The Righteousness of God

Well, here it comes. Wright thinks this phrase, a trademark of Paul, means God's own righteousness, His acting justly, and not a righteousness that He gives to us to make us acceptable before Him. I disagree, not seeing the need for an either/or here. I think Wright is on to something when he brings into our reading of Paul the Jewish understanding of God's covenant faithfulness to Israel. But there is no need to reject the Reformation's hallmark view of justification and imputed righteousness in order to grasp it.

Objections to Wright, affirming imputed righteousness often point to passages like 2 Corinthians 5:21: "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." Wright answers by maintaining that (a)Paul is referring to the apostles' own ministry of reconciliation - that they are embodying God's righteousness, not to a general imputation principle; and that (b)if it refers to imputation then it doesn't fit with the rest of the chapter. But if Wright is right about (a), then who did God make Jesus sin FOR? Who is the "we" in verse 21? Only Paul or the apostles? And (b) doesn't make sense, because vs 19 refers directly to imputation of sin. The entire substance of the ministry of reconciliation is the imputation of God's righteousness to us, so that we CAN be reconciled!

Wright has yet to deal with Romans; maybe he'll convince me there. And I don't want to underestimate the validity of the "New Perspective" of Paul's Jewish roots and God's faithfulness to Israel, seen in His resurrection of His Messiah, the redeemer of Israel.