Reference: Righteousness
American
Rectitude, justice, holiness; an essential perfection of God's character, Job 36:3; Isa 51:5-8; Joh 17:25; and of his administration, Ge 18:25; Ro 3:21-22; 10:3. It is the wonder of grace that as the righteous guardian of the law, he can acquit the unrighteous. "The righteousness of Christ" includes his spotless holiness, his perfect obedience the law demands; and "the righteousness of faith" is that imputed to the sinner who believes in Christ. With reference to personal character, righteousness is used both for uprightness between man and man, and for true religion, Ge 18:23; Le 19:15; Isa 60:17; Ro 14:17; Eph 5:9.
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And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment; thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor.
My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and my arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on my arm shall they trust. Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall become old like a garment, and its inhabitants shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. read more. Hearken to me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. For the moth shall eat them like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.
For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thy exactors righteousness.
O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being testified by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ to all, and upon all them that believe; for there is no difference:
For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God.
For the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, and righteousness, and truth;)
Easton
See Justification.
Hastings
RIGHTEOUSNESS
I. In OT.
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Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin shall ye have: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.
And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thy eyes.
And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.
And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.
Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment.
In any case thou shalt deliver to him the pledge again when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own raiment, and bless thee; and it shall be righteousness to thee before the LORD thy God.
If there shall be a controversy between men, and they come to judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.
He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity: just and right is he.
Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of scoffers.
Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.
For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance beholdeth the upright.
There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous.
They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness to a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.
He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest.
Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.
Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.
The LORD hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shown in the sight of the heathen.
I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.
GIMEL. Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.
At midnight I will rise to give thanks to thee, because of thy righteous judgments.
I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.
The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.
Better is a little with righteousness, than great revenues without right.
Righteous lips are the delight of kings; and they love him that speaketh right.
And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.
And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counselors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city. Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.
Woe to them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart-rope:
Who justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!
Who justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!
For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.
But with righteousness will he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he will smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips will he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.
But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said to thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. read more. Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yes, I will help thee; yes, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that contend with thee shall perish.
The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honorable.
Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.
I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not delay: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.
Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look to the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.
Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall become old like a garment, and its inhabitants shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. Hearken to me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.
Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.
For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
For Zion's sake I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until its righteousness shall go forth as brightness, and its salvation as a lamp that burneth.
Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me speak with thee of thy judgments: Why doth the way of the wicked prosper? why are they all happy that deal very treacherously?
But if a man is just, and doeth that which is lawful and right, And hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither hath defiled his neighbor's wife, neither hath come near to a polluted woman, read more. And hath not oppressed any, but hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath stripped none by violence, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment: He that hath not given forth upon interest, neither hath taken any increase, that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, hath executed true judgment between man and man, Hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my judgments, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord GOD.
Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?
Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights?
Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: why lookest thou on them that deal treacherously, and keepest silence when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?
But to you that fear my name, shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
And Jesus answering said to him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
For I say to you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen by them: otherwise ye have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen by them: otherwise ye have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.
And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
For in this is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
But after thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up to thyself wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Morish
A term frequently occurring in scripture expressing an attribute of God which maintains what is consistent with His own character, and necessarily judges what is opposed to it
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To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. read more. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit to God.
For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God.
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who from God is made to us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness is attainable by the law, then Christ hath died in vain.
Whoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. read more. Whoever abideth in him sinneth not: whoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Watsons
RIGHTEOUSNESS, justice, holiness. The righteousness of God is the essential perfection of his nature; sometimes it is put for his justice. The righteousness of Christ denotes, not only his absolute perfection, but, is taken for his perfect obedience unto death, and his suffering the penalty of the law in our stead. The righteousness of the law is that obedience which the law requires. The righteousness of faith is the justification which is received by faith.