Everything about Righteousness totally explained
Righteousness (also called
rectitude) in this article refers to the important
theological concept in
Christianity,
Islam, and
Judaism. and It is an attribute that implies that a person's actions are justified, and can have the connotation that the person has been "judged" or "reckoned" as leading a life that's pleasing to God. Righteousness is also used as an attribute for God. Psalms 2 speaks of one being shielded by God and receiving favor because of righteousness.
Etymology
The
English word
righteous was coined by
William Tyndale, who remodelled the word after an earlier word
rihtwis, which would have yielded
Modern English *
rightwise or *
rightways. He used it to translate the
Hebrew root צדקים (
TzDYQ), tzedek, which appears more than five hundred times in the
Hebrew Bible, and the
Greek word δικαιος (
dikaios), which appears more than two hundred times in the
New Testament.
Righteousness in the Hebrew Bible
Righteousness is one of the chief attributes of
God. Its chief meaning concerns
ethical conduct. (E.g.,
Leviticus 19:36;
Deuteronomy 25:1;
Psalm 1:6;
Proverbs 8:20) It is used in a
legal sense; while the guilty are judged, the guiltless are deemed righteous. God's faithfulness to His
covenant is also a large part of His righteousness. (
Nehemiah 9:7-8)
Righteousness also relates to
God's role as
saviour; God is a "righteous saviour"; (
Isaiah 61) and a deliverer. (Isaiah 46:12-13) The righteous are those who trust that that'll be vindicated by the Lord God. (Psalm 37:12-13).
Hebrew Definition of Righteousness
Righteousness
:
» The Hebrew word for righteousness is
tseh'-dek, tzedek, Gesenius's Strong's Concordance:6664—righteous, integrity, equity, justice, straightness. The root of tseh'-dek is tsaw-dak', Gesenius's Strong:6663—upright, just, straight, innocent, true, sincere. It is best understood as the product of upright, moral action in accordance with some form of divine plan.
In the
Book of Job the title character is introduced to us as a person who is "perfect" in righteousness. This doesn't mean that he's sinless."Perfect" in this sense means that his righteousness permeates every relationship of his life as his working principle. After all, righteousness is a matter of relationships - with God, with things, and with other people. The biblical definition of righteousness involves the inherent quality of God. God is right because He is righteous, therefore God can only act righteously. In one instance the word means being right; in another it's used to mean doing right; in still another case it means putting right. Job qualifies as a righteous person on each of these counts, so much so that he's commended by God as "wholly righteous" or, translated into our terms, "perfect."
Righteousness as it's understood in the
Old Testament is a thoroughly Hebraic concept at variance with the common understanding of the term. The failure to comprehend its meaning is perhaps the most responsible for the view of the Old Testament religion as legalistic and as far removed from the graciousness of the New Testament.
Righteousness in the New Testament
The New Testament continues the Hebrew Bible's tradition of the ethical and legal aspects of righteousness, but adds the element that
Jesus embodies righteousness, . According to the New Testament, Jesus came to the world to address the needs, not of "the righteous", but of "
sinners," . Righteousness, like the Kingdom of
Heaven, is God's gift through
grace, ().
Paul of Tarsus speaks of two ways, at least in theory, to achieve righteousness: through the
Torah, the law of
Moses; and through
faith in the
atonement made possible through the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ, . The New Testament speaks of a salvation founded on God's righteousness, as exemplified throughout the
history of salvation narrated in the
Old Testament, .
The
apostle James speaks of the relationship between works of righteousness and faith, saying that "faith without works is dead." Righteous acts according to James include works of charity as well as avoiding sins against the law of Moses . Righteousness means "right doing".
Saint Peter describes
Lot as a righteous man in .
Further Information
Get more info on 'Righteousness'.
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