Vine’s Dictionary gives a basic definition of righteousness as “the character or quality of being right or just” (p.535). Righteousness is a noun, and the related word righteous, sometimes translated “just,” is the adjective.
As one reads through the epistle to the Romans, it becomes evident that the words righteous and righteousness are used in three ways.
First, righteousness is an attribute of God. “But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (Rom 2:5). Here, the judgment of God is described as righteous – it is just and right. In chapter 3:26, God is described as “just” or righteous – this is His intrinsic nature and character. God is inherently just and right.
Second, righteousness in the book of Romans often refers to God’s plan for justifying man, making him righteous. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith’” (Rom 1:16-17). While God’s righteous character has long been revealed to man all the way back to the beginning, here the gospel is said to reveal to man God’s righteousness, that is, His plan for making man righteous. This use of the word righteousness continues through much of the epistle. That plan for making man righteous is described in chapter 3: “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God which is through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe…being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth to be a propitiation by His blood” (Rom 3:21-25). See in that Scripture that God’s plan to make man righteous is by grace through a system of faith in Jesus Christ. And consider what is said in chapter 10:3 of the unbelieving Jews: “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.” Clearly here, “the righteousness of God” is not His righteous character but His plan for making man righteous, for His righteousness was something to be obeyed. The unbelieving Jews had not “submitted” to that plan of God to make men righteous by the way of faith in Jesus Christ.
Third, righteousness is the state of man who submits to God’s righteous plan. “For Christ is the end of the law unto righteousness to every one that believeth” (Romans 10:4, ASV). Who can be counted righteous or justified by God? The one who believes, submitting to the way of faith in Jesus Christ. “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10, ASV). One believes unto – in order to – righteousness, that is, to be counted righteous by God.
1 John 3:7 alludes to all three uses of the words righteous and righteousness: “Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.” “Practices righteousness” is about continuing to submit to God’s plan to make man righteous. “Is righteous” describes the state of man who submits to God’s plan to make man righteous. And “just as He is righteous” declares God’s righteous character.
It is important to recognize and distinguish the different uses of these words as we read the letter to the Romans in order to grasp what is being said. The epistle is a great exposition of the righteousness that comes by submitting to the righteous God’s plan to make man righteous.
– Larry Jones