can you please tell me what Jesus meant by "Righteousness"?

The usual definition for righteousness is, our "right" standing before God. We have no righteousness of our own, but through faith we are given the righteousness of Christ.

See if this helps. If not, try asking about a particular passage.

Great question and awesome answer..."right standing" with God in Christ...the important part in "IN" Christ...we ARE in Christ if we have received Him as our personal Savior...Another thing to remember is that this is POSITIONAL not CONDITIONAL. Its not what we do or don't do. WE ARE. Our position in Christ is secure and our righteousness does not depend on us and our daily goof-ups. His forgiveness is forever and our Position in Him is what God looks at. This gives us amazing freedom to rest in Christ's ultimate sacrifice.

Is righteousness a "right" standing before God?
First; the Bible wasnt written in English, so defining Biblical words by English dictionary dosnt look adequate. If some needs to define any biblical word using dictionary it is more appropriate to use Hebrew or Greek, since these are biblical languages (I've intentionally omit Aramaic to make it simple).

Greek dikaiosune means; righteousness, justice, what God requires, what is right.
Hebrew tzdaka means; righteousness, right, right judgement, justification, salvation, blessing, acting good, offering, good deed, charity.

Thats just dictionary, and wat is most importent the tzdaka in Hebrew (or dikaiosune in Greek) means what all the following word in English state, not just one.

Second; we can find a biblical meaning for any biblical word from the Bible itself analizing the context in which the particular word is used.

Let see one example;
1Jo 3:7 My little children, let no man lead you astray: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous:

1Jo 3:8 he that doeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. To this end was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
As we see positional doctrine was unknown for John. He is not saying; who is seen righteous is righteous. For him it was simple; you are whothever you do! If you steal you are a thief, if you murder you are a murderer, if you do righteous acts you are righteous.

Righteousness is something we do, not something we are seen of; 1Jo 2:29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one also that doeth righteousness is begotten of him.

Can we do right things? Why not follow Jesus in that matteras well? Many people believe that He didnt sin because He was a Son of God incapable of sin, But Bible teaches us that He for that time became son of man like us, Phil.2.1-8 and the only reason that He didnt sin was that He never did His will, but always followed will of His Father Jn.8.29 ...I do nothing of myself, but as the Father taught me,...
Luk 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
So if we call Jesus our Lord we should follow His advise. That shows that not only it is possoble but also required.

I guess the only question that remains is can we follow Jesus?
Well, one of the reason why Jesus became a man was to show us that it is possible to be a man and to follow God's will. It wasnt easy but possible. And now He is inviting to follow His footsteps, and this is called (in a right translation) a faith of Chtist - the only way to righteousness.
Rom 3:22 righteousness of God by faith of Jesus Christ towards all, and upon all those who believe: for there is no difference;

Thats it in short. I hope that will open a constructive discuusion.
Ed

Ed

Hi Janey,

I think simply speaking righeousness as Steve says is being right with God. That only occurred because Jesus died for us. He died because we could not be made right through the ten commandment law. The passage I feel that is effective in explaining this righteousness or right standing with God is Eph 2:8 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works lest any man should boast."
However that faith is not our own, it is a fruit of the Holy Spirit..."But the fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith". Gal5:22

We can only get this faith by asking for it and it is given to us by God at his choosing and when we receive or anointed with the Holy Spirit. This faith will come through our experiences, and overcoming our trials and knowing and developing trust in what God can do for us as we start to live it and use it. It is nothing we do, following God's law will not do it for us, trying to be righteous will only lead into self righteousness and hypocrasy. It is also by this faith that we get understanding for scriptures Hebrews 11:3 "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God"...

Ephesians Chapter 1 is good for explaining God's gifts and blessings for us and that we have a helper with the Holy Spirit who will lead us into a closer intimate relationship with God and will guide us into living God's Holiness and may help u to understand the enormous Gift God gave to us by his Grace and by what his son Jesus Christ did for us when he died on the Cross.

Also if u r getting a feeling of righteousness within, a call to holiness for your life, go with that promptings and work with the Holy Spirit "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe according to the working of his mighty power." (Ephesians 1:17-19), Amen.

love and blessings in the Lord,

Serenity