What Is Righteousness?

The basic meaning of righteousness is “to be right.” In the Bible, God’s righteousness is the foundation of salvation. It is God fulfilling His own requirements so that He can enact His salvation.

From God’s Perspective

God desires to give us grace, to save us, and to grant us life. He longs for all of us to be saved. However, this must be in accordance with His righteousness. This is why the Bible repeatedly speaks of God’s righteousness: how can God save people in a way that is consistent with His own righteousness? We find the answer in Romans 3: “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”

According to the principle of justice, those who sin must be punished. From the beginning, all people have sinned, but they have not all been punished. This is because God’s plan was to “present Christ as a sacrifice of atonement” at the right time. Therefore, before the “atoning sacrifice” of the cross was made, “he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished” in His forbearance. Now that the Lord Jesus has become the atoning sacrifice, satisfying God’s righteous demands, God can “justify those who have faith in Jesus,” thereby demonstrating that He Himself is just. On one hand, “through the shedding of his blood,” God’s righteous requirement is met, allowing God to accept people and forgive their sins (Hebrews 9:22). On the other hand, “by faith,” people can appropriate the efficacy of Jesus’ redemptive blood and boldly approach God (Hebrews 10:19).

From a Human Perspective

[Genesis 15:6] And he [Abram] believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness. What made Abram most pleasing to God was not his actions or what he did for God, but his faith—his belief in all that God had said. Therefore, “the Lord counted it to him as righteousness.” Justification by faith is the only way for a person to be saved. In addition, people must fulfill their duties to maintain their relationship with God. Saul said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil” (1 Samuel 24:17). David, as a servant, upheld his duty by refusing to kill his king. In his heart, even though Saul had been rejected by God, he still sat on the throne and, from a certain perspective, was still the Lord’s anointed one (1 Samuel 26:9). “And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us” (Deuteronomy 6:25).

In Summary：For God, “righteousness” is His attribute, His way, and the unchanging principle of His actions. For humanity, we are created in God’s image, but this outward resemblance is not enough. We need God to come in and be the substance of that righteousness. God reveals His eternal power and divine nature through His creation. He reveals His wrath against our ungodliness, unrighteousness, and sin. But most of all, through Jesus Christ, God reveals His love, His righteousness, and His gospel to us, calling every one of us to repent and turn to Him.

Edited and compiled based on the Chinese Union Version Bible and Comprehensive Biblical Interpretation.