I love meditating on Scripture because I always realize the assumptions that I bring to the Bible and then God challenges me to consider if they are true. One example of this type of challenge is my view of righteousness.
I just spent 3 days interacting with Romans 1:1-17. I read it in English, I translated the Greek, I did an inductive study, I formed my own provisional conclusions, I read one commentary, I attended a lecture on the passage, and then I read another commentary. The foremost challenge to my assumptions going in was to my view of the righteousness of God as being for the individual person who stands condemned by God. This is one aspect of the righteousness mentioned.
I started, however, I ask the following questions:
- What is the difference between holiness and righteousness?
- How did the readers of Romans in the 1st century understand righteousness?
- Based on the content of the letter, is this righteousness solely for the individual or is there a larger view that I am missing?
The first question came because I have always read Romans 1:17 as the righteousness of God was revealed so that the unrighteous individual received God's righteousness so that he would be saved and not condemned. Is this the total picture of righteousness that Paul is stating? Am I simply using righteousness as a synonym for holiness where I am now considered holy by the work of Jesus on the cross?
God's righteousness, as viewed by Israel, could be defined as God's right actions based on what they knew about God as revealed through their Scripture and the covenant. The people of God, Israel, had confidence (faith) that God would do the right thing based on his convental relationship with the people.
How does this fit into Romans 1:17? Does the righteousness of God (or from God) mean more than what I stated earlier? I now believe that the righteousness of God that was revealed in Christ Jesus is God's right action in responding to evil and sin in the world. This is what we would 'expect' God to do based on his promises, both to the Jews and to Gentiles.
Maybe the righteousness of God is aimed more at the cosmic struggle between good and evil more than the individual salvation of a soul. Yes, the individual salvation based on faith in work of Jesus Christ on the cross is part of this picture but maybe it isn't the starting point. Maybe starting with the cosmic view is where Paul wants us to start as opposed to the individual "what's in it for me" view that I have often brought to Scripture.
Praise God that the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel!
3 comments:
To me, righteousness has to do with God's charachter. It is the assurance to humanity that God will always do the right thing no matter how strange or wrong it seems to us in the moment. What I think is an important note is how interconnected unconditional love is with righteousness. I think we sometimes view them to be on opposite sides of the spectrum, yet they are in perfect harmony.
To me holiness is the beauty and glory of an infinte being who can't adequately be described in words. Holiness is the essence and reason for our complete and ultimate praise.
I love the blog man! Keep it coming!
Your description of righteousness is in line with what is revealed in Romans 1. We both seem to have focused on God's righteousness.
What does it mean for a person to be declared righteous in terms of the descriptions that we have put out?
In other words, I have stopped to rethink my understanding of righteousness but that rethinking makes sense for God's rightesouness but not for how that applies to humans.
I am also still trying to see how holiness, rightesouness, and purity are related.
I think the reason righteousness doesn't make sense when applied to humans is simply because we aren't righteous. Anything that is of God is from God and through God and not from us.
My question to you is what do you truly seek to understand? Is it who you can be through Christ or who Christ is? This may seem easy for your mouth to answer, but what is your soul saying? Although the first seems noble, I believe it wears a subtle mask of pride. The second option is much sweeter and ironically much easier.
Now all I have to do is convince myself that the second is my most important daily goal without exception. Suggestions?
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