Musing – What does it mean to be Righteous?

Hebraic Musing – What does it mean to be Righteous? 

What is “Righteousness”?  This is one of those “Church-ese” words for which we all have differing understandings.  Let’s start with definitions from the traditional Merriam Webster dictionary for both “Righteous” and “Righteousness”, the adjective and the noun respectively.

“Righteous”   1:  Adjective – Acting in a just, upright manner; doing what is right; virtuous; acting in accord with divine or moral law; free from guilt or sin.   2:  morally right or justifiable  

“Righteousness” 1: Noun – The quality or condition of being righteous or just; Conduct that conforms to an accepted standard of right and wrong; a righteous act, quality… 2 - Faithfulness to high moral standards.

Someone who is unchurched could easily consider their behavior as being right or justifiable or at least okay, whereas God’s Word might say otherwise.  I find the definition’s reference to divine or moral law to be fraught with possible differences of understanding because many people today consider abortion, alternative lifestyles, euthanasia, political correctness, etc. to be morally acceptable, right and justifiable.

Years ago in Bible College I had to interrupt the class because my head was spinning with “church-ese”. So I asked the professor “What do you mean by ‘righteous’”?  And the answer has stuck with me to this day.  His simple answer was “Being righteous is being in right standing with God.”

Let’s look at the Biblical use of these words.  In Hebrew the word for righteousness is Tzedakah* which has to do with God's gracious, covenantal relationship with his people and the appropriate behavior of the covenant partners (Yahweh and Israel) toward each other.**   

The KJV Dictionary gets wordy but I like the final, fifth definition  –

Righteousness: 1: Purity of heart and rectitude of life; conformity of heart and life to the divine law. Righteousness, as used in Scripture and theology, in which it is chiefly used, is nearly equivalent to holiness, comprehending holy principles and affections of heart, and conformity of life to the divine law. It includes all we call justice, honesty and virtue, with holy affections; in short, it is true religion….  5: The cause of our justification.

Who decides what is right?

Point to ponder

Might a person consider themselves to be righteous
but still not be in right standing with God?

If so, then what does it take to be in right standing with God?

Shabbat Shalom!                                             May 5, 2015

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd    

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*   Tzedakah in Hebrew is qudx  spelled  Tzaddi Dalet Ayin Kof. 
      The symbolic picture of each character is -- Kneeling man, Tent door, See & know, Palm (of God)     

** One of God’s names is Jehovah Tsidkenu, The Lord is our Righteousness.