The righteousness from God
is not the righteousness of God.
The righteousness from God is the righteousness of faith (
Phil. 3:9)
because God reckons faith as righteousness (
Rom. 4:3-5).
The righteousness of faith is not merit placed to the account of
the believer,
but is the right relationship of the believer to God by his faith,
faith being reckoned as righteousness, as right relationship to God.
The righteousness of God
is God acting to put one into right
relationship with Himself and is a synonym for salvation
(
Psa. 98:2;
Isa. 56:1).
Rom. 4:5,
"And to the one who does not work
but trusts him who justifies the ungodly,
his faith is reckoned as righteousness."
Rom. 3:24-25 ERS,
"24 Being justified by His grace as a gift,
through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus,
25 whom God set forth to be a propitiation,
through faith in His blood."
There are three aspects of justification:
Rom. 6:7,
[ho apothanon dedikaiotai apo hamartias]
"the one who died has been justified from sin".
Rom. 5:1,
"Being justified by faith, we have peace with God."Rom. 5:7,
"Since we are justified by his blood,
we shall be saved from wrath of God."
Rom. 4:24-25,
"24 It will be reckoned to us
who believe in Him that raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,
25 who was put to death for our offenses
and raised for our justification."Rom. 5:18,
"So therefore as through the offense of one
to all men unto condemnation,
so also through the righteous act of one
to all men unto justification of life."Rom. 5:12,
"Therefore, as through one man sin entered into the world,
and death through sin,
and so death passed unto all men,
because of which all sinned: - " (ERS)
Since salvation is from death to life (reconcilation), from sin to
righteousness (redemption), and from wrath to peace with God (propitiation),
these are the three aspects of salvation. And these three aspects of
salvation are the three aspects of justification.
God has acted in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the salvation
of man from death, sin and wrath. Since wrath is caused by sin (Rom. 1:18)
and sin by death (
Rom. 5:12d ERS),
salvation is basically from death to life and
then from sin to righteousness and then from wrath to peace with God.
Reconciliation is salvation from death to life;
redemption is salvation from sin to righteousness; and
propitiation is salvation from wrath to peace.
These three aspects of salvation are accomplished through the death
and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Propitiation is the sacrifical aspect,
redemption is the liberation aspect, and
reconciliation is the representative aspect of His work of salvation.
This threefold act of God for the salvation
of man is the righteousness of God.
Legalism misinterprets the righteousness of God as justice, that is, as that principle of God's being that requires and demands the reward of good work (comformity to the Law) because of their intrinsic merit (remunerative justice) and the punishment of every transgression of the law with a proportionate punishment because of its own intrinsic demerit (retributive justice).
From this legalistic point of view, man needs to be saved because he is guilty of breaking the law. Salvation is accordingly conceived of as a removal of that guilt. Justice requires that the penalty be paid before the guilt can be removed. From this legalistic point of view, man's sin demands an eternal punishment, and being finite man cannot meet the infinite demand of justice. If he is to be saved at all, he must be saved by another - one who is man like himself but without sin, but also one who is God who alone can meet the infinite demand of justice. Where is such a one to be found? Only God can provide that one, and God has provided the perfect sacrifice to pay the penalty by sending His Son to become man. His death is the perfect sacrifice. It can remove the guilt by paying the penalty. In His death he endured the eternal punishment due to man's sin.
But from this legalistic point of view, it is not enough just to be declared not guilty; man must also have a righteousness which merits eternal life. He must not only have no guilt, no demerits, but he must also have a positive righteousness, merits placed to his account. Since man cannot earn this righteousness (merits) himself because of his sinful nature (he is not able not to sin and not able to do righteousness - good works which merit eternal life as a reward), someone must earn this for him. According to this legalistic theology, salvation is not only a vicarious satisfaction of the demands of justice and the law, but it is also vicarious law-keeping. Christ's life of active obedience under the law provides the righteousness (merits) we need; Christ earned for us eternal life by His active obedience to the law. And by His passive obedience of death on the cross He paid for us (vicariously) the penalty of our sins. Therefore, the one who receives in faith Christ's work for him is declared not guilty, and Christ's righteousness (the merits of Christ) is imputed to his account. He is justified because Christ has satisfied the demands of justice and the law against him. He is legally entitled to eternal life if he will receive it from Christ who earned it for him. Thus salvation is understood legalistically.
This is a consistent and logical explanation of salvation by Christ. There is only one difficulty with it - it is not true. Yes, Christ died for man to take away his sin. The fact of Christ - who He is and what He did - is true, but the explanation is wrong - it is legalistic. Salvation is not by meritorious works, even though another - even God - performs them. God is not the kind of God that the legalist thinks He is. He is not a God of law and justice but a God of love. Yes, God is just, that is, fair, but not in a legalistic sense. God is fair because he loves all men alike and therefore treats them impartially, without regard to their merit (Matt. 5:45). The problem solved by Christ's death was not in God but in man. God did not have to be reconciled and His justice satisfied before man could be saved. On the contrary, it is man who needs to be reconciled to God; it is man who needs to be changed. Man is dead and he needs to be made alive. The problem is in man - he is dead and he needs life. Man does not need a lawyer; he needs someone to raise him from dead. Only God can do that, and He has done it through His Son's death and resurrection. God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself (II Cor. 5:18-19; see also Rom. 5:10-11) - not reconciling God to the world. And since man sins because he is dead ( Rom. 5:12d ERS), by making him alive with Christ God saves him from sin to righteousness. He saves him not just from the guilt of sin but from sin itself. And He saves him not just from breaking the law but from trusting in false gods. God saves man to trust in God Himself - the only real righteousness. Legal righteousness (merits) is not enough. For the real law wants faith, trust in and love of God - "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." (Deut. 6:5 KJV). And since death is what hinders this, God removed this hindrance and barrier by the death and resurrection of His Son. He entered into our death so that we could enter into His life - through His resurrection. Being made alive with Him, we can now trust, love, and worship Him. So then as sin flows out of death, righteousness flows out of life - out of Jesus Christ who is the life. Life is not some thing, but is a person - Jesus Christ - and to know Him and God through Him is to be alive (John 17:3). And to know Him and His love is to trust Him. This trust is a real righteousness (Rom. 4:5).
Martin Luther recovered the Biblical concept of the righteousness of God and of the justification by faith. But his followers obscured this understanding of these concepts by the legalism of their theology and legalistic understanding of righteousness and justification. And this legalism not only affected theology but the whole life of the church. The result of this legalism was dead orthodoxy and a cold, unloving Christianity. To correct these effects there arose in the church various movements such as pietism, the evangelical awakening, revivalism, etc. None of these movements went to the source of the deadness, coldness and unlovableness but just reinforced the cause -- legalism.