Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
(Genesis 18:25)
The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
(Psalm 19:7-9)
The Lord is righteous in all His ways, gracious in all His works.
(Psalm 145:17)
“But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I and the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the Lord.
(Jeremiah 9:24)
Righteousness is similar to goodness and holiness, but differs in that it requires works to establish it. Something (like Adam) can be holy, but not righteous if good works do not accompany it. God is good, but He refers to Himself as righteous because He works the good as well. Christians are called righteous, not because they have any ability to accomplish good works, but because they reside in the good works (or righteousness) of Christ. Christ’s obedience is transferred to us and God grants us eternal life as a result!
Other attributes we’ve discussed so far:
Ginger Schaefer says
September 21, 2011 at 6:28 amGood Morning Believers..Understand righteousness..call them Daddy God’s VIPs the State acceptable to God of Virtue (dynamo) Integrity Purity of Life..Walking (born of the Spirit) Talking, Acting just like our Big Brother Jesus..authorized by HIM to shew up for our assignments occupying our time like merry/cheery little kids without a care in this ole world fellowserving the Gospel Truth, such good news you can hardly believe in Love, Joy, NOW Faith, HIS Will Whatsoever Possible Divine Energy Universal Glory Dimension P(Peace) Fived, Prepared, Provided, POWERED, Positioned, Protected knowing Jesus Finished/Overcame ALL for US at the CROSS, just waiting to be “Twinkled” with the rest of The Family, Many Membered Body of Christ, The Church! Yippeeeeeeeee! See you there!!! Agapao~ I Am loving you Dearly!
Love sharing fabulous Blueletter tool with others..if we keep trying to understand The Word in American we are Never going to get it. Must read in fixed languages (tongues) spoken, written. Hebrew, Gree, Aramaic..Have started reading the NT translated Hebrew.. Keep up the great work!!
Yitzhak says
October 28, 2011 at 11:12 amjust curious. Some say that all of the New Test was written in Hebrew. But Paul was an Apostle to the Greeks, who at that time, didn’t read or understand Hebrew. My question would be why would Paul write his epistles to non Jews who didn’t read Hebrew in Hebrew. Even many of his later epistles were dictated to people like Tychius who were obviously Greek and who would write it in Greek. I believe that 3 out of the 4 gospels might have been written in Hebrew. Luke was a Gentile. Maybe some of Peters were written in Hebrew since he was an Apostle to the circumcision. There is no proof that they were all written in Hebrew or Aramaic originally. Common sense would dictate that Paul wrote his in Greek. He could speak that language fluently. Just my take on it.
Juliette says
September 21, 2011 at 6:32 amThank you for the new addition to your website. I was reminded of that verse in Jeremiah (9:23-24) about what God delights in…sometimes I find myself saying to God, “how can I please you?” and I know it’s through Christ that we can know the Father— thanks again
Cyndi says
September 21, 2011 at 7:28 amWonderful post: Works are the natural outcome of our living and active faith, not the means of attaining righteousness. I am so thankful that our righteousness before the Lord is imputed through Christ’s perfectly perfect and completely complete work of the cross, since there is NO way to do it on our own. Our righteousness before Him is as filthy rags, whereas His is perfect — perfectly perfect! He is our provider — of every thing that pertains to life and godliness. Thank you, Lord!
Eric says
September 21, 2011 at 5:07 pmHi All…. fellow Sisters & Brothers in Christ, from Australia!
Love Blue Letter….. Left comments and encouragement…
I have been surprised how many people including Politicians, have Googled “Integrity” so maybe the tide is turning and who knws A Revival have been Fanned by Our Righteous Lord And Saviour Jesus Christ.
cheers & Blessings
Eric Hansen
IntegrityOnlineMarketer
Christian For Torah says
September 21, 2011 at 9:20 pmGood post, BLB. I appreciate your website.
We are born with both an “animal” nature, and a “godly” nature. God calls us “holy,” and tells us to behave as such (See Lev 11). This means, even if we behave righteously by doing good works unto faith, we might still lack holiness. We can eat our food out of a trough, slurp our soup, belch at the table, and basically eat like pigs. Eating like a pig does not make one unrighteous, but it certainly does not elevate his personhood-holiness requires that we elevate ourselves above our animal nature (the so called “fleshly nature”) and strive to behave in a godly way–refined at the dinner table, so to speak.
It is very much possible to be an unholy but righteous individual. It is not possible, however, to be an unrighteous, yet holy, individual. Righteousness is a prerequisite to achieving holiness.
True, Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us, but may I consider an example or two? God said, “use accurate weights and scales.” I would be unrighteous if I cheated someone out of their money when they traded in some gold to me, right? So, the righteous thing to do is to give the trader the fair and correct dollar value for his gold. God said, “do not take a young (animal) and its mother on the day (for the purpose of eating it), so that it will go well with you.” Rebelling against this would be unrighteousness, and the opposite (obedience) would be counted as righteous. Do we not think of such people in the world who stand up for goodness as righteous? Righteousness simply means “doing the right thing.”
Steve Mc says
September 28, 2011 at 6:14 amNeither righteousness nor holiness can be achieved.
They are both imputed by grace.
Mike Hill says
September 22, 2011 at 2:12 amGreetings,
I have used BLB for years to research verses, and the Greek. Thank for your work.
Please delete my comment (below) after reading – it is intended as a suggestion/feedback to the wording found in the blog post…
“God is Righteous” – http://blogs.blueletterbible.org/blb
My intention was not to be critical but to suggest a rephrase of an awkward sentence….“Something (like Adam) can be holy, but not righteous if good works do not accompany it. God is good, but He refers to Himself as righteous because He works the good as well.”
Is Adam a “Something” or “Someone?” After editing this part the “but not righteous if good works do not accompany it” piece would not make much sense.
Is this sentence trying to compare the character of Adam (and us – persons) with the (person) of God, without giving the impression that we can be righteous because of our works (the point of James), while acknowledging that we can be declared righteous because of what Christ has done?
(Our works are evidence of a new righteousness bestowed upon us in Christ.)
Perhaps the sentence could be re-written; “Someone (like Adam) might be holy, but not righteous unless there is also the accompanying “fruit” of good works.”
The Bible makes it clear that none of us do good (by God’s standards – Romans 3:12, Psalms 14:1-3; Psalms 53:1-3; Ecc 7:20) and there are none righteous either (Romans 3:10) We can only be “declared righteous” as a result of Christ’s work (2 Corinthians 5:21, Romans 5:18-19). I believe this is important because righteousness is the requirement for all who would enter Heaven according to Matthew 5:20.
Blessings,
Mike Hill
Yitzhak says
October 28, 2011 at 11:20 amGood point Mike. We cannot be saved by works or being righteous. It would make sense than that we would be declared righteous as a result of Y’shua’s works. If we don’t know the Messiah than we won’t be there and our socalled righteous works without knowing Y’shua would not save us. Only in Y’shua are we saved and it is His righteousness that will let us enter into Heaven. Righteousness and works is a result of Genuine faith in Y’shua. . …. shalom
Steve Mc says
September 28, 2011 at 6:09 amAll of our righteous deeds are as filthy garments of shame.
Yet, in Christ, He is our righteousness… Jer 23:6;Romans 10:4;
1 Cor 1:30; 2 Cor 5:21; Philippians 3:9
Righteousness is always imputed, never earned. Romans 4:22
One cannot be declared holy without Christ’s righteousness and we are not truly righteous without Christ’s holiness…
Therefore it is no more I, “but Christ that lives within me…I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness [come] by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” Galatians 2:20,21
Linda Ballard says
May 4, 2012 at 6:20 pmAmen…Steve Me!….And by the way Christ is the Amen!,