RIGHTEOUSNESS in NT.— Tlie words denotina ' rigliteous ' and ' righteousness ' in NT, dlKaios and diKaioavi'ii, primarily signify what is conformable to an ideal or standard, agreement with what ought to be. Tliese terms naturally take their colour from the system of morals in connexion with wliich they are used. Rijjhteousness will be a very noble or a very coraraon|)lace virtue, accord- ing to the standards by whicli men measure char- acter and conduct. Accordingly we find that, in profane Greek, righteousness is chietly a social virtue. Usage and custom prescribe the standard of righteousness and measure its elevation. In NT, however, righteousness is, above all tliing.s, a religious word ; it is riglitness according to the Divine standard ; it is conformity to the will and nature of God Himself. Since, therefore, the character of (iod is conceived in NT teaching as absolute moral jierfection, righteousness in men becomes a name for that disposition and method of life which accord with God's holy will ; in short, righteousness is Godlikuriess.
The adjective ouaiot occurs with nearly equal frequency in the Synoptic Gosjiels and in the Pauline Ejjistles. The noun oiKaioavvri occurs seven times in Matthew, once in I.uke, and not at all in Mark, and is more frequently used by St. Paul than hy all the other NT writers combined. In studying the NT concept of righteousness it will be convenient to begin witli tlie Sjnoptic Gospels, with special reference to tlie teaching of Jesus, then to consider the Pauline usage, and finally to notice that of otlier NT writers. We shall thus be led to a general estimate of tlie NT doctrine.
(A) KlGIITKOUSNESS IN THE SYNOPTIC Go.SI'ELS. — We may here take as our startiii'-point that saying of Jesus to His iiisci]iles: 'Except ynur righteou.sness shall exceed the rigliteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven' (Mt 5**). The righteousness which He required was in some essential respect hi'dier than that which was current in the life and ideals of the Jewish people of His time. We must therefore hrielly describe the popular Jewish idea of righteousness. That idea grew out of the current conception of God and of His revelation. Righteousness was thought to consist in obedience to commandments, and the nature of the Divine commands was viewed quite
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KIGHTEOUSNFSS IN NT
Buperficially. The rich youn;^ man who came to Jesus asking wliat he sliuuld do to inherit eternal life, is an illustration of the view which the Jews took of the commaudments (Mt 19""^-). He said that he had kept them all. His conception evidently was tliat to refrain from the outward sins which they forbade — stealing, lying, Sahbath- breaking, and the like — was to keep the command- ments. Only a superficial conception of the im- port and bearing of the commandments could have permitted him to make the claim that he had kept them all from his youth. The same faulty notion of cne real moral requirements of the law lay at ths root of the pride and self-rigliteousness of the Pharisees. They were able to think themselves rigliteous only because they measured themselves by an imperfect standard, an inadequate idea of the high demands which the law made upon the inner life. Religion was conceived as a legal alfair, and therefore righteousness consisted prima- rily in the observance of all the rites and cere- monies prescribed in the law, and in refraining from all the acts which the law forbade.
Righteousness was thus placed too much in externals and too little in the state of the heart. It exaggerated the ritual features of religion, and overlooked its deeper spiritual requirements upon conduct and life. Either of two results might flow from this extemalism in religion — results which would be equally detrimental to a healthy religious life. On the one hand, if one supposed himself to have done all that was required, he would easily fall a prey to spiritual pride, for had he not achieved this lofty height ot goodness by his own exertions? On the other hand, if a man felt that he had failed to do the Divine will and to win acceptance with God, he would naturally become hopeless and despondent. We accordingly find that the religious life of the Jewish people, to a great extent, oscillated between self-righteous- ness and despair. Jesus must therefore have demanded something vastly superior to this ob- servance of ritual, this conformity to command- ments and prohibitions, when He said, ' Seek ye first God's kingdom and righteousness ' (Mt 6^). What then is that truerighteousness, thatSiKaioo-i/xT; 9eoD, which Christ requires and fosters in the lives of His disciples ! This question can best be answered by appeal to the Sermon on the Mount, a collection of the sayings of Jesus, some of which were uttered on various occasions. They are grouped together as illustrating chiefly the nature and demands of ' God's kingdom and righteous- ness.' In the 'beatitudes are described the qualities which fit men for the kingdom of God — the characteristics which constitute true righteous- ness. They are such as spiritual poverty, a sense of one's weakness and sin ; meekness, merciful- ness, purity, and peacemaking. They are quali- ties which stand opposed to pride, presumption, and selfishness. They are, above all, qualities of tLe inner life. They describe what a man is in the secret springs of his motives and dispositions (Mt 5'-»).