The meaning of δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ in Romans 1:17

The phrase δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ (dikaiosynē theou, "righteousness of God") is the most debated phrase in the letter. The commentary takes it in three steps, and its labels follow how certain each step is (note.language.Rom.1.17.dikaiosyne-theou; lex.G1343).

Says God's righteousness "is revealed" in the gospel (1:17). It is revealed "from faith to faith" and is linked to the righteous person living "by faith" (Hab 2:4). It belongs to a gospel that is "the power of God for salvation" (1:16).

Implies At 1:17 the phrase names God's saving righteousness, which reaches people through faith. It does not name his punitive justice, which is the subject of 1:18, nor the mere fact that God is righteous. The setting requires a righteousness that saves and is received by believing. The Old Testament prepares for this usage. God's "righteousness" stands parallel to his "salvation" in the Psalms and Isaiah: "The Lord has proclaimed His salvation and revealed His righteousness to the nations" (Ps 98:2, BSB; LXX 97:2, with the same verb ἀποκαλύπτω; vmap.Ps.98.2.LXX-Swete.lxx-swete; compare Isa 46:13; 51:5–8). Augustine already read the phrase this way: the righteousness of God is "not that whereby He is Himself righteous, but that with which He endows man when He justifies the ungodly" (Spir. et litt. 9.15; src.npnf1-augustine-spirit-letter). Luther's preface to Romans likewise explains it as the righteousness that counts before God and that God gives through faith (src.luther-preface-romans).

Implies Read with 3:21–26, 10:3, and Phil 3:9, the phrase includes both God's saving action and the righteous status he gives to believers. In 3:21–22 "the righteousness of God has been revealed … through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe" (BSB). In 3:26 God acts "so as to be just and to justify the one who has faith in Jesus" (BSB). In 10:3 Israel was "ignorant of God's righteousness and sought to establish their own" (BSB). Phil 3:9 contrasts "my own righteousness from the law" with "the righteousness from God on the basis of faith" (BSB; "from God" is ἐκ θεοῦ). The contrast between one's "own" righteousness and God's shows that in these passages God's righteousness is something given to and received by believers, a status before God. The team therefore holds a genitive of source or author, "a righteousness from God," that includes the saving act by which God gives it. Paul does not separate the act from the gift.

Major views, by name. These are reported as interpretations of the phrase, not as the team's own claims. - Attribute. God's own justice or covenant faithfulness. Many interpreters read this sense in 3:5 and 3:25–26, where it is clearly in view. - Gift. A status given by God and received by faith. This was the Reformation reading (Luther; Calvin, Comm. Rom. on 1:17, src.calvin-romans-owen) and is defended in modern form by Westerholm and Moo (src.westerholm-perspectives; src.moo-romans). - Saving power. God's saving power that lays claim to creation. Käsemann proposed this (src.kasemann-romans). - Covenant faithfulness. God's faithfulness to his covenant with Israel and through it to the world. This is the reading of Wright and Dunn (src.wright-nib-romans; src.dunn-wbc-romans). Seifrid argues that "righteousness" in the Hebrew Scriptures is not primarily a covenant term but concerns right order upheld by God as ruler and judge (src.seifrid-christ-our-righteousness).

Uncertain How far "covenant faithfulness" is part of the meaning at 1:17 itself, as distinct from 3:3–5 and 3:25–26. The team's position is that the gift sense is primary at 1:17. God's faithfulness is the ground behind the gift, not the content of the phrase. On the related doctrine of imputation, see note.exegetical.Rom.1.17.imputation.