Righteousness is defined as “the character or quality of being morally right or justifiable.” Righteousness is closely related to holiness, yet it is a separate attribute of God. Holiness speaks to His separateness, while righteousness speaks to His justice.
To be righteous is to be just, lawful, and correct. God, within His own Being, is absolute in righteousness: that is to say, He does not violate any law, either within His own being or of His own making, because of His nature. Daniel 9:7 says, “O Lord, righteousness belongs unto You.” God is also righteous in relation to His creatures, meaning that there is no action He takes that infringes any code of morality or justice. The Psalmist declares, “The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether” (Psalm 19:9). Daniel also said, “The LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth” (Daniel 9:14). Jesus in His prayer for the disciples in John 17:25 referred to God as the “righteous Father.” It is only God that is perfect in all His ways; no human can claim to be perfect.
Man’s Dilemma
God’s standard of righteousness is based on His nature. But no human has the inherent attributes of God, because of our sinful nature. We may work hard to keep His laws such as the Ten Commandments, but if we falter in one, we shall still be short of His righteousness; the Bible says all have sinned and come short of His glory.
To further compound our problem, the Lord Jesus said in His Sermon on the Mount that “except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). If you know anything at all about the scribes and the Pharisees, you will realize that they were very religious. They studied the laws of God meticulously and were very strict in keeping the words of the laws to the smallest letter. They were not like the publicans (extortioners, unjust, or adulterers). They fasted twice a week and gave tithes of all that they possessed, yet our righteousness must exceed theirs. Peter also tells us, “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15-16). You now see the direness of our condition, for no one can attain the standard of God’s righteousness.
God’s Solution to Man’s Problem
God knew what He was going to do about our situation. He is all-wise. Nothing takes Him by surprise. He is just and perfect in all His ways. What did God do? He made His only perfect Son to bear our sins, and that perfectly satisfied His requirement and standard for our righteousness. It is written in His Holy Word: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). This is a wonderful exchange! Jesus went to the cross, bore our sin, and imputed His righteousness to us, and God does not see our sin, but His righteousness. Hear what Paul says in Romans 3:25: “Whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed.”
This is to say that we are made righteous in the eyes of God. We are now accepted as righteous and treated as righteous based on what Jesus did. He was made sin; we are made righteous. The sinless Son of God, who is perfect in all His ways—holy, righteous, and just—was treated as if He were a sinner, and we that are depraved and consumed in sin are now treated as righteous. What a wonderful exchange! This righteousness is a gift that you must receive by accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior to enter the kingdom of God. “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).