June 5 – LD 23, Day 2: What is the Righteousness we have by
Faith?
by Prof Herman Hanko
Read: Numbers 23
We really have to
understand what righteousness is, if we are to appreciate this profit of faith.
Righteousness is
different from holiness. When God created Adam in His own image, He created him
in the true knowledge of God, righteousness and holiness.
Holiness has to do with
the moral character of one’s nature. God is holy, because His divine essence is
without the least blemish or moral spot. We are holy when our natures are without
the corruption and depravity of sin.
Righteousness has to do
with our activity.
God is righteous because
everything He does is perfectly in harmony with the holiness of His divine
nature. We are righteous when everything we do is in keeping with a holy nature
we possess.
By “everything we do,” I
mean our thoughts, our desires, our emotions, as well as our words and deeds.
When all these things reveal a holy nature, then we are righteous.
But, as you well know,
our natures are not holy. They are not holy in any
aspect. They are corrupt, depraved, morally dead, incapable of doing any good. And because our natures are in
no way holy, we cannot do anything right. We are unrighteous. Every thought,
desire, word, deed and emotion is wrong. They are contrary to God’s will. They
deserve the punishment of death.
The righteousness of
which the text speaks is the righteousness God gives us by His grace. That is,
God declares that all His people have no sin,
all that they do is perfectly in harmony with His law and His own divine being,
and they are, therefore, heirs of eternal life.
We must be clear on what
this means. Martin Luther used a Latin expression, Justus simul peccator. This Latin
expression means that we are found to be just, while we are, in our lives,
sinners. It is like a judge pronouncing a murderer to
have never committed the crime of murder, even though he was found guilty of
the crime and even though he confessed it to be true.
The clearest instance of
this is found in Numbers 23:21. You will recall the history.
Balaam tried to curse,
but could only bless. Finally, Balak, in despair,
took Balaam to a place where only the outer fringes of
What did Balaam say? “He
hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in
That is what it means to
be righteous before God.