Christian Jargon - Part 4 by Ps Michael Podhaczky

In the previous couple of blogs I began reviewing some biblical terms that are found in Romans 3:24-26. The first two that we looked at were redemption and propitiation, mentioned in Romans 3:24 & 25. The next term which I would like to consider is righteousness, used in Romans 3:25.

The idea of the righteousness of God is the central subject of the book of Romans. This key phrase is introduced in Romans 1:17 and also used in Romans 3:21; 5:19; 10:3. This righteousness of God can only be received through faith in Jesus Christ. Paul’s aim in revealing this liberating truth was to expose the lie of self-righteousness as an acceptable way to God. So, what is this righteousness?

The idea of righteousness had its setting within the early court system. Essentially, it was to be judged; to be in the right or in the wrong in the eyes of the court. Biblically, it initially refers to the rightness of God in all His actions, and secondly the powerlessness of all humanity to act rightly. The righteousness of God is an attribute of His character; indicating that He is always right. In other words, God will act and judge rightly, with the most rigorous justice. So, when humanity fell into sin, it was God who acted right within the framework of His covenant to save and restore them. Thus, biblically the idea of righteousness is united with the idea of salvation.

God requires righteousness of people; that they act rightly. However, this is impossible in their self-righteousness. The problem is humanity is not righteous, and so we fail in this area (Rom 3:23). Thus, God gave the gift of righteousness, which has as its foundation the finished work of Jesus Christ (cf. also Rom 5:17). God imputed His own right-ness to the believer through the accepted sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who is the complete fulfillment of the righteousness of God. This is God’s chosen way to have rightness imputed to the believer.

To impute carries two basic ideas - to exchange one thing for another; and to credit something to one’s account. Consequently, our sin was exchanged for Jesus’ perfect sinlessness, and His righteousness was credited to our life. So, Paul speaks here in Romans 3:23 of this as “His demonstrated righteousness”. Due to sin you were morally bankrupt, but Jesus Christ has exchanged your bankrupt state for His righteousness; and credited the right to stand before a holy God into your account. Therefore, you are no longer morally bankrupt, but extremely rich in a relationship with God, due to His graciously demonstrated righteousness.