The Righteousness of God

The Audio to this sermon is at the bottom. Or if you prefer, there’s a short video version here:

The fundamental idea of righteousness is that of strict adherence to the law. Both Hebrew and Greek words contain the idea of conformity to a standard.

God can be seen as righteous in two ways:

Absolute Righteousness – he is as part of his divine nature infinitely righteous in and of himself. He can’t sin, he can’t lie, it’s just not who he is.

Relative Righteousness – in the light of every violation of his divine and perfect righteousness he is seen to be the only true holy one.

God’s righteousness is connected with his justice. He must do things the right way, which means as judge, he can only judge fairly. The following verses give us an idea of how he sets the standard for righteousness.

 

Faithfulness

You are righteous, Lord, and your laws are right. (Psalm 119:137)

The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does. (Psalm 145:17)

You have kept your promise because you are righteous. (Nehemiah 9:8)

Compassion

I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor

    and upholds the cause of the needy. (Psalm 140:12)

 

⁵ The Lord is gracious and righteous;

    our God is full of compassion.

⁶ The Lord protects the unwary;

    when I was brought low, he saved me. (Psalm 116:5-6)

 

Judgement

Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness. (Psalm 96:13)

 

The concept of God’s righteousness is introduced early in the bible in Genesis 18 where Abraham appeals to God on behalf of Sodom:

                ‘Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?’ (23)

If God destroyed both the wicked and the righteous without distinguishing them, then God would not be acting righteously or justly.

                Will not the Judge of all the earth do right? (25)

By the end of the story, God not only showed himself to be righteous and just, but he also used the situation to shape Abraham into the righteous man he would need to be as father of a nation.

With Moses, he set the standard of his own righteousness and demonstrated it to Egypt:

Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. ‘This time I have sinned,’ he said to them. ‘The Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. (Exodus 9:27)

We see the same idea in Daniel 9:

The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him. (Daniel 9:14)

And Ezra 9:

LORD, the God of Israel, you are righteous! We are left this day as a remnant. Here we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence.” (Ezra 9:15)

Salvation

 

² The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations.

³ He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. (Psalm 98:2-3)

 

After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53:11)

 

God is righteous in saving sinners, not just judging them. He could not just forgive them without righteous justice being done. The righteous requirements of the law had to be met. That’s why the verses in Isaiah 53 that predict the suffering of the messiah refer to him as the ‘righteous servant’. He had to bear our iniquities because God is righteous. It’s the only way we could be saved from the judgement we deserve. And a righteous God has to give us the judgement we deserve. Otherwise he would no longer be righteous.

 

We will deal with righteousness through faith in the next session, but the idea is based on God’s righteousness:

 

²¹ But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. ²² This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe… ²⁵ 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 ²⁶ – 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. (Romans 3:21-26)

 

The greatest illustration of God’s righteousness is seen on the cross. God is righteous in that he condemns us all, and is also righteous in punishing Jesus in our place. It may be difficult to come to terms with, but God is also righteous in punishing those who do not accept Jesus. This may not be a likeable truth but it is a logical necessity for a perfectly righteous God of justice. Thank God that he is not just righteous but also shows ultimate sacrificial mercy and grace to those who call on his name.

 

 

 

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