Romans 3:21-31 and the verb dikaioún

Paul’s teaching in Romans 3:21-31 is often called the principal source (locus classicus) of the doctrine of justification. Here he uses the verbs dikaioún “justify, absolve, declare righteous” and dikaioústhai “become justified, absolved, be declared righteous”. This verb is a judicial term. It means that God declares as his judicial verdict that someone is righteous (díkaios) in God’s eyes. Dikaioún has the same meaning in secular Greek sources. It is not a term that refers to a sinner’s inner and gradual moral progression; it refers to a state of being regarded as righteous, innocent, and free from guilt.

This is also true in the Old Testament with the corresponding Hebrew word hisdíq. This verb always means “declare righteous, absolve, declare not guilty”. Normally the verb hisdíq is used for a judge’s official verdict (Dt 25:1; 2 Sam 15:4). According to Isaiah 53:11, the righteous servant, the Messiah, obtains a verdict of acquittal (jasdíq, “declares righteous). He “declares the many righteous” through his perfect obedience and by taking sins of the many on himself. That is why the Messiah is called “The LORD our Righteousness” in Jeremiah 23:6.

Therefore righteousness is not a quality of a particular individual, for no one born of woman is clean within (with the exception of Jesus Christ). Paul writes, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord” (1 Cor 1:31; 2 Cor 10:17). Mankind has nothing but unrighteousness and sin (Romans 3:9-20). In Romans 4:5, Paul emphasizes that the ones whom the gospel declares righteous are in themselves “ungodly”. “The righteousness of God” which the ungodly does not have in himself comes from outside of him. It is credited to him and given to him as a free gift through the gospel in Word and sacrament.

“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and they are justified (dikaioúmenoi) freely (doreán, “free, as a free gift”) by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23-24). This good news has the power to create faith, which like an empty hand receives the forgiveness of sins and the righteousness of Christ. Faith is not a human achievement, but the heart’s reliance on the truth of the good news. It is trust that God does not lie. Faith is a confident grip on Jesus Christ, the only one who can rescue sinners.