The crystallization in this message is concerning the essence of the righteousness of God.
Now that we have seen the center and the content of God’s gospel, we want to see the structure of the gospel of God. All the parts of this structure are mentioned in Romans 1:17. Actually, Romans 1:17 is a verse that covers the entire book of Romans. It says, “The righteous shall have life and live by faith.” This is the key word concerning the gospel of God in the book of Romans. In this verse there are righteousness,life, and faith. Righteousness is of God, life is of Christ, and faith is of the believers. Faith does not belong to any of us as long as we are unbelieving sinners. Faith belongs to the believers. The gospel of God is built up with these three parts. Romans first shows us the righteousness of God judicially. Then it shows us the life of Christ organically. Third, it shows us the faith of the believers practically. According to the divine revelation as presented to us in the book of Romans, the structure of the gospel of God is of the righteousness of God, the life of Christ, and the faith of the believers.
The salvation of God in the Gospel of John is of God’s love as its source. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that every one who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.” In eternity past, no doubt, there was a time when in God’s heart, in God’s love, He considered how to exercise His salvation. Love is the source of His salvation.
In Ephesians the salvation of God is by God’s grace as its element (2:5, 8). Love and grace are not two separate things. They are two ends of one thing. The end in God’s heart is love. The end that reaches us is grace. When love comes out to us, it is grace. When grace goes back to God, it is love. The source of God’s salvation is love, but this salvation should be substantial, with some substance, and this substance is the element. Everything that exists has an element. A wooden stand is made of wood, so the element of the stand is wood. The element of God’s salvation is grace. The highest definition of grace is that God becomes our enjoyment. Grace is God given to us for our enjoyment. Grace is strongly stressed in Ephesians, but in Romans God’s salvation is by God’s righteousness as its base (Rom. 1:17).
God’s righteousness is the way of His acts (Psa. 103:6-7). Love is God’s heart; grace is God’s element; and righteousness is God’s way to act, to do things.
The righteousness of God is related to God’s laws, regulations, and principles; hence, it is a judicial matter. The job of the law courts is to decide who is righteous and who is unrighteous, who is right and who is wrong. Their job is to make things right. This is a judicial matter.
The righteousness of God being the base of God’s salvation indicates that the gospel of God is judicial according to the way of God’s righteousness. Recently, a brother among us visited a scholar and theologian who said that his view of salvation is more organic than judicial. The words organic and judicial are very meaningful, and I have been enlightened by them. The book of Romans is on God’s salvation by righteousness. This is something judicial. But the structure of God’s gospel is also of the life of Christ. This is organic. Redemption by the blood of Christ is judicial. Salvation by the life of Christ is organic. Organic salvation by life is much higher and much more profound than judicial redemption by the blood. First, the book of Romans touches the judicial part of God’s gospel by the blood of Christ. Then it goes on to present us the organic part of His gospel by the life of Christ.
The righteousness of God fulfills the requirements for God to execute His salvation. God is so righteous, so right; He never makes a mistake. But all the sinners are unrighteous, unjust, always making mistakes, and wrong in everything. You are wrong with your mother. You are wrong with your father. You are wrong with your brothers and sisters. You are wrong with your cousins. You are wrong with your in-laws. You are wrong with your professors. You are wrong with your classmates and roommates. Your hair, your shoes, and your necktie are all wrong in some way. With us, everything is wrong. God is absolutely right, and we are absolutely not right.
God and we are two extremes because He is righteous and we are unrighteous. God is on the “North Pole” and we are on the “South Pole.” How can the North Pole contact the South Pole? How can the righteous God do something for the unrighteous sinners? The only thing this righteous God can do for the unrighteous sinners according to His law is to condemn them and put them into the lake of fire. Whatever He does must be done lawfully. Then how can God execute His salvation for us? He does it by the way of righteousness. In God’s salvation He fulfills all the requirements for Himself so that He can pass on His salvation to us. He made this matter absolutely lawful. This was judicial according to His righteous requirements. Hence, it is the key of the gospel of God being powerful, dynamic (Rom. 1:16-17). The gospel of God is powerful to save every one who believes, because it is based upon God’s righteousness.
Thus, righteousness is revealed in the gospel of God as its foundation, solid and steadfast as the foundation of God’s throne (Rom. 1:17; Psa. 89:14). This can be compared to the strong foundation of a great building. A solid foundation makes the building very stable. Righteousness is the strong, solid, and steadfast foundation of God’s gospel. God may neglect other things, but He cannot neglect His righteousness. If He did, He would become a God who is not lawful. Psalm 89:14 says that God’s righteousness is the foundation of God’s throne. Thus, the foundation of the gospel of God is as solid and steadfast as the foundation of God’s throne. No one can overthrow God’s throne, not even God Himself.
Romans 3:24 says that God’s justification is by His grace freely. We have seen that according to Romans 1:17 God’s justification is by His righteousness, but why does Romans 3:24 say that God’s justification is also by His grace? How can we reconcile these two verses? On the one hand, God’s justification by His righteousness in the judicial way is the procedure to fulfill God’s righteous requirement that God could justify the sinners righteously. On the other hand, God’s justification by His grace freely is the means for God to fulfill His purpose.
God justified us according to His righteousness. This is judicial. Suppose God would not do this. A man may say, “God, I need Your salvation. You have to save me according to Your righteousness.” God could say, “Dear man, who are you? I don’t want to do that. I would not do it.” But with God it is not like this. God willingly carried out His salvation by His righteousness. This is grace. Grace is out of love. So the Bible says that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. This giving of His only begotten Son to us is grace. But the source is God’s love. The motivation is God’s love. When God gives His Son, that is God’s grace, and when God does it, He must do it righteously. This is the procedure.
Thus, God justifying us, on the one hand, is according to His righteousness, and on the other hand, is by His free grace. The preparing of Christ as our propitiation is God’s grace. If God said, “I will not do it,” no grace would be given, so nothing would happen. But God is willing to do it, and this willingness to do it is God’s grace. Also, when God comes to do it, He does it righteously.
God’s justification by His grace freely is the means for God to fulfill His purpose that He may give His life to His chosen people to make them like Him in His life and nature. So the book of Romans stresses further that God’s grace is given freely to the New Testament believers unto life in reigning as kings like God (Rom. 5:17-18, 21). In Romans 1 Paul’s tone is in God’s righteousness. Then after the first four chapters, in chapter five, Paul’s tone changes, going forth from God’s righteousness to God’s grace. Romans 5:17 says, “For if by the offense of the one death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” Verse 21 says, “In order that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Grace through righteousness reigns unto eternal life. So grace is the means, the element, and righteousness is the procedure.
John 1:14-17 says that God’s incarnation is to bring grace to men that men may become Him, and this grace brought by God to us is God Himself for our enjoyment. Hymns, #497 speaks of the highest definition of grace:
Grace is God Himself given to us. God gives Himself to us according to His righteousness, by His righteousness. Without God’s righteousness, even if God is willing to give Himself to us as grace, He cannot do it because that is illegal, unlawful. But God has done everything to fulfill His righteous requirements by His righteousness. Now He is free to give Himself to us as our grace, as our enjoyment.