The Righteousness of God is God’s own rightness given to sinners in the gospel.
Paul said the gospel is the power of God for salvation, for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith.
It is not a ladder we climb. It is the gift we receive.
Those who seek to establish their own righteousness do not submit to this one. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
Romans opens the problem and the answer in the same breath.
- The wrath of God is revealed against ungodliness.
- The righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel.
Apart from the law, that righteousness has been made known, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it.
- It comes through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.
- There is no distinction: all have sinned.
- All are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood.
- God is both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
- That is the righteousness of God:
- He does not wink at sin, and He does not leave the believer in it.
- He makes Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
Israel, Paul said, had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. Seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. The gift remains. The proud still prefer a righteousness of their own that comes from the law.
The gospel offers one that comes through faith in Christ,
the righteousness from God that depends on faith.
- God’s righteousness is both who He is and what He gives.
- Revealed in the gospel means it is public, not a private moral climb.
- Apart from the law, and witnessed by the law: Moses points; he does not sell the gift.
- Just and justifier meet at the blood of Christ.
- Self-righteousness is not extra credit. It is refusal to submit.
- Imputed righteousness is not fiction. It is union with the Righteous One.
- The righteous shall live by faith. That life starts with this gift.
- Revealed – In the gospel, from faith for faith.
- Witnessed – Law and Prophets already spoke of it.
- Through Faith – For all who believe; no distinction.
- Gift – Justified by grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus.
- Just and Justifier – God remains righteous while He declares the sinner righteous.
- In Christ – We become the righteousness of God in Him.
- Against Our Own – Not a righteousness of my own from the law.
- Romans 1:16-17 – “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes… For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’”
- Romans 3:21-26 – “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith… It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
- Romans 10:3-4 – “For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
- 2 Corinthians 5:21 – “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
- Philippians 3:9 – “…and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.”
- Romans 4:3-5 – “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness… And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.”
- Romans 5:17-19 – “For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ… by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.”
- Habakkuk 2:4 – “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.”
- Isaiah 45:24-25 – “Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength… In the Lord all the offspring of Israel shall be justified and shall glory.”
- Isaiah 53:11 – “Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.”
- Jeremiah 23:6 – “And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’”
- Matthew 6:33 – “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
- Matthew 5:6, 20 – “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied… For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
- 1 Corinthians 1:30 – “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”
- 2 Peter 1:1 – “…to those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.”
- Psalm 71:15-16 – “My mouth will tell of your righteous acts… I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.”
- Romans 9:30-32 – Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; Israel pursued a law that would lead to righteousness and did not succeed, because they did not pursue it by faith.
- Titus 3:5-7 – He saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy… so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs.
In the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith.
The righteous shall live by faith.
Now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.
He is just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
Do not seek to establish your own. Submit to God’s righteousness.
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Be found in Him.
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