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Divine Revelation- Righteousness of God
By Prof. W. G. Moorehead
eousness of law, legal or self-righteousness, as Rom. x :3, cf. Luke xviii :9. This is the righteousness which men endeavor to secure by the works of the law, Rom. x :5; Gal. ii: 2 1 . 2. It is used likewise to designate the principle of obedience and fruit-bearing on the part of believers. After we are justified and become new creatures in Christ we are not only righteous before God, but we bring forth the fruits of righteousness in our lives; we live in the doing of right eousness; Rom. vi :13-21; Matt, vi :1 (“alms” in this last text is righteousness). DIVINE JUSTICE 3. It signifies the attribute of divine jus tice. Twice it is so used in Rom. iii:25, 26. In the death of His Son, God has declared that in His passing by, or pretermitting the sins done aforetime, He was just; His jus tice, and the righteousness of His ways are vindicated in that tremendous event of Cal vary. He was absolutely righteous when He pardoned on credit the sins of His peo ple in the olden time. And He is right eous now when He justifies the sinner who believes in His Son. 4. Its main use is to signify the ground and cause of our justification before God, Rom. i :16, 17. The righteousness of God, generally, in Romans, and often elsewhere
HE Scriptures attach im- mense importance to this phrase—the righteousness of God. Since the Word repre- sents it as the ground of our
salvation, the only quality and qualification which entitles us to pardon and acceptance with God, it becomes a matter of prime mo ment to understand and grasp its true mean ing. Of course, we all recognize the fact that the truth contained in this phrase is of divine revelation. We may well go further and say that the phrase itself is divinely chosen and revealed. Men never could have originated it if left to themselves to work out a theory of redemption. No cultivated heathen could by any. possibility have formu lated such a statement as this—the right eousness of God. Nor could an infidel. For it is foreign to the natural man’s way of thinking. God alone has revealed it in the gospel of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Rom. i :16, 17. The term righteousness is of large use in the New Testament; is found ninety-two times therein. The epistle to the Romans contains it more frequently than any other book, i. e., thirty-six times. Its import is also somewhat varied; it is used in four different senses| 1. It is employed to designate the right
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