The concept referred to in the Bible as ‘righteousness’ is one of the most important in the Bible, but it is also a difficult concept. There are several words in the original language of the Bible that can be translated as ‘righteousness’, but in most cases they can also be translated by other words. The meaning of the word righteousness can be characterized in many ways, as for example, ‘honesty’, ‘fairness’, ‘being right’ and ‘judging correctly’, but also as ‘defending oneself’, ‘innocent’ and ‘declaring innocent’. The English word ‘justify’ is also used in the legal context, but in the context of the Bible it means ‘to make righteous’.
In summary, it can be said that in the Bible, righteousness can refer either to God’s righteous character or to the state of a person whom God has had mercy on. So when we come across the word ‘righteous’ in the Bible, we must first determine whether it refers to God’s righteousness or human righteousness. In the Bible, ‘righteousness’ always points toward God, while sin, as well as false righteousness, point away from God.
God’s Righteousness and Human Righteousness
God’s righteousness means that God is absolutely just and perfect in His holiness. In this sense, righteousness means complete honesty, justice, and being in the right. The psalmist declares: “You are righteous, Lord, and your laws are right” (Psalm 119:137). There is nothing wrong in God, nor does He accept anything that is wrong. Therefore, He cannot turn a blind eye to our sins and think like people do: “It’s not that serious”.
Instead, when a person is called righteous, it means that they are acceptable to God and entitled to live in communion with Him. In that sense, the word righteousness takes on the meaning of ‘declared innocent’.
Human righteousness is not inherited. When God originally created man, He made him in His own image, so man was originally righteous like God. Then man fell into sin—that is, he did what was wrong in God’s eyes. Thus, he became separated from God and lost his original righteousness. By falling into sin, man lost the ability to do what is right in God’s sight, and this tendency, which is called original sin, has been passed down from generation to generation. Because of original sin, no human being can ever be righteous by nature—not even a newborn child.
However, God is not only righteous; He is also love (1 John 4:8). Even before creation, He had prepared salvation through His Son for the human being who would be separated from Him because of sin. When the fall into sin occurred in Paradise, God the Father came to seek His fallen and hiding children. Upon finding them, He gave them the promise of Christ, who would crush the serpent’s head. By believing in God’s promise, Adam and Eve once again became righteous before God—but this time through faith. That is why it can be said that they received the righteousness of faith.
The Fulfillment of the Promise
The promise God gave to Adam and Eve was fulfilled when His Son Jesus came into the world 2,000 years ago, lived a sinless life, died for the sins of all people, and rose on the third day as a victor over death. He was the sacrifice chosen by God, who atoned for the sins of those who lived before Him, His contemporaries, and those who would be born after Him. The Savior Jesus Christ “crushed the serpent’s head at the threshold of hell”, as some preachers have described it. “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Romans 4:25).
When Christ had risen victorious, He appeared among His followers who were gathered together behind locked doors. He brought with Him the message of peace. He breathed on His disciples and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven” (John 20:22–23). The proclamation of forgiveness by God’s people conveys perfect righteousness, so that a person who repents of their sins can hear God’s forgiveness and become acceptable to Him.
If a person is righteous, his righteousness is hence righteousness by faith, which arises from faith in God and the redemptive work of Christ. A person who believes this is pure and righteous before God, even though their purity is not their own, but Christ’s purity, which the believer receives as if it were their own. Paul wrote that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness, and he received the promise from God and “circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith” (Romans 4:9–11).
Faith is not a human work, but a gift from God. It comes from outside of us, not from ourselves: we do not earn it in any way, nor are we worthy of it. That is why the righteousness of faith has also been called the “gift of righteousness”.
Righteousness by Works, or Self-Righteousness
Many people believe that a person who lives a good and blameless life is righteous because God values their goodness and piety and forgives their sins on that basis. This is, however, false, self-made righteousness, which is the opposite of righteousness by faith. It can also be called righteousness of the law or self-righteousness. The foundation of self-righteousness is the mistaken belief that a person can, by their own will, perform deeds that align with God’s will.
In Jesus’ time, the Pharisees thought they were righteous because they diligently and strictly followed the law and the traditions of the elders. They were mistaken because they did not recognize the depth of the flaw caused by the fall into sin within themselves. In the light of God’s Word, their righteousness was shown to be hypocrisy, about which Jesus told His disciples: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” (Luke 12:1).
Saul of Tarsus is perhaps the best-known example of a self-righteous person who believed he could fulfill the law’s demands by adhering to rules. Another example is the man who prayed in the temple, thanking God with uplifted hands that he had kept the law and was better than the tax collector standing nearby (Luke 18:9–14).
However, the Bible clearly shows that a self-righteous person cannot fulfill God’s law through their deeds (Gal. 2:16, 3:11; Rom. 3:20). A person breaks the law even with their thoughts—not just one part, but the whole law (Matt. 5:27–29), for breaking one part is the same as breaking all of it (James 2:8–13). Even the most sincere efforts to keep the law are worthless before God.
Even Saul, who once described himself as “as for righteousness based on the law, faultless”, later realized that his former achievements and actions were worthless and a loss (Phil. 3:4–8). The deeds of the self-righteous are sin before God and lead to judgment and death. The only true righteousness comes through faith in Jesus Christ (Heb. 10:38, Rom. 3:20).
Self-righteousness is also present within Christian churches. It acknowledges Christ, but rejects the salvation from total sinfulness based purely on grace (Rom. 4:5). A self-righteous person sees salvation as cooperation between God and man: after man has done his best to earn grace, God completes what is lacking through the merit of His Son. Yet God wants to give the righteousness earned by His Son entirely as a gift. “Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given” (John 1:16).
Righteousness of Life
A tree is recognized by its fruit (Matt. 12:33). Righteousness by faith is evident in believers’ speech, actions, and way of life as a “fruit of the Spirit”. For example, love is a fruit that results from true faith. According to Jesus, righteous people perform acts of love without necessarily even noticing it (Matt. 25:31–40). Fruits do not grow out of nothing, but are acts of love are inspired by the Holy Spirit. The righteousness of faith received as a gift affects the righteousness of life in a believer, which appears, for example, as love toward one’s neighbor.
Lack of love, on the other hand, is a sign that the person has not been justified. They are either still under the power of spiritual death or have lost the righteousness of faith they once received, as John states (1 John 3:4–10). On the other hand, Paul says: “a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law” (Rom. 3:28). Thus, good works are not a prerequisite for justification, but its outcome. A person must first be righteous in order to do works that are pleasing to God.
Despite the God-given faith that makes us righteous, we retain a body and a mind liable to sin, which makes our life a continuous struggle against sin and Satan. In this battle, we often realize our weakness and recognize that we have acted against God’s will. Like Paul, the righteous may find that, despite their good intentions, they have done things contrary to righteousness (Rom. 7:18–25).
According to the testimony of the Letter to the Hebrews, faith in God’s promises was counted as righteousness for the saints who had passed away (Heb. 11:1–40). The same justifying faith can still be kindled in a person today when they hear the gospel proclaimed by a believer sent by God. By believing it, one receives the gift of righteousness and eternal freedom from sin and death. This true righteousness comes alone by grace, alone through faith in Christ (Gal. 2:16).
Authors: Juhani Uljas, Juho Kopperoinen
Image: iStock