Additional Note A: THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD

James P. Martin remarks that “The term dikaiosune theou (tou theou in 10:3) is crucial in Paul’s theology, central in Rom., and the subject of intense discussion.”³²³ It is found eight times in this epistle (1:17; 3:5, 21, 22, 25, 26; 10:3 [bis]), as against twice in the other Pauline letters (2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:9) and three times in the rest of the New Testament writings (Matt. 6:33; Jas. 1:20; 2 Pet. 1:1). The noun righteousness is especially characteristic of Romans where it is used 33 times, the next highest total being seven each in 2 Corinthians and Matthew. It is a term which must be understood carefully. With us it is an ethical virtue, as it was for the Greeks generally. But among the Hebrews righteousness was first and foremost a legal standing.³²⁴ The righteous were those who secured the verdict when they stood before God. This terminology applied even in an earthly court, and “the righteous” and “the wicked” in the Old Testament often mean much what we mean when we speak of “the innocent” and “the guilty” (cf. Deut. 25:1). In the final analysis what matters is the verdict of the heavenly court, and the man who is ultimately righteous is the one who is acquitted when tried at the bar of God’s justice. Such a man will, of course, be upright, and the righteousness words sometimes express the character involved in such conduct. But more typically they point to status. For example, a woe is pronounced on them that “take away the righteousness of the righteous from him” (Isa. 5:23, ASV; NIV paraphrases). Righteousness in the sense of moral character or ethical achievement cannot be taken from anyone. What is meant is that wicked judges will take away the “right standing”, the status of being right before the law, from people who are entitled to it.

All this must, of course, be modified if the term is to be applied to God, for he is judged by no one. But even when people speak of God’s righteousness the legal flavor is not quite lost, for the term is often linked with judgment. Thus the Psalmist can say, “the heavens proclaim his righteousness, for God himself is judge” (Ps. 50:6), or again, the LORD “comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness” (Ps. 96:13). God acts in accordance with right. It is not that some law is set over him to which he must conform. The Bible always regards God as supreme and sees nothing as superior to him. Rather to act rightly is part of his very nature. “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Gen. 18:25). For the people of the Old Testament the answer was never in doubt.

We should also notice that in the Old Testament righteousness in God is not uncommonly linked with salvation. Thus the LORD says, “my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail” (Isa. 51:6). Again we read, “The LORD has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations” (Ps. 98:2; this passage contains three important words found in Rom. 1:17, “salvation”, “righteousness”, and “revealed”, as does Isa. 56:1). The thought in such passages is that God will not abandon his people. Since he is righteous, he will certainly deliver them.³²⁵

Paul’s concentration on righteousness in Romans, and specifically on the righteousness of God, is part of the way he brings out the point that when God saves he does so in a way which accords with right. Much modern theology so stresses the note of victory in the atonement that it almost gives the impression that when God saves us, “might is right”. He is strong enough to defeat all the forces of evil (however these be understood), and he does so. God does, of course, defeat evil. That is true. And it is an important truth. But it is not the whole truth. One of the truths Paul insists on is that God is righteous in the way he saves as well as in the fact that he saves.

I wonder whether perhaps Käsemann’s well-known treatment goes astray at this point. Constantly linking power with righteousness, he can sum up his interesting discussion of “The Righteousness of God in Paul” in these terms: “His doctrine of the διχαιοσύνη θεοῦ demonstrates this: God’s power reaches out for the world, and the world’s salvation lies in its being recaptured for the sovereignty of God. For this reason it is the gift of God and also the salvation of the individual human being when we become obedient to the divine righteousness.”³²⁶ Though he elsewhere says some important things about forensic aspects of justification and righteousness, when he comes to sum it all up he omits all reference to any such thing and concentrates on power and sovereignty. Granted that power is important and sovereignty is important, neither of these is basic to the biblical concept of righteousness. The connection with right is.

It is important to see that the righteousness of God is shown in the death of Christ (3:25, 26; cf. 3:22). Many discussions overlook this connection and thereby go grievously astray. As James Denney puts it, “In Paul the divine righteousness which constitutes gospel for sinners exposed to the divine wrath is revealed in Christ, and nowhere else.”³²⁷ We are not to understand the righteousness of God as an abstract quality or even as a general divine activity. It is preeminently to be seen in the atoning work of Christ; to overlook this is to miss a central thrust of Romans.

The expression “the righteousness of God” is ambiguous. It could mean “the righteousness which God himself exercises”, “righteousness as an attribute of God or a quality in God”. We have seen this meaning in Genesis 18:25, and it reappears in Romans 3:5, 25, etc. But the genitive “of God” might also denote origin,³²⁸ in which case the whole expression means “a righteousness from God”, “the right standing which God gives”, a meaning which is required in Romans 3:21, 22; 10:3, etc. and is made abundantly plain by the use of the preposition in Philippians 3:9.³²⁹ Some passages are not quite clear which meaning we should understand, but the important thing is the plain fact that Paul uses the expression in certain significant passages to bring out the truth that in the death of Christ God brings about a righteousness for those who believe.³³⁰

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