The Righteousness of God

781 Words2 Pages

This research will show how that both retributive and remunerative righteousness have been demonstrated in the covenants that God has made with his people throughout history, and how in the exercising of divine justice God is righteous when He punishes violations of His covenants and when He rewards those who are obedient to His covenants.
Project Summary
The righteousness of God is an attribute that is closely related to the justice of God. The justice of God is meted out in His retributive righteousness. In many circles the retributive righteousness of God has been overemphasized at the expense of the remunerative righteousness of God. This is what happened before Martin Luther saw the truth of justification in Romans. Luther was so concerned with God’s retributive justice that he took excessive steps to punish himself for his own sin. When looking at the covenants of God there are clear guidelines for keeping the covenant, and when those guidelines are broken the retributive righteousness of God is meted out to the covenant breaker. However, the remunerative righteousness of God is still at work for those who have kept His covenants. Those who keep God’s commands are blessed in a display of remunerative righteousness. This study will focus on biblical passages that focus on both aspects of God’s righteousness, ending in a discussion of God’s ultimate display of both retributive and remunerative righteousness in the incarnation and death of Christ.

Preliminary Bibliography
Bird, Michael F. “Incorporated Righteousness: A Response to Recent Evangelical Discussion Concerning the Imputation of Christ’s Righteousness in Justification.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 47, no. 2 (June 2004): 253-275.

Bibliography Summary
Bird’s article brings up a controversy over whether God’s retributive righteousness is necessary. It argues rightfully against the proposition that God’s response to sin is something that He willed but could have willed otherwise.
Preliminary Bibliography
Burk, Denny. “The Righteousness of God (Dikaisune Theou) and Verbal Genitives: A Grammatical Clarification.” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 34, no. 4 (Spring 2012): 346-360. Sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav (accessed November 10, 2013).

Bibliography Summary
Burk’s article will aid in a short etymological section on the Greek word for righteousness and the normative meaning in the New Testament.
Preliminary Bibliography
Chester Stephen J. “Paul and the Introspective Conscience of Martin Luther: The Impact of Luther’s Anfechtungen on his Interpretation of Paul.” Biblical Interpretation 14, no. 5 (2006): 508-536. Religion and Philosophy Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed November 13, 2013).

Bibliography Summary
This article, by Stephen Chester, will be used in a section on Martin Luther’s pre-reformation view of his guilt and sinfulness in the section on retributive righteousness.

Open Document