What is Righteousness?

The Greek word that we translate righteous is dike (pronounced, dee kay). And while the ancient Greek meaning was tendency, the use of this word in the Bible implies justice and conformance to established standards. Justice means doing the right thing; and conformance to established standards (in the Bible) refers to following the ways of God. So, the word righteous can also be translated as just, since righteousness is so closely tied to justice.

Here are a few conclusions about what the Bible says is righteousness, and the scriptures from which these conclusions have been drawn:

Unrighteousness

The Greek word for unrighteous is adike. Yet, this word doesn’t necessarily imply badness, it only implies that the person hasn’t met the requirements of being righteous. This is why many of such ones will be resurrected, for Paul said (at Acts 24:15), ‘There’s going to be a resurrection of the righteous and the unrighteous.’

Yet, unrighteous people won’t immediately ‘inherit God’s Kingdom’ upon their resurrection, as do the righteous (see Matthew 25:34), for notice what Paul wrote at 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10, ‘Don’t you know that the unrighteous won’t inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t make any mistakes about this: Sexually immoral people, idol worshipers, adulterers, gays, men who have sex with men, thieves, greedy people, drunkards, insulters, and extortionists, won’t inherit God’s Kingdom.’

However, there appear to be several levels of unrighteousness, and not all of the unrighteous will be resurrected. For, notice what Psalm 1:4-6 tells us: ‘But for the irreverent (gr. asebe) this will never be so, he’s like the dust that’s blown cross the earth. So, they won’t be raised in the Judgment, nor will sinners see the outcome for the righteous, for [Jehovah] knows how the righteous have acted, but the ways of the impious will perish.’

Irreverent, Impious, Godless, and Wicked

The word that was translated irreverent above, asebe, appears to imply a person who knows God and what He requires, but disrespectfully chooses not to do what is right. Certainly those who are guilty of asebe know God, for in the Proverbs, Solomon mentions their offering Him faulty gifts. Asebe is a difficult word to translated with any clarity, because in an irreverent society, irreverence and its synonym impious are passé.

In the poetic works (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Lamentations) we find the word contrasted with righteousness, and at times it not only implies a disrespect for God, but also disrespect for other humans. So, depending on the need and the implication, we have translated it as irreverent, impious, and disrespectful.

Many of the Scribes and Pharisees were like that, for Jesus said of them (at Matthew 23:15), ‘Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees – hypocrites – because you travel land and sea to make a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of the garbage dump (gr. Gehenna) as yourselves.’

Gehenna was the name of the garbage dump outside the walls of Jerusalem in Jesus’ time, and it appears as though his use of this term implied that such individuals (the irreverent Scribes and Pharisees) could not expect a resurrection, they will just be gone. For more information, see the linked document, ‘Is there a Burning Hell?

We can see the difference between those who God considers unrighteous and those who He considers irreverent in the ways that the ancient kings of Judah and Israel were referred to when they died. Most were said to have been buried with their fathers, implying that they had gone to the common grave of mankind (gr. hades), where they would await a resurrection (see Revelation 20:13). However, wicked Jezebel was eaten by dogs, and the implication (by God’s causing this to happen) is that she was just gone and would never live again. She was wicked (gr. ponerou), and there is no hope for those who remain wicked.

Ponerou is the Greek word most commonly translated as wicked, and it refers to those who are willfully bad, so like the asebe (irreverent), they are undeserving of a resurrection. Yet, this condemned condition isn’t irreversible, because at Isaiah 1:16 such ones are urged to ‘Bathe yourselves and become clean! Remove the wickedness in your lives from My eyes! Stop being wicked!

The Bad

The Greek word for bad is kakia, and it may imply the same thing as unrighteousness – those who miss the mark – and it seems to combine both those who will be resurrected and those who are unworthy of that hope. For, we do know that some of the bad will be resurrected, because Jesus said at John 5:28, 29, ‘Don’t be surprised at this, because the hour is coming when everyone in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life and those who practiced what is bad to a resurrection of judgment.’

And while some think that these verses are speaking of the separating of the dead after the resurrection and the two outcomes thereafter, this doesn’t seem likely, for notice what Jesus said at John 6:40, ‘This is what my Father’s will is: that everyone who pays close attention to the Son and believes in him should have life in the age (gr. zoe aionos), and I will resurrect him on the Last Day.’

So, those who pay close attention (or obey) and believe in Jesus appear to be already considered among the ‘living.’ For notice what Jesus said (about God) at Matthew 22:32: ‘He isn’t the God of the dead, but of the living.’ As the result, we are assuming that when ‘the living’ are resurrected, theirs is likely the ‘resurrection of life.’ But the unrighteous are considered dead in the eyes of God, so theirs appears to be a resurrection during a period when they will be judged.

Other Words for Unrighteousness

Several other Greek words are used to describe the unrighteous in the Bible, and we won’t attempt to show the outcome for each of them, because the Bible doesn’t tell us any more. These words are:

The Reward for the Unrighteous

The reward for unrighteousness is death, for Romans 1:28-32 tells us, ‘He gave them an unrighteous mind, which makes them do things that are wrong. They are filled with unrighteousness, wickedness, greediness, badness, envy, murder, arguments, deceit, bad manners, and gossip. [They are] slanderers, God haters, insolent, proud, braggers, inventors of badness, disobedient to parents, without any understanding, agreement breakers, without any natural feelings, and merciless. Although they know the righteous ways of God very well – and that those who do such things deserve death – they not only keep on doing them, but they also approve of others who do such things.’

So, notice that in the above scripture, all forms of the unrighteous are mentioned, both the lesser wickedness of those who will be resurrected, and the greater wickedness of those who won’t – and they are all considered dead.

Unrighteous Acts

The Scriptures show that unrighteous acts include:

(Romans 1:28-32, 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10, James 1:19, 20).

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