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As I try and work out the different perspectives on righteousness between the Old and New Testaments, something occurs to me. I read (and wrote on) book after book about how the righteous are saved and the unrighteous are condemned, that the wicked can become righteous and the good can become wicked, and finally it is how you end up without regard to duration that determines whether you go to Heaven.  And the point is made in terms of how well Israel and Judah seek the Lord, how often and to what degree God disperses them, punishes them, or lets them die, and the conditions under which He lovingly returns them to their home, and welcomes them into His house.  …

In teaching of a new righteousness and calling it justification, what is Paul really doing?  He is teaching of a new delivery system for righteousness… Christ’s sacrifice.  Before then, belief and obedience toward God meant believing the Law of Moses and living it.  However, God never actually said to believe the Moses per se, but to believe God; and obedience was never meant to be to the Law per se either, but to God who is the Law’s source.  Paul realizes this and spends chapter 4 of Romans making this clarification:
  1What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? 2If, in fact, Abraham was justified by …

Yesterday, I posted on a new righteousness found in Romans… justification.  Justification is being free from a charge, whether it be through evidence or punishment.  However, Jesus Himself is our justification, and our belief in Him is credited to us as our “justification”.

The word justification (dikaioo) and justice (dikaiosume) have the same root… “just”, and we have seen over and over throughout the Old Testament that where God is righteous, God is just.  God’s just-ness and righteousness are inseparable.  We on the other hand are not inherently just; being righteous for us does not make us “just”… but now we see that it makes us “justified”, or free from sin. 

Justification is not actually new.  That is, Paul is not making …

 1:16I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 17For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
The Old Testament is filled with verses on righteousness… just search on this blog where I have written on them all.  In fact, the first verses on righteousness teach where it comes from and what it is used for… from believing God, for use in obeying Him.  It teaches what it means as well for …

 Acts 24
25As Paul discoursed on righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, “That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.” 26At the same time he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe, so he sent for him frequently and talked with him.

 27When two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, but because Felix wanted to grant a favor to the Jews, he left Paul in prison.

Acts 25
22Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear this man myself.” He replied, “Tomorrow you will hear him.”

Acts 26
5They have known me for a long …

7But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
I find this passage very interesting, if cryptic.

Because men do …

Luke 1:
 73the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
 74to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
      and to enable us to serve him without fear
 75in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
 God swore an oathe to Abraham: to enbable his descendents to serve God in righteousness.  Righteousness is not a reflection of any innate quality within us, but is rather a measure of the righteousness of God, which he decides to bestow upon us.  Righteousness, frankly, is a fruit that people can see in our lives, but it is not in our person or psyche.  It is in how we live our life, when we do those things that only …

 28″What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’

 29″ ‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.

 30″Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.

 31″Which of the two did what his father wanted?”
      ”The first,” they answered.

   Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32For John came to you to show you the …

 6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
      for they will be filled. 
 10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
      for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

20For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
It’s interesting reading the righteousness verses of this chapter without context.  It tells a story.  However, before going there, I would like to add at least some context to verse 20:
 17″Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. …