Truth Like a Diamond! Chapter 3(2) God’s righteousness revealed in the gospel

CHAPTER 3. Why Can We Not Be Justified by the Works of the Law?

(2) God’s righteousness revealed in the gospel

In order to properly understand justification, we must know what the Scripture means by ‘God’s righteousness revealed in the gospel’ and being ‘justified’. Let us first go over what entails God’s righteousness shown in the gospel.

Paul stated that the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16–17)

Then what is this ‘righteousness of God’ that is revealed in the gospel? There are three main viewpoints on the matter: 1. justice, 2. forensic righteousness, and 3. the faithfulness of God. Professors Hansoo Lee and In-gyu Hong both chose the third. However, I do not feel the need to select just one, for all three meanings can be found in the Scripture.

Dr. Seyoon Kim holds a similar argument to mine, yet he too uses the third viewpoint to describe the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel. To summarize his argument, it starts with Israel being the people of God’s covenant. God promised to take on the role of being the God of Israel as He made a covenant with them, and He required of them to take on the role of being His people. He required of them to fear God and obey the Law. Under such a covenantal relationship, it was righteous to fulfill one’s role and obligations, and it was unrighteous to not do so. Israel abandoned their obligations as the people of the covenant by disobeying the Law. Regardless, God did not abandon His obligations as God, and He faithfully fulfilled His side of the promise. The epitome of that was when He sent the Messiah to be crucified for the salvation of mankind. Dr. Kim is stating that God’s righteousness revealed in the gospel is this faithfulness of God.

However, on the grounds that Israel had sinned and broken the covenant first, I cannot agree with the notion that God not carrying out His obligations is an act of unrighteousness, for unrighteousness is when one does not fulfill one’s role despite the opposite party fulfilling all of theirs. I thus believe that what was shown through the cross was not mere righteousness but love that surpasses it (Rom. 5:8, Tit. 3:4). However, the Bible still refers to God’s fulfillment of His role in the covenant as righteousness, and there are even verses that directly express His protecting and saving of Israel despite their sins as righteousness. Hence, I came to accept the view that God’s righteousness signifies the faithfulness of God.

Although Dr. Kim interpreted the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel to be God’s faithfulness, he did not deny the other views. This can be seen in his writing.

If one observes the entire system of Pauline Theology, one will know that it is impossible to ignore the traditional interpretation of Romans 3:24–26 in a forensic context, for there are many verses to support this claim. For example, Galatians 3:13 states that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us.” This verse has clearly interpreted the crucifixion of Christ under a forensic context. Romans 8:3 is also a forensic interpretation: “Sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh.” We thus cannot ignore the forensic interpretation of Christ’s redemption.

Among those who interpret justification in the relational sense, there are those with the tendency to overlook the forensic meaning of justification. The truth is that there has been much resistance in theology against interpreting atonement or justification in a forensic context. This is because modern-day people have an adverse reaction to the notion of God’s wrath or punishment. Denying the forensic meaning of Christ’s atonement or justification, however, is an act of ignoring the evident teachings of Paul.

Hence, I can say that Dr. Kim and I share our views. I believe that the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel entails 1. justice, 2. forensic righteousness, and 3. the faithfulness of God. We will discuss these three in order.

1) God’s justice

God’s righteousness is revealed in the gospel, and that righteousness is justice. God is just, not only when He judges but also when He saves. He is always just. Romans 3:25–26 shows this best.

God displayed [Christ Jesus] publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Going back a step, the ‘righteousness of God’ can be interpreted as His faithfulness in this verse as well. “Because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness.” This segment reminds us of all those times Israel had provoked the Lord during their time in the wilderness, with the judges, and as a kingdom. Regardless, God had spared them from destruction many times, overlooking their faults and being patient with them. Because of the covenant He had made with Abraham and with David, God was faithful to the people despite their sins. Therefore, this verse can be viewed as portraying justification as the faithfulness of God.

However, this is not all. God had publicly displayed Jesus as a ‘propitiation’, a sacrifice (v. 25). One of the purposes was “for the demonstration … of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” If the ‘righteousness of God’ was referring only to the ‘faithfulness of God’, it would have sufficed to simply save us by proclaiming us as righteous. But that is not what He did. In order to fulfill justice, God gave His only begotten Son over to the cruelty of the cross. The cross is an undeniable piece of evidence showing that God is perfectly just, not only when He judges but also when He saves. We must therefore accept that the notion of God’s justice is included in the righteousness of God.

2) Forensic righteousness

The righteousness of God most definitely includes the third meaning (faithfulness), but it is not limited to just that. Would it be possible to interpret the righteousness of God revealed in the following verses as only signifying God’s faithfulness?

But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction. (Romans 3:21–22)

God’s righteousness is unrelated to the Law, and His faithfulness is in regard to the entire people of Israel, the people of the covenant. Paul, however, wrote that the righteousness of God is only for those who believe. It is thus certain that the righteousness of God shown here includes in its meaning the notion of forensic righteousness.

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

As we can see here, there is clearly some form of exchange — an atonement — between Jesus and us. Jesus bore all of our sins and became sin on the cross. As a result, the righteousness of Jesus was imputed to us, and we became the righteousness of God in Him. What can this be other than the forensic righteousness given to us through the atonement of Jesus?

Some may use the preceding verses to argue that they are not referring to atonement or forensic righteousness. They start with verse 14.

For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. (2 Corinthians 5:14–15)

Chapter 3(2). continue ▶

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