Righteousness in the New Testament: One Word in Many Contexts

As a follow-up to our recent study of James 1:21-25 in our Sunday morning class, I put together a survey of how the New Testament uses the word we translate "righteousness." I want to share the heart of that study here, because it turns on a habit of reading that serves us well far beyond this one word. It also turned out to teach me something I did not expect when I started.

A word family, not just a word

The survey gathers eighty-six New Testament verses in which a word built on the Greek root δικαιο- (dikaio-) occurs. In most English translations these come across as "righteousness," "righteous," or "righteously."

It is worth saying plainly that these eighty-six passages do not all contain the same word. Most carry the noun δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosynē), "righteousness." But the family is wider than that:

• δικαιοσύνη, righteousness (noun)
• δίκαιος, righteous or just (adjective)
• δικαιόω, to justify or declare righteous (verb)
• δικαίωμα, a righteous requirement or ordinance (noun)
• δικαίωσις, justification (noun)

That variety is the first clue that we should slow down. My purpose in the study was not to prove a particular theological system. It was to encourage careful observation of how the biblical writers actually use these words in their various contexts. That may sound modest, but I have come to believe it is one of the most important disciplines a Bible reader can practice.

Two ways Christians commonly use the word

Many Christian teachers distinguish between two complementary aspects of righteousness, and both are genuinely biblical.

Imputed righteousness refers to the righteousness of Jesus Christ being credited, or reckoned, to believers through faith. This is commonly understood as God's judicial declaration that believers are righteous because of Christ's atoning work rather than their own performance. Passages often associated with this understanding include Romans 3:21-28, Romans 4, Romans 5:17-19, 2 Corinthians 5:21, and Philippians 3:9. When Paul writes that "Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness" (Romans 4:3), this is the sense in view. Righteousness here is a gift and a standing, received, not achieved.

Imparted righteousness refers to the practical transformation of a believer's life through the work of the Holy Spirit. Rather than emphasizing our standing before God, these passages focus on obedience, holiness, justice, righteous conduct, and a growing conformity to Christ. Examples often cited include the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, the letter of James, Romans 6, Ephesians 4-5, and First John. When John writes that "he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous" (1 John 3:7), he is describing righteousness lived out, not merely reckoned.

Most Christian traditions affirm both of these truths. Where they differ is in how they understand the relationship between them, and that is a conversation worth having with humility.

Why context is essential

Words do not necessarily carry exactly the same meaning every time they appear. Their intended meaning is shaped by context: by the immediate sentence, the surrounding paragraph, the purpose of the chapter, the argument of the whole book, and sometimes by the particular speaker being quoted.

Consider how far apart some of these uses sit. When Jesus says, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness" (Matthew 5:6), He is describing a longing of the heart. When Paul speaks of "the righteousness of God without the law" being "manifested" (Romans 3:21), he is describing a divine gift. When Peter calls Noah "a preacher of righteousness" (2 Peter 2:5), he means upright and godly living. Same word family, very different emphases, and only the context makes the difference plain.

A pattern that emerged

Here is what surprised me. When I worked through all eighty-six occurrences and wrote down what the word was actually doing in each place, the familiar two-part distinction turned out to be true but not quite big enough. At least five distinct though related senses emerged.

1. God's own righteousness. His perfectly righteous character, justice, covenant faithfulness, and saving action. See Romans 1:17; 3:5, 21-26; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 2 Peter 1:1.

2. Imputed righteousness, or justification. The righteousness God credits to believers through faith in Christ, our righteous standing before Him. See Romans 4; Romans 5:17; Galatians 3:6; Philippians 3:9; James 2:23.

3. Imparted or practical righteousness, or sanctification. Righteous conduct produced by the Holy Spirit in the believer's life. See Matthew 5-6; Romans 6; Ephesians 4:24; James 3:18; 1 John 2:29-3:10.

4. Justice, equity, or uprightness. Fairness, moral integrity, righteous government and judgment. See Acts 17:31; Acts 24:25; Hebrews 11:33; Revelation 19:11.

5. The righteous order and life of God's kingdom. The ethical and spiritual character of God's reign, the life that belongs to His kingdom. See Matthew 6:33; Romans 14:17; Matthew 5:6, 10, 20.

Why I separate the third and the fifth

Someone will reasonably ask why categories three and five are not simply the same thing. I think there is value in distinguishing them.

Category three focuses on the believer and answers the question, "How should Christians live?" Its emphasis falls on personal holiness, obedience, and sanctification.

Category five focuses on God's kingdom and answers a different question: "What characterizes the reign of God?" Here righteousness describes the moral order and the values of God's kingdom, into which believers are then called. Think of Matthew 6:33, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness," or Romans 14:17, where "the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Those passages certainly carry practical implications for us, but the immediate emphasis rests on the nature of the kingdom rather than solely on individual behavior.

One additional observation

I will offer one more thing, and it is the honest fruit of the exercise. As I have looked through all eighty-six occurrences, I have become less convinced that every use can be neatly assigned to a single category. Some passages genuinely carry more than one emphasis at the same time.

Romans 6 speaks of righteousness both as the result of justification and as the believer's new way of life. James 2:23 cites Abraham's righteousness being credited to him, which is imputation, and yet James's larger argument concerns the evidence of genuine faith in righteous works. Second Corinthians 5:21 may well encompass both our righteous standing before God and God's transforming work within us.

I do not think that is a defect in Scripture. I think it is a warning about our categories. The Bible was not written to fill in our outlines. When a verse refuses to sit still in the box we built for it, the honest response is to enlarge the box, not to trim the verse.

About the marks in the survey

A word about how to read the companion spreadsheet, since it records my thinking rather than a finished verdict.

Column D contains my early marks. I placed an "X" beside thirty-four of the eighty-six verses, which was my judgment at the time as to which most naturally refer to imputed righteousness. Later, after class, I went back through that column and added a few other marks as I reconsidered. I have left that record visible on purpose, because it shows the process honestly. The marks are a man thinking, not a man concluding.

Since several people have asked, here is what the additional marks mean. Even with the study narrowed to the eighty-six verses containing δικαιοσύνη, I was uncertain whether to count some uses as imputed, or credited, righteousness, and these marks record that uncertainty rather than hide it.

• ! marks a verse I judged likely to refer to righteousness credited.
• ? marks Noah's righteousness.
• x G marks "the righteousness of God," or God's own righteousness.
• x? marks righteousness as armor, the breastplate of Ephesians 6:14.

The remaining verses I intentionally left unmarked. That was not because I had decided they all refer to imparted righteousness. It was so that the members of the class could think them through for themselves. You may agree with some of my judgments and disagree with others, and that is perfectly appropriate. In fact, it is the point.

After class I also went back and entered the specific Greek word and its basic meaning in context for every one of the eighty-six verses, so a reader can see exactly which member of the word family is at work in each place.

Looking back to the Old Testament

A broader study would reach back to the principal Old Testament Hebrew word for righteousness, צֶדֶק (tsedeq, Strong's H6664). This word frequently corresponds to the Greek δικαιοσύνη, yet it is used in an even wider variety of contexts: God's righteous character, justice in government, honest business practices, covenant faithfulness, righteous living, vindication, and even salvation. As in the New Testament, its meaning is determined by the author's intended use within the context. The richness is remarkable once you begin to notice it.

An invitation to read slowly

I offer all of this not as the last word on righteousness but as an invitation. My prayer is that a study like this will make us more careful students of Scripture and help us appreciate the fullness of what the Bible teaches about being made right with God and living rightly before Him.

So here is a question I put to my class, and I put it to you as well. As you read through these passages, are there any verses where you think the context points especially clearly to one emphasis or another? That kind of slow, attentive reading, letting the text set the terms, is one of the surest ways I know to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord.

A companion study listing all eighty-six verses in the KJV and NLT, with the Greek word and its meaning in context for each one, is available as a downloadable resource in the library for those who would like to work through them for themselves. A follow-up teaching, How Paul and James Use the Righteousness Word Family, widens the study to the related Greek words and asks how the two writers each put the family to work.