The Biblical Teachings on God's righteousness
The Biblical Teachings on God's righteousness
Copyright 2008 Spiritual Growth Publications
P.O. Box 228, Fairy Meadow, 2519, NSW, Australia
All scriptures are New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. unless otherwise stated.
Table of Contents
1. God’s Perfect Righteousness 4
2. God the Perfect Judge 12
3. God's Justice 18
4. God's Righteousness in Paul's letters 24
5. The Humanistic View of God's Righteousness 26
Appendix 6: Relevant Hebrew words for righteousness 31
1
God’s Perfect Righteousness
Described
God’s righteousness refers to the fact His nature, thoughts, feelings and actions are always right or correct. God’s righteousness means He Himself is the final absolute or perfect standard of what is right and just. What He is by nature is right. What He has decided is right is right and just is just. What is contrary to His nature is wrong. What He has determined is wrong is wrong and unjust is unjust. No one decided for God what is right and wrong, just and unjust.
God’s righteousness also refers to the fact all His commands, rewards and punishments are absolutely just and right and involve no favouritism towards anyone. (As we will see later in Chapter “Rewards 1”, some of God’s rewards are based to some degree on His unmerited grace also.)
God is absolutely righteous in the sense there is nothing in His nature, thoughts or actions which is contrary to His own perfectly right standards. God is also perfectly righteous in the relative sense that He never treats any human, angel or demon in an incorrect or unjust manner.
Explained
God’s righteousness was not given to Him by someone else. He always has been and will be perfectly right in everything He is, thinks, feels or does. His righteousness had no beginning. God’s righteousness is His own total consistency with His own nature and being. Harris, Archer and Waltke describe the standard of God’s righteousness “being His own will and nature as the Supreme Being”. [1] God is inherently right by nature.
In Psalm 89:14, we observe one of the foundations of God’s throne is righteousness or justice: “Justice and judgement are the habitation of thy throne…” (King James Version). Psalm 97:2 speaks similarly.
Psalm 33:5 shows God loves righteousness and associated perfect judgement: “He loveth righteousness and judgement…” (King James Version). Psalm 11:7 says similar things.
Psalm 19:8-9 states that whatever God commands or judges is right or just: “The statues of the Lord are right…The judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.” Isaiah 45:19 shows whatever He says is right: “…I, the Lord, speak righteousness. I declare things that are right.”
God’s righteousness is linked to His holiness
God’s righteousness is closely linked to His holiness. His absolute holiness expresses itself in:
• the establishment of right commands or standards for humans and angels.
• the rewarding of those who follow His right commands.
• the punishment of those who reject His right commands (see Genesis 2:17, Romans 1:32 and Hebrews 2:2). The holiness of God demands that evildoers be justly judged and punished (see Revelation 6:10).
Isaiah 5:16 shows God’s holiness expresses itself in His perfectly right nature, thoughts, decisions and actions: “…God who is holy shall be hallowed in righteousness.”
His righteousness is His justice and some other key things
Everything about God’s nature and acts is righteous or right. His nature and acts include His justice, faithfulness to His covenants, His saving grace, mercy, love, redemption of believers, reconciliation of believers to Himself, judgements, supreme rule and so on. So each of these are expressions of His righteousness. Therefore in a broad sense, God’s righteousness includes far more than His justice.
But note in many contexts in the Old Testament, God’s righteousness means solely His justice. God’s justice is an expression of His twin roles as Supreme Ruler and Judge. When God dispenses His justice, He does this not merely like a judge in a court. His Throne-room and Court-room are combined. Psalm 9:4 refers to God sitting “on the throne judging in righteousness.”
In Psalm 98:9, the Hebrew words “sedeq” and “mishpat” are used together in relation to God’s righteous judgements. “Sedeq” means “righteousness” and “mishpat” means “judgement, justice”. [2] Psalm 98:9 states: “for He is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge the world…”
In Psalm 9:4, 9:8, 98:9 and Jeremiah 11:20, the Hebrew words “sedeq” and “shaphat” are linked together in reference to God’s righteous judgements. “Shaphat” means “judge, govern; act as law giver, judge or governor; decide controversy; execute judgement: vindicating, condemning and punishing”. [3] Psalm 98:9 states: “for he is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge the world, and the peoples with equity.” Psalm 9:7-8 declares: “But the Lord shall endure forever; He has prepared His throne for judgement. He shall judge the world in righteousness, and He shall administer judgement for the peoples in uprightness.” [4]
Jeremiah 12:1 and Zephaniah 3:5 link the Hebrew words “saddiq” and “mishpat”. Brown, Driver and Briggs say in these two verses, “saddiq” means “just, righteous in government”. [5] Zephaniah 3:5 says: “The Lord is righteous, He is in her midst, He will do no unrighteousness. Every morning He brings His justice to light; He never fails, but the unjust knows no shame.” In Jeremiah 12:1, Jeremiah questioned God about His earthly judgements of the wicked: “Righteous are You, O Lord, when I plead with You; yet let me talk with You about Your judgements. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are those happy who deal so treacherously?”
Psalm 7:11 refers to God’s role as just or righteous judge: “God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day.”
This section proves righteousness in many contexts in the Old Testament can solely refer to justice.
Righteousness connected to court cases before judges
Jeremiah 11:20 states: “ But, O Lord of hosts, You who judge righteously, testing the mind and the heart, let me see Your vengeance on them, for to You I have revealed my cause.” In the context of God judging righteously, Jeremiah revealed his cause or case to Him. In Hebrew, the word “cause” here is “rib”. In this verse, “rib” means “dispute”. [6]
The Hebrew noun “rib’ is used in Exodus 23:2, 23:3, 23:6, Deuteronomy 17:8, 19:17, 25:1, 2 Samuel 15:2, 15:4, Proverbs 18:17, Jeremiah 20:12, Ezekiel 44:24, Hosea 4:1 and 12:2 in relation to court cases before human judges or before God the Supreme Ruler and Judge. Deuteronomy 25:1 says: “If there is a dispute between men, and they come to court, that the judges may judge them, and they justify the righteous and condemn the wicked.” Hosea 4:1-2 refers to God bringing a charge against the people of Israel in His combined throne room and court: “Hear the word of the Lord you children of Israel, for the Lord brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: ‘There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land. By swearing and lying, killing and stealing and committing adultery, they break all restraint, with bloodshed after bloodshed.’”
The Hebrew verb “rib” means “conduct a (legal) case, suit” [7] or “to maintain a cause before a judge” [8] in 1 Samuel 24:15, 25:39, Psalm 43:1, 74:22, 119:154, Proverbs 22:23, 23:11, 25:8, Isaiah 1:17, 3:13, 50:8, 51:22, Jeremiah 50:34, 51:36, Lamentations 3:58, Micah 6:1 and 7:9. Isaiah 3:13-14 refers to God pleading the case of the poor in His court against the unjust princes and elders of Judah: “The Lord stands up to plead, and stands to judge the people. The Lord will enter into judgment with the elders of His people and His princes: for you have eaten up the vineyard; the plunder of the poor is in your houses.”
Isaiah 50:8-9 states: “He is near who justifies Me; who will contend with Me? Let us stand together. Who is My adversary? Let him come near Me. Surely the Lord God will help Me; who is he who will condemn Me…” In 1 Samuel 24:15, “rib” is translated as “case” in relation to God’s action as combined Supreme Ruler and Judge: “Therefore let the Lord be judge, and judge between you and me, and see and plead my case, and deliver me out of your hand.”
In Job 31:35, the word “rib” is used by Job to refer to God as his “prosecutor”. The Book of Job does not refer specifically to God’s covenants. Instead this Book has a strong emphasis on God’s judgements in a combined throne-room and court-of-law sense.
Micah 7:9 states: “I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my case and executes justice for me; He will bring me forth to the light, and I will see His righteousness.” In Hebrew, the word “case” here is “rib”, “justice” is “mishpat” and “righteousness” is “sedaqah”. Here once again, God’s righteousness is in the context of a court case and His associated judgements or “mishpat” as Supreme Ruler and Judge.
Commenting on the Hebrew word “rib”, Harris, Archer and Waltke say that in numerous verses “it takes on a legal – judicial significance…It is worth noting that about a third of the appearances of ‘rib’ (verb) are in the Septuagint Greek translation of the Old Testament rendered by ‘krino’, a word with prevalently legal-judicial overtones.” [9]
God and the Messiah judging righteously
In the original Hebrew Old Testament, the word “din” means “act as judge, minister, judgment” in relation to God in Deuteronomy 32:36, Psalm 7:8, 9:8, 50:4, 96:10, 135:14 and Isaiah 3:13 and in reference to the Messiah in Psalm 72:2. Proverbs 31:9 links “din” or “judge” to righteousness when it refers to humans judging righteously: “Open your mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.”
In Psalm 72:2 and 96:10, God links his judgments or “din” in Hebrew to His righteousness. Psalm 72:1-2 states: “Give the king Your judgments, O God, and Your righteousness to the king’s Son. He will judge Your people with righteousness, and Your poor with justice.”
Psalm 72:1-2 uses the Hebrew words “sedeqah” and “mishpat” (verse 1) and “sedeq” and “din” (verse 2) together in relation to the Messiah judging His people righteously. “Sedeqah” means “righteousness”. [10] Harris, Archer and Waltke say “din’ “represents God’s government as both among his people (Israel) and among all peoples” and relates to the “whole range of activities of government”. [11] “Mishpat” and “sedeq” were previously defined.
Psalm 96:10 and 13 say: “Say among the nations, ‘The Lord reigns; the world also is firmly established, it shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously’…For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with his truth.” In Hebrew in verse 10, the word “reigns” is “malak”, “judge” is “din” and “righteously” is “meshar”. “Malak” means “be king…reign”. [12] “Din” was previously defined in relation to acting as a judge and ruler. Brown, Driver and Briggs say that in the context of Psalm 96:10, “meshar” means “in (an) ethical sense, uprightness of government”. [13] In Hebrew in verse 13, “shaphat” is used twice and “sedeq” once. As stated earlier, “shaphat” relates to judging and governing. So “sedeq” or righteousness” is used in the context of Psalm 96:10 and 13 in relation to God judging and governing justly or rightly. [14]
Psalm 9:7-8 records: “But the Lord shall endure forever; He has prepared His throne for judgment. He shall judge the world in righteousness, and He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness.” In Hebrew, the word “judge” here is “shaphat”, “righteousness” is “sedeq”, “judgment” is “din” and “uprightness” is “meshar”.
Psalm 9:7-8 links God’s judgments to His throne. This shows that God is the combined Supreme Ruler and Judge and His throne room and courtroom are combined.
God’s right nature demands He punishes sin
God’s righteousness demands that all sinners must be punished severely (see Hebrews 2:2). Nahum 1:2-3 states: “God is jealous, and the Lord avenges; the Lord avenges and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies; The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked…” Note God says here He “will not at all acquit the wicked” (N.K.J.V.) or “will not leave the guilty unpunished” (N.A.S.B.). [15]
The set punishment for sin is physical death and eternal separation from God – also called spiritual death (see Isaiah 59:2 and Romans 6:23). God cannot establish commands and penalties for breaking these commands, and then not sooner or later punish those who disobey them. If He did not punish, He would be unjust.
God’s justice is not coldly clinical
One false view of God’s justice sees it as being coldly clinical like that of a totally just human judge who has no emotional feelings towards the accused. The truth, however, is God is the Creator, loving Father, Supreme Ruler and Judge combined, and not just a Judge alone. As Creator and Loving Father, He has deep love and other emotional feelings towards humans accused of sin.
God’s righteousness and His Kingdom
In Matthew 6:33, Jesus revealed the close relationship between God’s Kingdom and His righteousness: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” An exact literal translation of the Greek original of part of this verse is “the kingdom and righteousness of him”. God’s Kingdom involves Him being the Supreme Ruler and Judge.
As King of kings, God rules through His combined Throne and Court of divine law. His judgements, rewards and punishments are expressions of His reign as King. In Psalm 10:16-18 and 98:6-9, we see the close relationships between God’s role as King and His judgements and righteousness. Psalm 72:1-4 and Isaiah 9:6-7 prophesy the Messiah’s rule as King, His judgements done in righteousness and His justice.
But note God’s Kingdom also relates to His salvation by His unmerited grace and mercy. The Gospel is called “the gospel of your salvation” (see Ephesians 1:13), “the gospel of the grace of God” (see Acts 20:24) and “the gospel of the kingdom” (see Matthew 4:23, 9:35, Luke 4:43 and Acts 8:12). Many New Testament verses refer to sick people asking Christ on David’s Throne as King to show mercy to them (see Matthew 9:27, 15:22, 20:30-31, Mark 10:47-48 and Luke 18:38-39). They understood the concept of kings showing mercy to their subjects.
Psalm 20:9, 24:5-10, 74:12, 95:1-3, Isaiah 33:22 and Zechariah 9:9 refer to the relationship between God being King and His salvation of His people. Psalm 74:12 says: “For God is my King from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.” Isaiah 33:22 states: “For the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King; He will save us.” Therefore when His righteousness and Kingdom are related together, His righteousness refers to:
• His perfect justice.
• His salvation through His grace and mercy.
• and His faithfulness to His covenant promises to save by His grace. His covenants are expressions of His rule as Supreme King. As King, He is faithful to fulfil His promises to show undeserved mercy and grace to believers.
God’s righteousness manifested through His Covenants
One but not the only expression of God’s righteousness is the ways in which He deals rightly within a covenantal relationship with humans and/or His natural creation. God has established various covenants through which He acts rightly always (see Nehemiah 9:7-8). God’s covenants are also expressions of His holiness, love, grace and mercy – character attributes which are right or righteous in themselves.
One humanistic modern view sees God’s covenants only in relation to His roles as Creator and Father and in reference to His love, mercy and grace. The supporters of this view have no Holy Spirit-given revelation of the fact God’s covenants are also expressions of His roles as righteous Supreme Ruler and Judge. As a result, they, for example, regard His punishments as only ever the remedial discipline of a Father. But note eternal punishment in hell is not the remedial discipline of a Father, but is the deserved judgement of a righteous Ruler and Judge.
All of God’s covenants are manifestations of His combined nature as Creator, Father, righteous Supreme Ruler and Judge. Unless we understand covenants in relation to all these features of Him, we will be putting God in a limited “little theological box”. Too many people try to describe God in terms which fit current worldly philosophies, instead of the full revelation of the written Word.
God’s righteousness expressed in His faithfulness
Psalm 143:1 and Romans 3:3-5 show God’s faithfulness is one expression of His righteousness. Everything God does is right or righteous. So obviously His faithfulness is one aspect of His righteous nature. [16] In the original Hebrew of Psalm 143:1, there is no “and” between the words about God’s faithfulness and those about His righteousness. This either suggests in some contexts, God’s righteousness can equal His faithfulness or there is at least some overlap between the two concepts on those occasions.
God is perfectly faithful to His people, creation and covenants. In the past, this aspect of His righteousness has been neglected.
But sadly, many modern writers are now going from one previous extreme of seeing God’s righteousness only in terms of Him as a holy Supreme Ruler and Judge to a new unbiblical extreme of regarding His righteousness almost solely in terms of His faithfulness to His people, creation and covenants. Evidence of this trend can be seen in the sections on “Paul and his interpreters” and “Righteousness, Righteousness of God” in the “Dictionary of Paul and His Letters”. [17]
One of the tragedies of the present time is a lack of Biblically balanced teaching on God’s righteousness and justice.
God’s righteousness expressed to those not under a covenant
In Romans 1:28-32, Paul states God has a righteous decree which says those who participate in sexual immorality, greed, envy, murder, deceit, pride and all other types of wickedness and wrong deserve a punishment of death. Romans 1:18-32 is referring to non-Israelites who were not under the Abrahamic, Mosaic or New Covenants. Here we see that by His righteousness, God judges even those who are not under a specific covenant which sets out His righteous moral standards for them.
Genesis 20:1-18, Amos 1:3-2:3, and the Books of Obadiah, Jonah and Nahum are Old Testament examples of God holding non-Israelites, who were not under the Abrahamic and Mosaic Covenants, accountable for their sins.
God’s righteousness is frequently paired with His judgements
The Bible teachers who claim God’s righteousness in the Old Testament is solely His faithfulness to His covenants because the two concepts are paired in Psalm 143:1, are very one-sided. This is because they ignore the fact that in the Old Testament, God’s righteousness is far more frequently paired with His judgements as Supreme Ruler and Judge.
The Hebrew words “sedaqah” and “sedeq” meaning “righteousness” are matched continually with the Hebrew word “mishpat” which as stated previously means “judgement, justice”. This latter pairing occurs in Genesis 18:19, 2 Samuel 8:15 and 1 Chronicles 18:14 (in relation to King David), 1 Kings 10:9 and 2 Chronicles 9:8 (in relation to King Solomon), Psalm 33:5, 72:2, 89:14, 94:15, 97:2, 99:4, 119:121, Proverbs 1:3, 2:9, 21:3, 21:15, Ecclesiastes 5:8, Isaiah 1:21, 1:27, 5:7, 5:16, 9:7, 16:5, 28:16-18, 32:16, 33:5, 51:4-5, 56:1, 59:9, 59:14, Jeremiah 4:2, 9:24, 22:3, 22:15, 23:5, 33:15-16, Ezekiel 45:9, Hosea 2:19-20, Amos 5:7, 5:24, 6:12 and Micah 7:9. Also note “mishpat” is paired with “saddiq” meaning “just or righteous” in Zephaniah 3:5.
These pairings of the Hebrew words for God’s righteousness and His governmental-legal judgement are far more easily identified than the looser pairings of the Hebrew words for God’s righteousness and His faithfulness in Psalm 40:10, 88:11-12, 119:138, Isaiah 11:5 and Hosea 2:19-20.
Note “seqadah” or “righteousness” and “mishpat” or “judgement” are paired in relation to David as King (see 2 Samuel 8:15, 1 Kings 10:9, 1 Chronicles 18:14 and 2 Chronicles 9:8), Josiah as King (see Jeremiah 22:15), the Messiah as Ruler and Judge (see Isaiah 9:6-7, Psalm 72:1-4, Jeremiah 23:5 and 33:15) and God as Ruler and Judge (see Job 37:23 and Psalm 99:4). 2 Samuel 8:15 records: “So David reigned over all Israel; and David administered judgement and justice to all his people.”
Those who argue that God’s righteousness relates only to His faithfulness to His covenants and has no relation to His role as Supreme Ruler and Judge need to read Acts 17:31: “because He has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained…” and Revelation 19:11: “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.” In the above two verses, God and Christ's role as Judge is linked to His righteousness. Similarly, in John 5:30, Christ said: “…As I hear, I judge; and My judgement is righteous…”
Based on faithfulness to His nature, character and Name
Also note God’s faithfulness to His covenants is based on His faithfulness to His own righteous nature, character and Name. Psalm 89:33-35 links God’s faithfulness to His covenant or Word to His swearing by His own being and character. Amos 4:2 says “…The Lord God has sworn by His holiness.”
God’s covenants are one manifestation of His holy righteous character and nature or being. So when He is faithful to His covenants, this is an expression of His faithfulness to acting in conformity with His own righteous character and nature. God’s Name represents His righteous, holy character and nature.
God’s righteousness, grace, mercy, salvation and forgiveness
God’s righteousness is often expressed in His grace and mercy towards people. But note when God the righteous Supreme Ruler and Judge makes right judgements and acts rightly on the basis of His grace and mercy, He does this on the foundation of Jesus’ eternally planned death fulfilling those aspects of His justice which relate to evil being punished.
Psalm 31:1-2 relates God’s righteousness to His merciful deliverance or salvation: “In You, O Lord, I put my trust; let me never be ashamed; deliver me in Your righteousness. Bow down Your ear to me, deliver me speedily; be my rock of refuge, a fortress of defense to save me.”
Psalms 51:14, 65:5 and 71:2 also link God’s gracious deliverance to His righteousness. In Isaiah 46:13, 51:5-8 and 63:1, God links His righteousness to His salvation. In Isaiah 63:1, God says: “…I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.”
The above verses do not mean God’s righteousness is only His gracious salvation. Instead these verses show His salvation is one aspect of His righteousness.
Many Christians wrongly think when God forgives someone of their sin, this act of undeserved grace and mercy is not based on perfect justice. But this is seen to be wrong in 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
In 1 John 1:9, we see God acts with total justice when He graciously forgives our sins and cleanses us from unrighteousness. He is acting justly in the sense Jesus Christ substituted for us, taking the just punishment we all deserved and thereby providing the just legal grounds on which God the Supreme Ruler and Judge could in undeserved grace forgive others.
In Psalm 24:3-6, David teaches that God’s people will receive His righteousness as a gift of His saving activity. Verse 5 says: “He shall receive blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.” Isaiah 1:27 relates God’s gracious redemption to His righteousness.
Bible Study Questions
1. What does God’s righteousness mean?
2. Explain those aspects of His righteousness which refer to His justice as Supreme Ruler and Judge.
3. Is God’s righteousness solely His faithfulness to His covenants? Or is the latter only one aspect of His righteousness?
4. What does Nahum 1:2-3 teach us about God’s righteousness and His punishment of sin?
2
God the Perfect Judge
Described
God’s judgements refer to Him as Supreme Judge and Ruler:
• making just laws.
• making just demands over the lives of humans and other created beings.
• deciding whether the thoughts, words, actions, emotions, character and nature of a human or angel are right or wrong.
• declaring whether the angel or human is innocent or guilty.
• giving rewards and punishments.
• declaring sinful humans who receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour to be pardoned for all their past, present and future sin and to be righteous in Him on the basis of Him taking their deserved punishment of death. This is called justification by grace. It is a divine judgement based on God’s grace and mercy and on His perfect justice in punishing Christ in our place.
The Relevant Hebrew words
In the original Hebrew Old Testament, a key word is “mishpat” meaning “in various contexts: “1. judgement 2. justice, right, rectitude (a) of God. (b) of man. 3. ordinance. 4. decision of the judge in a case of law. 5. one’s (legal) right, privilege, due”. [18] The word “ordinance” above refers to the laws of the Mosaic Covenant (see Numbers 27:11 and 35:29). According to Vine, “mishpat” means “judgement, rights…This word has two main senses; the first deals with the act of sitting as a judge, hearing a case and rendering a proper verdict. Ecclesiastes 12:14 is one such occurrence: ‘For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.’ Mishpat can also refer to rights belonging to someone (Exodus 23:6)”. [19]
The Hebrew word “mishpat” can refer to any aspect of God’s supreme rule or government and legal judgement such as:
• the process of God’s judgement (see Psalm 143:2)
• a specific case brought before God the Supreme Ruler and Judge (see Job 13:18 and Numbers 27:5).
• the sentence or decision of God the Supreme Ruler and Judge. Deuteronomy 17:9 and 1 Kings 20:40 are human examples of this.
• the time of God’s judgement (see Psalm 1:5).
• God-given human rights (see Deuteronomy 18:3 and Jeremiah 32:7).
• judgement manifested in punishments (see Deuteronomy 32:41, Jeremiah 48:21 and Ezekiel 5:8).
• the foundation of government in the sense of ultimate authority or right. Deuteronomy 1:7 stresses all “mishpat” or authority is God’s.
• justice expressed in God’s supreme government and judgement. “Mishpat” can be defined as “just judgement”. “Mishpat” also refers to God’s just laws (see Leviticus 18:4, 18:5, Numbers 36:13, Deuteronomy 4:1, 5:1 and 6:1), to His just demands and claims over all humans and other created beings and to His just absolute standards being applied by us in our lives (see Micah 6:8).
Psalm 105:7 shows that even in Old Testament times, God’s judgements were in all parts of the Earth and not just in Israel: “He is the Lord our God; His judgements are in all the earth.” 1 Chronicles 16:14 says the same.
Another key Hebrew word related to God’s judgements is “the word “shapat”. Harris, Archer and Waltke say “shapat” means “to judge, govern”. [20] “Shapat” is sometimes wrongly taken to refer only to God acting as Judge and not also as Supreme Ruler. Harris, Archer and Waltke say “the primary sense of ‘shapat’ is to exercise the processes of government. Since, however, the ancients did not always divide the functions of government, as most modern governments do, between legislative, executive and judicial functions (and departments) the common translation, ‘to judge’ misleads us”. [21] “Legislative” refers to the gathering together of elected or non-elected leaders with the purpose of making laws. “Executive” refers to a president or a prime minister and his cabinet or similar main leaders. “Judicial” relates to judges and courts of law. In various contexts in the Hebrew Old Testament, “shapat” is used in relation to God to refer to Him:
• being the Supreme Ruler.
• being the Supreme Judge.
• enforcing and putting into practice His laws, commands and decisions as combined Supreme Judge and Ruler. This can also involve punishing those who disobey His commands and decisions (see Isaiah 66:16) or vindicating or declaring righteous and delivering people (see Psalm 26:1 and 43:1). Isaiah 33:22 combines a number of God’s attributes: “(For the Lord is our Judge, The Lord is our Lawgiver, The Lord is our King; He will save us).”
Brown, Driver and Briggs say that as an attribute of God, “shapat” means to “judge, govern; act as law-giver, judge or governor; decide controversy; execute judgement: vindicating, condemning and punishing”. [22] “Shapat” is used in verses such as Genesis 16:5, 18:25, Judges 11:27, 1 Samuel 3:13 and Psalm 96:13. [23]
In the Old Testament, the Hebrew words meaning righteous– “sedaqah”, “sedeq”, “saddiq” and “sadaq” are paired with the Hebrew word “mishpat” in many verses [24]. This continual pairing of the Hebrew words for “righteousness”, “righteous” and “be righteous” with the Hebrew word for “judgement” show how closely they relate to each other. The very close association between God’s righteousness and His perfect judgements is shown in Amos 5:24 when the Hebrew words “sedaqah” and “mishpat” are used in almost an interchangeable sense: “But let justice run down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.” “Mishpat” and “shaphat” are linked to “sedeq” in Psalm 9:4: “…You sat on the throne judging in righteousness.”
God’s Perfect Judgements Explained
There are two extremes among Christians. There are those who see God only as a God of justice and judgement. They have little, if any, understanding of His perfect love, grace and mercy towards them. There are many Christians on the other extreme who only focus on God’s love, mercy and undeserved grace. They have little understanding of His perfect justice, His total hatred of even the slightest sin and His perfect judgement. They are similar to the multitudes who belonged to the heretical “churches” of Marcion the Gnostic in the early church period.
Psalm 89:14 presents a more balanced view of God’s character: “Justice and judgement are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.” (K.J.V.). Here we see justice and judgement (or “mishpat” in Hebrew) are the foundation of His throne and how mercy and truth are other key aspects of His character. Psalm 33:5 speaks similarly: “He loveth righteousness and judgement: the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.” (KJV) Psalm 97:2 declares: “…righteousness and judgement are the habitation of his throne.” (KJV). In Hebrew, the word “judgement” in these latter two verses is “mishpat”.
Jeremiah 9:24 says God delights in exercising undeserved kindness, perfect judgement and righteousness: “‘…I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgement, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,’ says the Lord.” Isaiah 61:8 speaks similarly of God’s love of perfect judgement.
Genesis 18:25 and Zephaniah 3:5 relate God’s judgements (or “mishpat”) to His righteousness or perfect justice.
In Hebrews 6:1-2, the writer shows that teaching about eternal judgement should be one of the standard elementary teachings of all churches, not just for some select group.
Modern misunderstanding of God as Judge
In most modern societies especially democracies, judges are not also rulers. Such judges do not make laws or legislate what punishments are suitable for certain crimes. They merely judge on the basis of what political rulers have made into laws. As a result if this, many Bible-readers misunderstand when the Scriptures refer to God as Judge. They do not realise that in a Biblical sense, God being Judge is linked to Him being the absolute Ruler of all created things. Psalm 96:10 says: “Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns; the world also is firmly established, it shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously.”
As the Perfect Judge, God is not enforcing the laws of someone else. Neither is He subject to any higher authority. He judges according to His own righteous, holy, loving, gracious and merciful character and His commands. Therefore, we need to see God as being the Perfect Judge and Supreme Ruler combined.
Psalm 9:4 demonstrates God’s perfect judgements are related to Him sitting on the Throne as Supreme Ruler: “…You sat on the throne judging in righteousness.” God’s Throne and Court-room are combined as one. God’s judgements of the rightness or wrongness of the nature, character, thoughts, words and behaviour of humans and angels are one aspect of His Supreme Rule.
The Supreme Lawgiver and Judge
James 4:12 says of God: “There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?” God’s role as Judge is here linked to His supreme authority as Lawgiver. God’s right judgements are based on His right laws. God’s Laws are written on human conscience (see Romans 2:15). The Law of Moses contained the specific relevant commandments for those living under the Mosaic Covenant. The Law of Christ or those commandments of God found in the New Testament are the relevant laws for born-again believers living under the New Covenant (see 1 Corinthians 9:21 and Galatians 6:2). These New Testament Commandments are to be obeyed by God’s grace through Jesus Christ living within us by His Spirit.
God’s laws or commandments are revealed in the Scriptures and are expressions of His perfectly holy righteous character. In John 7:21-24, Jesus stressed to the Jews that just or right judgements are based on proper interpretations of God’s Scriptures.
The true foundation for understanding God’s mercy
No one can possibly understand the enormity of God’s mercy and undeserved grace unless he first grasps how perfectly just and holy God is and how He has to judge all sin severely.
God is making judgements continually
The Bible reveals there will be a final time of perfectly just judgements made at the Great White Throne Judgement (see Revelation 20:11-15). But God is making just judgements every day. For example, God decides whether humans dying that day go to the place of punishment. Also continually God decides whether to punish each unrepentant unbeliever with earthly punishments in order to encourage them to turn from their sins to Him. Read Isaiah 26:9 in which the Hebrew word “mishpat” translated “judgements” is used: “…for when Your judgements are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.”
Every violation and disobedience receives its just punishment except…
Hebrews 2:2 states: “For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward.” Here we see every violation of and disobedience to the Law of Moses ultimately in God’s time received or will receive a just punishment. In perfect justice, God should punish every disobedience and sin. The only exceptions to this are when people have their sins forgiven through Jesus Christ suffering the just punishment they deserve for these sins (see Hebrews 2:9-17).
James 2:10 says: “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” This verse shows that if someone only disobeys one of God’s commandments, this results in the same level of guilt for him as for someone else who has disobeyed all the commandments. Galatians 3:10 states: “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.’” This verse reveals even just one disobedience to one of God’s commands in the Mosaic Law results in us being under the curse of the Law. This curse is death.
Some non-churchgoers who are not born-again may think that because they have not committed what they believe is major sin, they will be accepted into heaven as righteous good people. But they are deceived! Just one minor sin is enough to condemn them to the lake of fire for eternity. This is unless they have received Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.
God judges fairly
Psalm 98:9 reveals God will judge with equity or fairness: “For He is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge the world, and the people with equity.” Acts 10:34, Romans 2:11 and Ephesians 6:9 emphasise God does not show any partiality or favouritism to anyone. Such verses refer to God’s long term judgement of each person.
In the short term, some unrepentant unbelievers may experience little if any deserved punishment for their sins. This is because of God’s undeserved grace. Such treatment may appear to others as favouritism, but is really unmerited mercy and grace. In the original Greek, the word “partiality” in Romans 2:11 and Ephesians 6:9 is “prosopolempsia” which means “to make unjust distinctions between people by treating one person better than another”. [25]
Believers accusing God of being unjust
Ecclesiastes 8:14 states: “There is a vanity which occurs on earth, that there are just men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the work of the righteous…” Ecclesiastes 7:15 says similar things: “I have seen all things in my days of vanity: There is a just man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his wickedness.” Some believers have been tempted to criticise God’s justice as a result of seeing themselves or other believers undergoing more hardship and suffering than some very wicked unbelievers. Psalm 73, Jeremiah 12:1-2, Habakkuk 1:12-2:1, Malachi 2:17 and 3:13-15 are expressions of people wrongly doubting God’s justice because of observing such seemingly unjust things.
But note Habakkuk 2:2-16 and Psalm 73:16-27 reveal that unrepentant sinners will be punished perfectly justly in future. We should never accuse God of being unjust in His giving out of punishments and undeserved gracious blessings. God often gives blessings to the wicked to help them to see His goodness in order to lead them to turn from sin to Him. Romans 2:4 refers to this.
Bible Study Questions
1. Describe what God’s judgements refer to.
2. What aspects of God’s supreme rule or government and legal judgement does the Old Testament refer to when it uses the Hebrew word “mishpat”?
3. In the Hebrew Old Testament, what does the word “shapat” mean when used in relation to God?
4. What does the continual pairing of the Hebrew word “mishpat” with any of the Hebrew words “sedaqah”, “sedeq”, “saddiq” and “sadaq” show us?
5. Explain what the following verses reveal about God’s judgements:
a) Psalm 89:14 and 97:2
b) Jeremiah 9:24?
6. Why is it hard for many modern people to understand that God is the Perfect Judge and Supreme Ruler combined?
7. What is the connection between God’s judgements and His laws?
8. Will God’s judgements only occur after Jesus’ Second Coming?
9. What does Hebrews 2:2 teach?
10. Explain what Psalm 98:9, Acts 10:34, Romans 2:11 and Ephesians 6:9 reveal about the nature of God’s judgements.
11. What do Ecclesiastes 7:15, 8:14, Psalm 73, Jeremiah 12:1-2, Habakkuk 1:12-2:1, Malachi 2:17 and 3:13-15 reveal about what sometimes happens on Earth to righteous and unrighteous people?
3
God’s Perfect Justice
Described
As the combined Supreme Ruler and Judge, God has perfectly right standards of justice. Psalm 98:9 states: “For He is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge the world. And the peoples with equity.”
Psalm 9:7-8 declares: “But the Lord shall endure forever; He has prepared His throne for judgment. He shall judge the world in righteousness and He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness.”
Psalm 89:14 says of God: “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne…”
God’s justice is one expression of His perfectly right or righteous and holy nature or character. God’s justice is expressed in His commandments, instructions and teachings (see Psalm 19:7-9), some of which change under His different covenants. For example, there are differences between the Abrahamic, Mosaic and New Covenants in these matters.
Under the Mosaic Covenant, God’s justice was manifested through the commands and the statutes of the Mosaic Law (see Proverbs 31:4). Under the New Covenant, God’s justice is found in His New Testament commands, instructions and teachings which are reflected in some parts of the Old Testament.
In the Old Testament, there are many verses which relate to and reveal God’s perfect justice. His justice relates to Him:
• defining what is right and wrong.
• making just demands over the lives of the humans and angels – both His created possessions.
• declaring whether humans and angels are innocent or guilty in the ways they relate to God and others.
• giving rewards and punishments.
• declaring those with saving faith to be justified by His unmerited grace and mercy.
Seeking justice and removing injustices
One of the most important aspects of God’s character revealed in the Bible is His justice. Therefore, it is little wonder the Scriptures command His people to continually seek justice and remove injustices from the society in which they live.
But note that seeking justice means endeavouring to have the laws and customs of our society conform to God’s definition of justice. On many occasions, God’s definitions of justice and injustice are contrary to how groups in the non-Christian world define these things in government legislation, common law, bills of human rights, the constitutions of nations and the conventions and treaties of the United States. This is because some of the standards of justice contained in these things are based on the natural law philosophies of the pagan Stoics and Aristotle, the unbiblical humanistic approaches to human rights of the non-Christian Deists Rousseau, Voltaire, Tom Paine, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and the French Revolutionaries and the unbiblical pagan ethical systems of the situational ethics, utilitarianism, relativism and American pragmatism.[26]
In Proverbs 17:15, God declares: “He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.” Therefore, God regards as an abomination a society, a nation or collective group of nations which makes laws which enable the wicked to be declared just or innocent by judges or juries when these individuals are guilty.
Examples of laws which justify the wicked are those which have lowered the age of consent to homosexuality in many countries in Europe to 12, 13 and 14 years, thereby enabling paedophiles to seduce and prey on boys of those ages. Other examples of laws which justify the wicked are those which make it extremely difficult to criminally convict medical doctors who have indecently assaulted their patients.
In Amos 5:15, God commanded: “Hate evil, love good; Establish justice in the gate…” The phrase “in the gate” refers to the place where court cases were heard in ancient Israel.
Proverbs 24:23-25 says: “These things also belong to the wise: It is not good to show partiality in judgment. He who says to the wicked, ‘You are righteous,’ him the people will curse; nations will abhor him. But those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, and a good blessing will come upon them.” Here we see that God:
a) hates laws which show partiality or favoritism to certain groups or individuals.
b) opposes those who say to the wicked: “You are righteous or innocent.”.
c) blesses those who rebuke the wicked.
In Ecclesiastes 5:8, God reveals that the perversion of justice and righteousness often wrongly occurs in this world: “If you see the oppression of the poor, and the violent perversion of justice and righteousness in a province, do not marvel at the matter: for high official watches over high official, and higher officials are over them.”
In Deuteronomy 1:17, God commanded the Israelites: “You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid in any man’s presence, for the judgment is God’s.”
Deuteronomy 16:19 declares: “You shall not pervert justice: you shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.”
In Isaiah 5:22-23, God states: “Woe to men…who…take away justice from the righteous man.” God curses legal systems which take away justice as He defines justice.
God’s Mosaic Covenant justice for the poor, needy, widows and orphans
One specialised area of God’s justice relates to how humans treat the poor, the needy, widows and orphans.
Under the Mosaic Covenant, God commanded the Israelites to care for the poor and needy. Deuteronomy 15:7-11 states: “If there is among you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the gates in your land which Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother, but you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs. Beware lest there be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,’ and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing, and he cry out to the Lord against you, and it become sin among you. You shall surely give to him, and your heart should not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your works and in all to which you put your hand. For the poor will never cease from the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy, in your land.’”
In Deuteronomy 24:14-15, God commanded: “You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether one of your brethren or one of the aliens who is in your land within your gates. Each day you shall give him his wages, and not let the sun go down on it, for he is poor and has set his heart on it: lest he cry out against you to the Lord, and it be sin to you.” Leviticus 19:9-10 and 23:22 also relate to this.
Deuteronomy 14:22-29 instructs that every three years, the Israelites were to give an extra tithe to look after the poor, orphans, widows, aliens and Levites. Deuteronomy 24:17-21 commands: “You shall not pervert justice due the stranger or the fatherless, nor take a widow’s garment as a pledge. But you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this thing. When you reap your harvest in your field, and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand. When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow”
Exodus 22:21-25 commands: “You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. If you afflict them in any way, and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry; and My wrath will become hot, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless. If you lend money to any of My people who are poor among you, you shall not be like a moneylender to him; you shall not charge him interest.”
Exodus 23:6 states: “You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in this dispute.” This verse means that Israelite judges had to ensure that the wealthy did not have any unfair advantage over the poor in court cases. In Leviticus 19:15, God commands that in court cases, judges should not show favoritism to either the poor or wealthy: “You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor.” Exodus 23:3 speaks similarly. Psalm 140:12 states: “I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted and justice for the poor.”
Deuteronomy 27:19 says: “Cursed is the one who perverts the justice due the stranger, the fatherless, and widow.” Psalm 146:9 states: “The Lord watches over the strangers…”
In Isaiah 10:1-2, God declares a curse on rulers who make unjust wrong laws: “Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, who write misfortune, which they have prescribed to rob the needy of justice, and to take what is right from the poor of My people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless.” In Jeremiah 22:15-17, God challenged Shallum or Jehoahaz, King of Judah about his unjust rule.
New Covenant believers are not under the commands and statutes of the Mosaic Covenant, but note some of the commands and statutes of Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy reveal God’s attitudes towards the poor, needy, orphans, widows and strangers.
Under the New Covenant
In the New Covenant, God commands believers to help the poor, the needy, widows and orphans (see Matthew 25:31-46, Luke 14:13-14, Romans 15:26, 1 Corinthians 16:3, 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9, Galatians 2:10 and 1 Timothy 5:3-16). James 1:27 states: “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble…” James 2:14-17 declares: “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
Poverty has many causes
The Bible has a more balanced view of poverty than what Communists, left-wingers or right-wingers in politics have. Many Communists and left-wingers blame only the rich and the political, social and economic organisation of society for people being poor. Many right-wingers solely blame the poor themselves for being poor.
The Bible, however, states poverty is a result of a mixture of many causes. These causes can in various cases be:
• unjust treatment by the rich (see Jeremiah 5:26-29)
• unjust treatment by political rulers (see Isaiah 1:23, 3:13-15, 10:1-2, Jeremiah 22:13-17 and Ezekiel 22:6-7)
• unjust treatment in court cases (see Exodus 23:6)
• persecution (see Hebrews 11:37-39)
• laziness (see Proverbs 6:10-11, 10:4 and 24:33-34)
• wasting your time (see Proverbs 14:23)
• following empty, frivolous or futile pursuits. Proverbs 28:19 says: “He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows frivolity will have poverty enough!” The NASB version states: “He who tills his land will have plenty of food, but he who follows empty pursuits will have poverty in plenty.” In Hebrew, the word ‘frivolity’ or phrase ‘empty pursuit’ here is ‘req’ which means ‘empty, vain’[27] or ‘empty, idle, worthless ethically’[28] This can include getting drunk, gambling and so on. Proverbs 12:11 states: “He who tills his land will be satisfied with bread, but he who follows frivolity is devoid of understanding.”
• Proverbs 23:20-21 says that drunkards and gluttons will generally become poor: “Do not mix with winebibbers, or with gluttonous eaters of meat; for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty and drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.”
• having an excessive love of pleasures. Proverbs 21:17 states: “He who loves pleasure will be a poor man….”
The Bible does not teach that every person who is lazy, persecuted, wastes their time, follows empty pursuits, has an excessive love of pleasures or is unjustly treated by the rich, political leaders or courts will become poor. But these are causes in many cases.
Another cause of poverty on Earth is the fact that because of the fall of the human race into evil and rebellion against God, He cursed the ground. Genesis 3:17-19 records: “Then to Adam He said, ‘Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you. And you shall eat the herb of the field. In the seat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground. For out of it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you shall return”. See also Genesis 5:29.
Poverty is one but not the only cause of crime
Proverbs 30:8-9 reveals that poverty can tempt people to become involved with crime: “… give me neither poverty nor riches – feed me with the food allotted to me lest I be full and deny You and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.”
But not all crime is caused by poverty. Poverty is sometimes one symptom of deeper causes. Proverbs 13:18 reveals that some people who become poor do so because they are not willing to receive correction and rebukes from others.
Many but not all people who become heroin and cocaine addicts were people who refused to receive correction and helpful rebukes from their parents, spouses, friends and school teachers who gave them drug education classes as little children. As a result of their addiction, they become poor and then become criminals to pay for their addiction. Obviously this is not the only reasons people become heroin and cocaine addicts, but it is one major reason.
Another major cause of crime is the tendency in all human hearts to do evil. Genesis 6:5-6 and 11-12 records that in the time of Noah: “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He made man on the earth, and He was grieved to His heart…The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. So God looked upon the earth and indeed it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.”
God’s justice in relation to employees
In the Mosaic Covenant God also emphasised that employers must treat the employees fairly. Leviticus 19:13 commands: “You shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired shall not remain all night with you until morning.”
In Jeremiah 22:13, God said: “Woe to him who builds his house on unrighteousness and his chamber by injustice, who uses his neighbor’s service without wages and gives him nothing for his work.” In Malachi 3:5, God promised He would punish those who exploit wage earners.
Under the New Covenant, God commanded that employers also treat their employees justly (see James 5:1-6).
God regards some politicians in Europe as abominations
God loves everyone. But as Proverbs 17:15 reveal, God regards as abominations any person or group who makes laws which enable the wicked to be declared innocent or just by judges or juries when these accused individuals are guilty: “He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.”
A good example of this is the governments who have made the laws of consent in many European countries including the Netherlands, Malta, Spain, Italy, Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Liechtenstein and Romania. These laws protect paedophiles who wish to have sex with boys from 12 to 14 years, the age differing from country to country.
God expects every human political leader, judge and lawyer to follow the principles of His perfect justice. If they do not, He will hold them responsible after they die.
God’s justice at the Final Judgment
At the Final Judgment, God will hold every person accountable for how justly and rightly they have treated every person they have dealt with in this earthly life (see Matthew 12:36-37, Romans 14:10-12 and 2 Corinthians 5:9-10).
4
God’s Righteousness in Paul’s Letters
In Romans 1:17, 3:5, 3:21, 3:22, 3:25, 3:26, 10:3, 2 Corinthians 5:21 and Philippians 3:9, Paul uses various Greek expressions which are usually translated “righteousness of God”, “His righteousness” or “God’s righteousness”. The meanings of these expressions have been highly debated in recent decades.
In some of the above-mentioned verses, these expressions mean different things. For example, in the context of Romans 1:16-18, “the righteousness of God” refers to God’s gracious powerful saving activity towards those who receive the Gospel by faith – this including Him declaring believers righteous by His grace and to Him saving believers from His righteous anger or wrath. He is angry towards all those who refuse to receive the Gospel and turn from unrighteousness and ungodliness. Verse 16 comments on salvation and the Gospel and verses 16-17 refer to faith. Verse 18 mentions God’s wrath against all unrighteousness.
Unrighteousness is the opposite of the absolute perfection of God’s righteousness. The Gospel includes mentions of Jesus’ death for believers (see 1 Corinthians 15:3) and that His death has justified believers and freed them from His great anger against all guilty sinners (see Romans 5:9, 1 Thessalonians 1:5-10 and 5:9).
In the context of Romans 3:3-7, verse 5 uses the expression “the righteousness of God” to mean God’s faithfulness to His promises to inflict His wrath and associated punishment on the unrighteous Jews and to deal rightly with believing Jews. God’s wrath is mentioned in the Mosaic and New Covenants. But His wrath is not just a covenantal reality. This is because behind God’s covenants are His perfect holiness and justice which are the source of His great anger against sinners and their sins.
In the context of Romans 3:21-24, the twice-used phrase “the righteousness of God” refers to God’s merciful, gracious saving activity for all Jews and non-Jews who believe, to His faithfulness to His promises found in the Law and the Prophets (see verse 21) and to being declared righteous by God’s grace (see verse 24).
But in the context of Romans 3:25 and 26, the phrase “His righteousness” refers primarily to God’s justice, but may also include elements of His faithfulness to His gracious merciful promises of salvation and of His powerful saving activity.
In Philippians 3:9, Paul refers to the righteousness of God as being God’s unmerited gift of righteousness to those with faith in Jesus Christ. In this verse, Paul compares this wonderful gift of God to him trying to maintain his right standing before God as a Jew through obeying the Mosaic Law. Under the Abrahamic and Mosaic Covenants, God gave all Jews by His unmerited grace and mercy a right standing before Him from the time they were born and/or circumcised in the case of boys. [29]
In Romans, Paul emphasises that when God saves, He does it in ways which are totally right. Paul teaches that God:
• is right in the fact that He saves fallen humans.
• is right in the way He saves them.
This rightness is one major aspect of God’s perfect righteousness.
In Romans, God’s righteousness is a more prominent theme than His covenants. In Romans, Paul mentions God’s covenants in Romans 9:4 and 11:27. But in Romans, he referred more often to God’s righteousness.
Paul viewed God’s righteousness as being behind all of the following: His covenants, His saving redeeming activity, His grace and mercy, His reconciling of humans to Himself, His adoption of believers, His declaring believers as being righteous in Christ, His wrath and His judgment of others.
In the Book of Romans, Paul teaches that God’s righteousness is:
• His perfectly right nature and character,
• His perfect justice,
• His faithfulness to His covenantal promises and
• His right activity expressed in His saving power.
Any teaching which ignores any of these four elements is an unbalanced teaching about God’s righteousness.
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The Humanistic Relativistic View Of God’s Righteousness
Humanism is the philosophy which teaches that humans, their rights, their freedoms, their needs, their happiness, self-fulfilment and self-esteem should be the central focus of everything. Relativism is the philosophy that there is no absolute truths nor absolute rights and wrongs about anything. Multitudes of modern churchgoers have tried to mix these two pagan philosophies with Biblical teaching.
One example of such an adulterous blending of humanism, relativism and Biblical ideas occurs in relation to those who say God’s righteousness:
• does not relate to God-determined absolute rights and wrongs.
• does not refer to His absolute justice.
• is purely relational – it refers solely to how God personally relates rightly to humans, angels and His creation.
• is solely or primarily His faithfulness to His covenants, people, creation and promises about salvation.
God’s righteousness does refer to how He personally rightly relates to people, angels and creation. But it is far more than that. In fact, unless we have a clear revelation of His absolute righteousness in nature and character, regardless of His relationships to others, we will have a paganised false view of how He relates to others.
His righteousness does relate partly to His faithfulness. But His righteousness also refers to His absolute justice and to absolute rights and wrongs determined by Him. It is a very human-centred or humanistic view of God’s righteousness to say the latter is only or primarily an expression of His faithfulness to His covenants, covenant promises, people and creation.
Prior to God creating humans, He was perfectly righteous in all aspects of His nature and acts. During that eternal period prior to His creation of humans, He did infinitely more than just planning some covenants. So most of God’s righteous acts prior to the creation of humans were unrelated to His covenants. Therefore, God’s faithfulness to His covenants, promises, people and creation is only one aspect of His broader righteous character and actions.
God’s faithfulness is only one form of His righteousness. His righteousness is not a form of His faithfulness. God would be perfectly righteous even if He had never made a covenant with anyone and if humans and creation never existed.
The humanistic relativistic view of God’s righteousness suits the humanistic and relativistic age we live in at present. Most unbelievers and many churchgoers do not like to think God has absolute standards of right and wrong by which He judges with perfect justice. Instead they like to think His righteous standards and morals can be changed to suit the sinful standards of human society. They prefer the idea of a God Who is only faithful, loving, gracious and merciful.
The “feel-good” view almost ignores His promises to punish
The “feel-good” humanistic Biblically unbalanced view of God’s faithfulness concentrates so much on His faithfulness in fulfilling His gracious promises about salvation and redemption, that it almost totally ignores His faithfulness in fulfilling His promises to punish eternally those who do not have saving faith in Him.
Nehemiah 9:8 shows that one aspect of God being righteous is He was faithful to perform His gracious covenant promises or Words to Abraham. But note Nehemiah 9:33-34 and Daniel 9:11-14 reveal that God’s righteousness is also expressed when He is faithful to fulfil His promises to punish unrepentant sinners. In Romans 3:3-5, Paul links God’s faithfulness to the fulfilment of His promises about inflicting His righteous anger or wrath on unrepentant sinners.
Because the above false humanistic view either downplays or totally rejects the idea that God’s righteousness includes His justice, it fails to teach that God’s faithfulness to fulfil His promises to punish unrepentant sinners is one manifestation of His justice. His Mosaic and New Covenant promises to punish unrepentant sinners are expressions of His justice. He gives these sinners what they justly deserve or have merited. [30]
How the humanistic view tries to justify itself
To try to justify its own ideas, the humanistic relativistic view argues that the belief God’s righteousness refers partly to the absolute rightness of His nature, character and commands and to His justice, is based on pagan Greek religion and Roman law.
For example, one of the pagan Greek goddesses was called “Dike” meaning “Justice”. [31] The pagan Greeks believed that Dike was a daughter of Zeus – the Father of the Greek gods. As Colin Brown says, pagan Greeks taught “Dike” was a cosmic force which was immanent and inherent in the natural sphere and was related to humans living together in society. [32] “Dike” was the goddess of deserved punishments. Acts 28:4 records that pagans in Malta believed the goddess Justice was punishing Paul for his sins when a poisonous snake bit him.
But just because the ancient Greeks had a goddess of justice does not mean the idea of absolute justice and absolute rights and wrongs is pagan in origin. If we applied the same foolish reasoning to other characteristics of God, we would make some other equally ridiculous conclusions. For example, other Greek divinities were Athena – the goddess of wisdom, Aphrodite – the goddess of love and Apollo – the god of light, healing and truth. On the basis of similar poor reasoning, we could argue that love, wisdom, light, healing and truth were unbiblical pagan Greek religious concepts.
Similarly, just because the ancient pagan Greeks and Romans made animal sacrifices to their gods, cannot be used as proof for the idea that Jesus’ death as our substitute on the Cross is a form of pagan religion.
Also note no ancient pagan Greek had a totally Biblical view of divine justice. For example, they believed that the Greek gods “often did evil things like humans”. [33] For example, Zeus, the Father of the Greek gods was an adulterer and a paedophile. The Greek god Apollo and the demi-god hero Hercules or Heracles were paedophiles also. When referring to ancient pagan Greek attitudes, Colin Brown states: “Hence the righteous man (dikaios) was originally one whose behaviour fitted into the framework of society and who fulfilled his rightful obligations towards the gods and his fellow men (Homer, Od. 13,209)”. [34] But note this is different from the Biblical view of righteousness which relates to the character and nature of one God as revealed in His written Word. Many Greeks who fitted into the framework of their wicked pagan society were not righteous in God’s eyes.
In addition, the ancient Greek Stoic philosophers taught there were God-given absolute laws of nature. [35] But their “god” was not a Person who was separate from creation but instead was Hindu-like nature-god.
The fact that the ancient Greeks invented a goddess of justice relates to the fact all humans have a God-given conscience (see Romans 2:14-15). Their consciences have God’s standards of justice and absolute rights and wrongs written on them. In their own sinful imaginations, these ancient Greeks corrupted the truths about God’s justice, right and wrong which was found on their conscience, to relate to a non-existent goddess and a Hindu-like Stoic nature-god.
Also just because some early Church writers like Tertullian introduced some false concepts of Roman law into Christian teachings, [36] does not prove a pagan origin for the idea God’s righteousness includes His absolute justice.
His righteousness is not limited to His relationship-restoring love
It is true that one aspect of God’s righteousness is His love expressing itself in restoring the relationships between Himself and fallen humans. But the modern humanistic, relativistic view overemphasises this relation-restoring love aspect of His righteousness and tries to minimise or exclude the justice aspects of His righteousness. This false view follows the error of the German liberal theologian, Albrecht Ritschl.
Ritschl taught that the righteousness of God is “simply the consistency with which His love provides for the good of men”. [37] Ritschl’s view subordinates God’s justice to His love to such an extent that the former becomes only an expression of God’s love, mercy, grace and kindness. [38] The truth is God’s love is one aspect of His righteous or right nature.
The very shaky foundations of the new view on God’s righteousness
At the back of E. P. Sanders’ book “Paul and Palestinian Judaism”, there is an appendix by Manfred T. Brauch called “Perspectives on ‘God’s righteousness’ in recent German discussion”. In this Appendix, Brauch comments on the debate on justification and righteousness since the 1960’s between various authors such as Kasemann, Bultmann, Stuhlmacher, Conzelmann and so on. But more importantly, Brauch made the following comments about God’s righteousness or in Greek “dikaiosune theou” or in Hebrew “tsedaqah”. “A new turning point for the discussion was provided by H. Cremer in that he pointed to the Old Testament as the historical presupposition for Paul’s conception of ‘God’s righteousness’. Cremer demonstrated that ‘dikaiosune theou’ must be understood in terms of ‘tsedaqah’, a ‘relationship concept’ which designates the actions of partners in keeping with the covenant (i.e. covenant-faithfulness).” [39]
In other words, Brauch argues that a crucial change occurred in the understanding of many Bible teachers when H. Cremer’s definition of the Old Testament Hebrew word “tsedaqah” or “sedaqah” meaning “righteousness” was used as a basis for interpreting Paul’s understanding of the righteousness of God.
Since the 1960’s, many Bible teachers have for various reasons accepted Cremer’s very limited definition of the Hebrew word for “righteousness” and have assumed Paul’s concepts of “the righteousness of God” are based on Cremer’s definition.
But as has been shown by me in earlier sections of my present chapter, the Old Testament Hebrew words for “righteousness” mean far more than God’s faithfulness. Read also what the below Hebrew experts say these Hebrew words for “righteousness” mean.
Harris, Archer and Waltke say the root of the Hebrew words “sadeq”, “sedeq”, “sedaqah” and “saddiq” basically means “conformity to an ethical or moral standard” and “The earliest usages of ‘sedeq’ or ‘sedaqah’ (except Genesis 15:6, 18:19, 30:33…) occur in relation to the functions of judges…” [40] They also say that these Hebrew words are also used: “as a descriptive characteristic of God (Deut. 32:4), as just and righteous, the standard being his own will and nature as the supreme being. ‘Sedaqah’ or ‘sedeq’ when applied to God mean righteousness, his characteristics then becoming the ultimate standard of human conduct”. [41]
Harris, Archer and Waltke also refer to the covenantal aspect of God’s righteousness when they say, “God is righteous, under the covenant, when he delivers his people from trouble (Psalm 31:1), their enemies (Psalm 5:8), the wicked (Psalm 37:6 and when he is vindicating Israel before her foes or executing vengeance on them (Jeremiah 11:20)”. [42]
Note the Hebrew word “sedeq” meaning “righteousness” is used in some contexts “in connexion with weights and measures, indicating conformity to the proper standards (Leviticus 19:36, Deuteronomy 25:15, Ezekiel 45:10)”. [43] Here we see it is nonsense to teach that it is a pagan idea to say righteousness is conformity to proper standards.
Vine says: “Sedeq and sedaqah are legal terms signifying justice in conformity with the legal corpus (the Law; Deuteronomy 16:20), the judicial process (Jer. 22:3), the justice of the king as judge (1 Kings 10:9; Psalm 119:121; Proverbs 8:15), and also the source of justice, God Himself: ‘Judge me, O Lord my God, according to thy righteousness; and let them not rejoice over me…And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long’ (Psalm 35:24,28). The word ‘righteousness’ also embodies all that God expects of His people”.[44]
When commenting on the meaning of the Hebrew word “sadaq”, Vine says: “It is a legal term which involves the whole process of justice”. [45]
Bible Study Questions
1. Explain what is wrong with the false modern humanistic relativistic view of God’s righteousness.
2. Is God’s righteousness solely His relationship-restoring love? What verses prove your
answer?
Appendix 6: Relevant Hebrew words for righteousness
In the Old Testament, there are four main words which are related to righteousness. These are the words “sedaqah”, “sedeq”, “sadaq” and “saddiq”. Note these words show righteousness and justice in many contexts in the Old Testament mean the same thing. In the following definitions, I have put those which specifically relate to God’s righteousness in bold type. I have added the other definitions to give you an idea of the range of meanings of the Hebrew words in varying contexts.
The Hebrew word “sedaqah” means “righteousness 1. righteousness in government (a) of judge, ruler, king (b) of law (c) of Davidic King, Messiah 2. God’s attribute as sovereign in government, administering justice, punishment and vindication of His people 3. righteousness, in a case or cause 4. righteousness equalling truthfulness in word or oath 5. righteousness as ethically right 6. righteousness as vindicated, justification, salvation (a) of God…- His saving (delivering) righteousness (b) of people, equalling prosperity 7. righteous acts (a) of God – vindication of right, redemptive (b) of man’s moral conduct” [46] or “1. blameless behaviour, 2. righteousness of the whole being 3. justice (of a human judge) 4. justice (characteristic of God the divine Judge) 5. righteousness (as a religious attitude), equalling godliness 6. righteousness (equalling behaviour which God expects man to show to God) 7. (God’s) justice…(a) what God expects for man’s conduct with man (b) what is reliable (c) what God gives = salvation, deliverance 8. (a) legal claims (b) God’s acts of justice”. [47]
The associated word “sedeq” means “rightness, righteousness; 1. what is right, just; 2. righteousness in government: (a) of judges, rulers, kings (b) of law (c) of Davidic King, Messiah (d) of Jerusalem as seat of just government (e) of God’s attribute as sovereign 3. righteousness, justice in a case or cause; God judges according to righteousness 4. rightness in speech 5. righteousness, as ethically right 6. righteousness as vindicated, justification in controversy with enemies and troubles, deliverance, victory, prosperity (a) of God as covenant-keeping in redemption (b) in name of Messianic King (vindicating people’s cause and giving victory) (c) of people as enjoying righteousness of salvation” [48] or “1. (what is) right 2. (legal) rightness 3. justice, just, righteous 4. justice done to someone = success”. [49]
The Hebrew word “sadaq” means “be just, righteous; A. in Qal verb pattern: 1. have a just cause, be in the right 2. be justified 3. be just: of God in His government in charging with sin 4. be just, righteous in conduct and character: of men…B. in Hiphel verb pattern: 1. do justice in administering law 2. declare righteous, justify 3. justify, vindicate the cause of, save 4. make righteous, turn to righteousness”. [50]
The word “saddiq” means “1. just, righteous in government: (a) of Davidic King (b) of judges (c) of law (d) of God in condemnation, redemption, keeping promises, in all His ways 2. just in one’s cause, right; right in law, not under penalty, innocent of specific offence 3. just, righteous in conduct and character (a) towards God (b) in general ethically 4. righteous as justified and vindicated 5. right, correct, lawful” [51] or “1. A thing examined and found to be in order, right 2. (legally: a person whose conduct is examined and found to unobjectionable): not guilty, innocent, in the right 3. (morally in the right): innocent, guiltless 4. just, righteous (character or conduct) 5. (religiously) righteous, godly 6. said of God: in the right, righteous, just”. [52]
Refer to Chapter “God the Perfect Judge” for details about the meanings of the Greek words for “righteous” and “righteousness”.
-----------------------
[1] Harris, Archer and Waltke, page 754.
[2] Brown, Driver and Briggs, pages 841 and 1048.
[3] Ibid, page 1047.
[4] Deuteronomy 1:16, 16:18 and Proverbs 31:9 use “sedeq” and “shaphat” together when referring to human judges judging righteously or justly.
[5] Ibid, page 843.
[6] Ibid, page 936.
[7] Brown, Driver and Briggs, page 936.
[8] Wilson, page 314.
[9] Harris, Archer and Waltke, page 845.
[10] Ibid, page 842.
[11] Harris, Archer and Waltke, page 188.
[12] Ibid, page 507.
[13] Brown, Driver and Briggs, page 449.
[14] 2 Samuel 15:4 records what Absalom, David’s son did: “Moreover Absalom would say, ‘Oh, that I were made judge in the land, and everyone who has any suit or cause would come to me; then I would give him justice.’” Absalom here refers to lawsuits which would be judged by the King. In verse 4, he calls the King the “judge”. Later verse 6 refers to people in Israel going “to the king for judgement”. So the King in Israel was their human combined ruler and judge. This is similar to the fact God is combined Supreme Ruler and Judge. Note in this context, the word “justice” in verse 4 is “sedaqah” – one of the Hebrew words for righteousness.
[15] The expressions “the wicked” or “the guilty” are not a part of the original Hebrew text but are implied.
[16] It is possible 1 Samuel 26:23, Psalm 40:9-10, 88:11-12, Isaiah 1:21, 1:26 and 11:5 also show God’s faithfulness is an expression of His righteousness. But then we can argue that in their various contexts, these verses reveal His righteousness and faithfulness merely operate often together.
[17] Gerald P. Hawthorne and Ralph P. Martin – Editors – “Dictionary of Paul and His Letters”, Intervarsity Press, Downer’s Grove, Illinois, , pages 666-679 and 827-837.
[18] Brown, Driver and Briggs, pages 1048-1049.
[19] Vine, page 126.
[20] Harris, Archer and Waltke, page 947.
[21] Ibid.
[22] Brown, Driver and Briggs, page 1047.
[23] Strong argues “shapat” should be pronounced “shaphat”.
[24] These are Genesis 18:19, 2 Samuel 8:15 and 1 Chronicles 18:14 (in relation to King David), I Kings 10:9 and 2 Chronicles 9:8 (in relation to King Solomon), Psalm 33:5, 72:2, 89:14, 94:15, 97:2, 99:4, 119:121, Proverbs 1:3, 2:9, 21:3, 21:15, Ecclesiastes 5:8, Isaiah 1:21, 1:27, 5:7, 5:16, 9:7, 16:5, 28:16-18, 32:16, 33:5, 51:4-5, 56:1, 59:9, 59:14, Jeremiah 4:2, 9:24, 22:3, 22:15, 23:5, 33:15-16, Ezekiel 45:9, Hosea 2:19-20, Amos 5:7, 5:24, 6:12, Micah 7:9 and Zephaniah 3:5.
[25] Louw and Nida, page 768.
[26] For definitions of these philosophies and ethical systems read my Chapter “Avoid The Satanic Trap of Unbiblical Ethics”, Chapter “Situational Ethics”, Chapter “The Age of Reason, the Enlightenment and Deism” and Chapter “Christians Using Pagan Philosophies to Justify Their Sins.” Refer to my Internet address
[27] Harris, Archer and Waltke, page 846.
[28] Brown, Driver and Briggs, page 938
[29] Refer to Chapter “Righteousness through Jesus” and Chapter “Justification” for extensive proof of the fact that being justified by God in the Book of Romans and other parts of the New Testament means being declared righteous by Him in His role as Supreme Ruler and Judge. James 2:14-26 is an exception to this. Refer to the section “James 2:14-26 in Chapter “Justified by grace through faith and evidenced by…” for details. These chapters are on my Internet address
[30] Refer to Chapter “Punishments from God” on my Internet address for details about how God’s punishments are justly merited or deserved and are not just undeserved consequences.
[31] Vine, page 338.
[32] Colin Brown, page 353.
[33] Geoff Bromiley, “International Standard Bible Encyclopedia”, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1988, Volume 4, page 107.
[34] Colin Brown, page 353.
[35] Bromiley, Volume 4, page 110.
[36] Refer to the section “Tertullian” in Chapter “The meriting type of legalism” on my Internet address for more details of some of Tertullian’s false teachings.
[37] James Hastings (Editor),”Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, Volume 10, T. and T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1974, page 792.
[38] Ritschl also did not believe God’s justice included punishment or deserved repayment for sins (Hastings, page 792). In addition, he rejected the Biblical government-legal view of God justifying believers (Elwell, page 955). Ritschl denied the Biblical views of original sin, the incarnation of Christ, revelation and resurrection (Ibid). He also taught Christ was not God and miracles do not occur and Jesus’ death was not a substitutionary atonement (Enns, pages 550 and 554). Ritschl also laid the groundwork for the later liberal teaching which supposedly distinguished events of history from so-called “myths” in the Bible (Ibid, page 550).
[39] E.P. Sanders, “Paul and Palestinian Judaism”, Fortress, Philadelphia, 1977, page 525.
[40] Harris, Archer and Waltke, page 752.
[41] Ibid, page 754.
[42] Ibid.
[43] Colin Brown, page 356.
[44] Vine, page 206.
[45] Ibid, page 205.
[46] Brown, Driver and Briggs, page 842.
[47] Holladay, page 303.
[48] Brown, Driver and Briggs, pages 841-842.
[49] Holladay, page 303.
[50] Brown, Driver and Briggs, pages 842-843.
[51] Ibid, page 843.
[52] Holladay, page 303.
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