut 16:20). The cognate tzedakah is also translated "righteousness" (Gen 15:6; Deut 6:25; 24:13) and its opposite is "wickedness". (Later, the word tzedekah came to mean "charity").
Righteousness consists in doing what is just and right. A primary application is in the legal process. The verdicts of judges and the edicts of rulers must be righteous. "Righteousness" means innocence of a charge (Gen 20:4; 44:16; I Kgs 2:32) and Job, for example, repeatedly affirms his righteousness (Job 9:2; 13:18, etc.). Righteousness is the first quality required of a ruler (I Kgs 3:6; 10:9) and it goes without saying that it is an attribute of the divine ruler (Ps 45:7; 72:1-3; Ezek 45:9) whose ordinances are the ultimate righteousness (cf Ps 119:7).
Beyond mere abstention from wrongdoing, righteousness requires positive action (Jer 22:3; Prov 16:17) which transcends the legal context to issues of ethics and morality. It therefore becomes the keynote both of the legal code and of the teaching of the prophets. God accepted Abraham as a covenant partner so that he and his descendants "keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice" (Gen 18:19) while Israel is told by Moses "You shall follow what is altogether just that you may live and inherit the land" (Deut 16:20).
Persons who have violated ordinary canons of morality can occasionally be considered righteous. For instance, Tamar is acknowledged to be more righteous than judah although she has played the harlot, thus forcing her father-in-law to meet the demands of a relationship (Gen chap. 38). Similarly, King Saul conceded that David was more righteous than he, for David had remained a loyal subject by refusing to slay his sovereign (I Sam 24:17; cf I Sam 26:23 where David takes comfort in his own righteousness and in the assurance that the deity will reward him for sparing the king's life).
The covenant relationship between God and Israel is the primary context for understanding righteousness. Since the deity initiated this bond, it could only be abrogated by divine action. Of course, the claims within the relationship could be ignored; worse still, Israel could rebel against the very bond itself. The Law served as a guide within the relationship, for it stipulated the precise manner by which individuals could fulfill the demands imposed on the covenant people. The Law covered both positive and negative injunctions; it was therefore a valuable guide to life within a covenant relationship.
Another application of the word "righteous" designates a concrete reality in society. Victims of oppression were called righteous as early as the prophet Amos (Amos 2:6). The poor were apparently considered righteous, a tendency that becomes more noticeable within the Psalms. By NT times a community of the poor (Ebionites) was thought to occupy a special place in the divine plan. The Essene sect at Qumran called its leader the Teacher of Righteousness.
The OT concept of righteousness is taken up by the NT, where it can mean "innocent" (Matt 27:4) and "right" or "proper" (Matt 20:4; Luke 12:57). The Passion narrative uses righteousness in its forensic sense when Pilate's wife warns her husband about "that just man" (Matt 27:19) and the centurion declares Jesus' innocence (Luke 23:47). The range of use, is however broadened, particularly in the Pauline letters, where it is claimed that none but Christ can fulfill the demands of righteousness (Rom 3:10). Nevertheless God is acknowledged to be the true source of righteousness and the gift is an act of grace. Christians faithful to God will be considered righteous (Rom 4:22). God's righteousness is revealed through faith: "the just shall live by faith" (Rom 1:17) and apart from law (Rom 3:21). The Christian having been set free from sin becomes a slave of righteousness (Rom 6:18).