Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Righteousness not a 'spiritual state or condition'
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Matthew 3:13-15
Evidently, John the Baptist understood what Jesus meant. He understood that what Jesus meant was that the "all righteousness" He was talking about was what God required. Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words comments here, "To fulfill all righteousness clearly means to do what God deems right and proper. To do what fulfills or conforms to God's revealed will." So, Jesus is telling John the Baptist that God required Him—it was God's will for Him—to undergo baptism because it is right and proper for a person, even the Creator God, our High Priest and Head of the church, to make a public declaration of His decision to come under the New Covenant. God wanted this done, not that it would make Jesus any holier. That could not happen. But the Father had the Son do this as a public example. It was right and proper for Jesus Christ to show the rest of the world, and more specifically, everyone who would come into the Body as time progressed, that this formal, sacred ritual was the proper way to do things. It was right and fitting that each person undergo water baptism just like the Head of the church did. That is the way. Vine shows here that in Matthew, righteousness always leans toward the practice of goodness, what is right and proper in godly conduct and behaviors. It is not a spiritual state or condition. Many people today, when asked, "Are you religious?" quickly respond, "Oh, no, no! I would never! The churches are terrible, and they require this and that. But I'm spiritual." Well, Jesus says to that attitude, "No. You can be spiritual, but you had better be religious, too." Religion implies "duties one must perform," and baptism is one of the duties of Christianity that must be performed. It is a responsibility of everyone coming to Christ to go through baptism, just as repentance is, just as belief is. We can see from this example that, in Matthew, righteousness is not a spiritual state or condition of the person's heart or mind. Not in Matthew. In this gospel, it always deals with doing something practical and physical, that is, some sort of obedience and proper conduct.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Those Who Hunger and Thirst
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Matthew 5:6
The Greek word for "righteousness" is dikaiosyne (Strong's #1343). In the book of Matthew, dikaiosyne specifically does not carry the sense of imputed righteousness. Protestant theology demands that it does; Matthew does not. That sense of dikaiosyne, imputed righteousness, does not appear anywhere in Matthew's gospel. Nor does it deal with political or social justice to any great extent. In Matthew, "righteousness" is personal righteousness as it comes out in conduct: right-doing. According to Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, "While dikaiosyne, righteousness, can be translated as justice, that sense is only faintly present. Of course, the poor, the grieving, the meek, the hungry and thirsty, all want God's justice to come and solve their earthly problems or redeem them from their troubles. But dikaiosyne has a different emphasis in Matthew." Then Vine tells us, "see 3:15," meaning see Matthew 3:15: "But Jesus answered and said to [John the Baptist], 'Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.' Then he allowed Him [to be be baptized]" (emphasis ours).
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Those Who Hunger and Thirst
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Matthew 5:10
These people are persecuted for their righteousness. This righteousness is something that the disciples possess, which is why they are persecuted for it. But if they had it, and no one could see it or hear it—if it were just an internal state—they would never be persecuted. Somehow, this righteousness has been seen or heard, which indicates that they are actively doing it. So, they are persecuted because of what people can see or hear from them in their godly conduct or godly speech. They are persecuted for righteousness because it is a recognizable behavior that people see and persecute them for. Either they are speaking it or practicing it in some way. They are speaking good words, uplifting things, or they are doing something that people can see that they disagree with. They are doing some act of righteousness.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Those Who Hunger and Thirst
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