Unfortunately, common English usage of righteous/righteousness often usurps the Biblical understanding and its key role in perceiving God’s righteous relationship to humankind. Therefore we must first say that ELCA Lutherans do not equate righteousness with being piously moral, as implied in such comments as, "Oh, s/he is sooo righteous!," nor with the pious self-assurance of one’s own moral rightness commonly inferred from the term self-righteousness.
Rather, we understand the concept from its biblical usage, beginning with the Old Testament root word for righteous (sedeq-sedaqa) which is used in connection with God’s saving action. The Old Arabic meaning (keep faith with) suggests fulfilling an obligation. As a noun, righteousness may be translated as right/due/truth, and as an adjective, proper/appropriate. For early Judaism it implied faithfulness.
God’s righteousness in the Old Testament
In the Old Testament/Hebrew Scriptures, righteousness is the fulfillment of the demands of a relationship, whether with God or between human beings. When those demands are fulfilled, the relationship is right. When one (God, man or woman) fulfills the conditions imposed by a relationship, s/he is, in Old Testament terms, righteous.
God’s righteousness is most particularly seen in God’s fulfillment of the relationship initiated by God with God’s people, Israel. Israel constantly appeals to God’s righteousness for deliverance (e.g. Psalms 5:8 and 31:1). Thus, God’s righteous judgments are saving judgments. God’s salvation of Israel is God’s righteousness, the faithful fulfilment of God’s covenant with her. Though Israel often fails to keep the covenant and therefore is unrighteous, God’s righteousness persists.
God’s righteousness in the New Covenant
Righteousness in the New Testament continues and builds upon the Old Testament understanding. The New Testament presumes a covenant relationship which needs the active participation of both covenant partners. Those acts which preserve a covenant relationship are righteous, while those which break the relationship are unrighteous.
Hence,
- God’s righteousness is most clearly demonstrated in the death and resurrection of Christ, in which God upheld and restored the covenant relationship with sinful humanity
- following this watershed event, humankind’s righteousness consists of a trusting acceptance of the restored relationship we experience through God’s saving act in Christ
Thus, ELCA Lutherans underscore that righteousness is a relational concept. Humankind has broken the relationship with God, but God restores it in Christ. God’s action in Christ upholds God’s relationship with us by providing the relational outcome that both God and we seek - that is, our salvation.
Like the Old Testament, the New Testament also uses the words righteous and unrighteous to describe preserving or breaking a relationship between human beings (cf. Jesus' words, Luke16:1 ff). Actions which meet responsibilities to uphold those relationships are called righteous, those that rupture relationships are termed unrighteous.
God in Christ
ELCA Lutherans believe that God is the sole source of righteousness through Christ. Upholding the covenant relationship depends solely upon God, since we, in our sin, continually fracture the relationship. ELCA Lutherans trust the New Testament witness that God has elected to restore and maintain the covenant relationship with sinful humankind. Similarly, we rely on our relationship with Christ to define our relationships with others, meaning that these should be relationships of compassion, service and self-giving.
Since the Bible understands righteousness to be primarily a relational term, conformity to a moral norm is not and cannot be its main meaning. While morality and righteousness are related in the New Testament, righteousness is fundamentally more concerned with humanity’s broken and restored relationship to God - and how that affects our relationship with others — than it is with moral shortcomings and ethical ideals (e.g. Galatians 3:6). Knowing our sinful human nature which renders moral purity impossible, Jesus was most concerned to call people to a relationship of repentance and trust in God. He himself is called righteous, not because his acts conform to a moral norm (Luke 7:34), but because, by his obedient sacrificial death, he brings us into a new right relationship with God. Thus Jesus, not our moral acts, is our source of righteousness; it is he through whom we are in relationship with God.
Cruciform righteousness
Righteousness is "cruciform" in that it comes to us in the shape and shadow of the cross. In Christ’s crucifixion, ELCA Lutherans see the twofold aspect of God’s righteousness:
- God, by this sacrifice and saving action, takes upon himself (sic) our own human death, thus upholding the promised covenant relationship which is our salvation. In fulfilling the covenant demand to uphold the relationship, God is proved righteous/faithful (Romans 3:26a).
- At the same time, because Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is a supreme act of obedience to God’s will, Christ fulfills for us the demand of the covenant relationship on us, which is obedience to God. The relationship is restored for human beings and, by participating in this relationship, we, with God’s help, are able to respond in righteous living — confessing our sinful failures, but giving thanks for God’s forgiveness and looking always to God in Christ as our righteousness as we relate to other people (e.g., Matthew 5:20).
Thus, for ELCA Lutherans, while right living comes from righteousness, righteousness comes from God alone. Because God in Christ has been righteous both for himself and for us, we are freed, in the words of Martin Luther, to be "little Christ’s" for our neighbor. This means that we may faithfully live out our relationship with God as we work at living in a right (i.e., Christlike) relationship with God’s whole creation.
Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible
Anchor Bible Dictionary