“The righteousness of God” is a crucial phrase that is linked to Paul’s understanding of the gospel in his letter to the Romans (Rom. 1:17; 3:5, 21-22, 25, 26; 10:3). The apostle declares at the outset of his letter that the reason the gospel contains the power of God for salvation is that God’s righteousness is revealed in it (1:17). While scholars agree this phrase is essential, there is widespread debate among scholars of all Christian traditions regarding what it means. While space does not allow for a full discussion of the subject here, a summary of the three main views is helpful as one reads through Romans.
God’s Righteous Character: According to one view, the “righteousness of God” refers to God’s righteous character. God is righteous. He is just and upright in all He does. There is no trace of evil in Him (Deut. 32:4; Zeph. 3:5). As such, God hates wickedness in all of its forms (Prov. 6:16-19). Righteousness is so vital that the Psalmist declares it is the scepter of God’s kingdom (Ps. 45:6).
Concerning salvation, God’s righteousness is manifest in the way in which He has dealt with the problem of human sinfulness. Since only an unjust judge clears the guilty (Exod. 34:7; Num. 14:8), God cannot simply overlook evil. But how then can God also extend grace to sinners? How can God be both just and merciful—without either being diminished in the process? To “demonstrate His righteousness” (Rom. 3:25), God took the punishment of sin upon Himself. He did this by sending His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. It was on the cross that Christ bore the full penalty of God’s judgment on sin (Rom. 5:18; 6:23; 8:3). Since justice has been satisfied in Christ’s death, God can now extend mercy to sinners—or as Paul says it in Romans, God can be both “just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26).
God’s Righteous Activity: Others stress that the “righteousness of God” refers to God’s faithfulness to His covenantal promises. They claim that the meaning of this phrase is ultimately rooted in Paul’s understanding of the Old Testament Scriptures. In the Old Testament, “righteousness” is a relational word that can apply to both the behavior of God and humans (cf. Ps. 97:2; Gen. 38:26). As a relational term, it involves the assessment of an individual’s behavior—whether that person has acted appropriately. Thus in the most basic sense of the term, a “righteous” person is someone who does the “right” thing.
The dominant use of righteousness in the Old Testament is in connection with God’s promise to restore the world from its fallen condition (cf. Gen. 3:15). God outlined His plan to bless the whole world most fully in the covenant that He made with Abraham and his descendants (Gen. 12:1-3; 15:5-6, 13-21; 17:7). Within this context, God’s righteousness refers to His faithfulness to His covenantal promises. God acts “righteously” by keeping His word and bringing salvation and redemption to His people (Isa. 45:8; 46:12-13; 51:5-6, 8; Ps. 71:15; 98:2). Abraham and his descendants were to act righteously by believing God’s promise and by being God’s light to the pagan world. Abraham’s descendants, however, were not faithful to their commission. In fact, Israel’s lack of faithfulness resulted in the covenant curses Moses had warned of falling upon their nation (cf. Dan. 9:3-19; Deut. 28:15-68).
What then would happen to God’s plan to bless the whole world? How could He be faithful to His promise to rescue the world from sin when the very instrument He had promised to work through was faithless? This is the question Paul deals with in Romans. In short, Paul’s answer is that God has acted righteously to His promise by sending Jesus, the one faithful Israelite, to overcome Israel’s unfaithfulness and to atone for the sins of the entire world.
God’s Gift of Righteousness: While the two previous views understand God’s righteousness as an attribute (God is righteous), or activity (God is faithful in bringing salvation), the third view sees righteousness as the “righteous status” God gives to humans as a gift. Advocates of this view note that righteousness is a legal term used in courts. For this reason, they believe it is best understood in relation to the verdict a judge pronounces when individuals are declared to be “righteous” or “justified” (both words share the same root in Greek) of the charges brought against them. In our situation, however, no human being is righteous in God’s sight. We all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Rom. 3:23; 2:9-20).
Scripture describes our righteousness as nothing more than “filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6; Zech. 3:3). How, then, can God declare sinners to be righteous? It is only based on the righteousness of Christ, which is a gift (Rom. 10:4; Phil. 3:9) God offers to us through faith (3:22). Christ’s perfect life is “credited” or “imputed” to us, just as it was to Abraham (4:3-6). Thus the good news of the Gospel is the righteous status God offers to humans as a gift.
So which of the three views best explains Paul’s understanding of the phrase “the righteousness of God? Since each view reveals a valid perspective that is rooted in Scripture, it is probably best not to limit ourselves to merely one of them. As is often the case in the Bible, Paul’s use of the phrase “the righteousness of God” portrays a reality about God that is richer than any one of the views can fully express individually.