In Romans 1:17, the righteousness of God refers to God's provision of a right standing before Him, revealed through the gospel, which is received by faith in Jesus Christ, not earned by human works. It's a righteousness from God (His gift) that makes believers right with Him, allowing them to "live by faith" moment by moment, fulfilling God's holy standard.
We are separated from Him forever because of our sinfulness. However, according to the gospel, Christ died to pay the penalty of death and separation from God for our sins on the cross. When we trust in Christ, God sees us through Christ and declares us to be "righteous" or "justified."
Romans 1:17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
The simplest answer to that question is this: Righteousness is doing what is right in the sight of God. This is a simple definition that is far more complex under the surface. To be righteous is to do everything that God calls us to do.
Righteousness means conformity to God's law and acceptance by God. The gospel insists on righteousness as much as the law. The gospel establishes the law. The ultimate objective of the gospel is to enable us to stand in God's presence. The gospel provides the righteousness God demands through faith in Christ.
Paul indicates in Romans 3:21–26 that righteousness is the Lord's gift to believers (the righteousness of God is for all who believe). Second Corinthians 5:21 says we become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
Paul begins, “The righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe” (Rom. 3:21–22). The righteousness of God has a redemptive quality.
So God's righteousness means that he rules his creation with impartiality, he punishes the wicked with wrath, he keeps his promises, and he rescues the oppressed. All of these things are right.
Truth, Compassion, Austerity and Charity are the four pillars of #Righteousness/#Dharma. Falsity, violence, discontentment and cruelty are the four pillars of #Unrighteousness/#Adharma.
E. Stanley Jones, theologian. The four kinds of righteousness are performative righteousness, comparative righteousness, infused righteousness, and practical righteousness. CCC 1814: Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us.
So this verse is saying : "Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you." Matthew 7:6. This is basically saying that we shouldn't give sacred things to "dogs" (people whom is hostile/arrogant to the gospel).
Believing in Jesus, and in His death, burial, and resurrection, makes us righteous in God's eyes. Righteousness isn't a feeling, but a spiritual position. The moment we accept Christ, we're declared righteous, not because of what we've done, but because of what He did.
The promise: “I will not erase his name from the book of life” does not necessarily imply that some do have their names erased. It simply says, to the one who is in the book, and who conquers in faith: I will never wipe your name out.
The overarching purpose of Paul's writing the letter was to explain the Gospel of Jesus Christ to both Jewish Christians and non-Jewish Christians who were living in Rome. In fact, the major theme of this book is the Gospel, hence the name of this whole sermon series, “United in the Gospel.”
We are made righteous in the eyes of God by the blood of Jesus. Through His death and resurrection, and our acceptance of that free gift, our sins are forgiven and God sees us as righteous. This is called justification.
There are three kinds of righteousness, or at least three kinds of righteousness which bear that name. There is inherent righteousness, of which we have none. There is imputed righteousness, which is all our justification. And there is imparted righteousness.
The Five Crowns Theory
Proponents of this concept interpret these passages as specifying five separate crowns, these being the Crown of Life; the Incorruptible Crown; the Crown of Righteousness; the Crown of Glory; and the Crown of Exultation.
Righteousness is a state of moral and ethical purity that reflects God's character and conforms to His divine standards. It involves living a life of integrity, holiness, and virtue in accordance with God's commands. Righteousness is not earned through works but is imputed to believers through faith in Jesus Christ.
Specifically Jesus gave us three acts of righteousness to practice. Giving to the needy, prayer, and fasting. To ignore these is to only miss out on the blessed reward our Father has for us through them. But to do them before man makes us worse off – hypocrites.
Righteousness is the quality or state of "being morally right or justifiable", rooted in religious or divine law, with a broader spectrum of moral correctness, justice, and virtuous living as dictated by a higher authority or set of spiritual beliefs.
For God to be righteous principally means that God measures up to Himself and is always all that He ought to be as God. While righteousness usually implies conformity to a standard, God simply is the righteousness or justice by which He is righteous and just.
So, when Paul says, “we are the righteousness of God.” He is saying, I come to you on behalf of the sinless Christ as his ambassador and when God sends people like me to be with you it is as though Jesus himself is with you, as though Jesus himself is making the appeal of reconciliation to you.
Both words come from the same Greek root word – Justified is a verb: dikaioó. It is the act of being proclaimed right with God, akin to a verdict being given in court. Righteous is a noun: dikaiosuné. This is given to us by God on the basis of our faith.
In the gospel God reveals his righteous character and righteous acts through the righteousness of Jesus Christ (by his perfect obedience, substitutionary atonement, and resurrection life), applying that righteousness as a gift to the one who has faith (instead of depending on his own self-righteousness).