Justice = Righteousness

Last Sunday I learned something fascinating (to me at least). In the Bible, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, in both Hebrew and Greek, the word for justice is the same word for righteousness. Justice = Righteousness. In Hebrew the word is tsedeq and in Greek the word is dikaios. The first time I heard it was the last day of David Gill's Ethics class at 9am, the second time I heard it was in Pastor Mark's sermon at First Pres at 5pm. I'm not sure if I've heard this before but if I did it certainly didn't sink in. This time, twice in one day - it woke me up.

I've always associated justice with the law and with standing up for other people's rights. Righteousness on the other hand is something personal, something individual, it involves how good of a person I am. These two things are the same? Or at least two sides of the same coin?

In the ethics class David Gill said justice involves what is "right", doing the "right thing", doing what we "ought" or "owe" and involves our debts and obligations. Doing what is right encompasses both an inward and an outward expression of following the will of God. I found this definition by Paul Marshall on Andrew Basden's website:

"Justice is: right relationships among all things in the created order of things."

This evening I attended the first class Pastor Mark is offering on his new book, The Dangerous Act of Worship: Living God's Call to Justice. Again, this connection between righteousness and justice was mentioned. Righteousness is being right with God (a vertical relationship) and justice is being right with our neighbor (a horizontal relationship).

The foremost is, 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' "The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
-- Mark 12:28-31

The more I think about this the more I appreciate the connectedness of these two words and the more depth each of them holds for me.