Righteousness
Holy and upright living, in accordance with God's standard.
The word righteousness comes from from a root word that means "straightness."
It refers to a state that conforms to an authoritative standard.
Righteousness is moral concept.
God's character is the definition and source of all righteousness.[Gen. 18:25; Deut. 32:4; Rom. 9:14].
Therefore, man's righteousness is defined in terms of God's.


In the Old Testament the term righteousness is used to define man's relationship with God [Ps.50:6; Jer. 9:24]
and with other people. [Jer. 22:3]
In the context of relationships, righteous action is action that
promotes peace and well being of human beings in their relationships to one another.

For example, Adam and Eve would have acted righteously in their relationship to God if they had obeyed him,
because his commands defined that relationship.
The ten commandments and related laws defined Israel's relationship with God.
To obey those laws was to act righteously,
because such obedience maintained the covenant relationship between God and his people.

The sacrificial system in the Old Testament
and the cross of Jesus in the New Testament shows man's need for righteousness.
Sin is disobedience to the terms that define man's relationship with God and with other people.
Since the Fall in the Garden of Eden, man is inherently unrighteous.
As the prophet Isaiah said, "We are all like an unclean thing,
and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;
we all fade as a leaf, and our inquities,like the wind, have us taken away." [Is. 64:6]

Man cannot be righteous in the sight of God on his own merits.
Therefore, man must have God's righteousness imputed, or transferred, to him.

The cross of Jesus is a public demonstration of God's righteousness.
God accounts or transfers the righteousness of Christ to those who trust in him.
[Rom. 4:3-22; Gal. 3:6; Phil. 3:9]
We do not become righteous because of our identification by faith with his Son.