The Attributes of God: Righteousness

Righteousness as an attribute of God is closely related to his holiness, and it answers a question people rarely ask out loud: right according to what?
Scripture's answer is that God describes himself as his own standard. Through Isaiah he says: I, the LORD, speak the truth; I declare what is right. There is no external rule book that God consults and matches. If something reflects God's own character and will, it is by definition right.
That gives us the working definition. Righteousness is whatever conforms to God's own moral character. And it gives us the practical one too: we are righteous when our behaviour, our beliefs and our attitudes conform to God's moral character. When we do that, we are like him.
This is why righteousness is not the same as rule-keeping. Rules can be kept by someone whose character is untouched. Righteousness is about coming to match the character the rules were describing.
Scripture links:
- Isaiah 45:19 - "I, the Lord, speak the truth; I declare what is right."
- Psalm 99:3-5 - the King in his might loves justice.
- 1 Peter 1:15 - be holy in all your conduct.
The standard is not a rule. It is a person.