The two kinds of righteousness

The Two Kinds of Righteousness is a Lutheran paradigm (like the Two Kingdoms of God). It attempts to define man’s identity in relation to God and to the rest of creation. The Two Kinds of Righteousness is explicitly mentioned in Luther’s 1518 sermon entitled Two Kinds of Righteousness, in Luther’s Galatians Commentary (1535), in his Bondage of the Will, Melanchthon’s Apology of the Augsburg Confession, and in the third article of the Formula of Concord. It is also the implicit presupposition governing Luther’s Freedom of a Christian as well as other works.

In theology “to be righteous is to be human as God envisioned in creation, and again in redemption.” Lutherans believe that there are “two dimensions to being a human creature,” or two relationships that define human nature. The first dimension defines man’s relationship with God and the second defines man’s relationship with his human neighbors and the rest of God’s creation. “In the former we receive righteousness before God through faith on account of Christ. In the latter, we achieve righteousness in the eyes of the world by works when we carry out our God-given responsibilities.”

The first kind of righteousness is righteousness coram deo (righteousness in the eyes of God). The Reformers also called it passive righteousness, the righteousness of faith, the righteousness of the Gospel, alien righteousness, and Christian righteousness. Dr. Robert Kolb has often called it the righteousness of identity, because it restores man’s identity as a child of God.

This righteousness “is a righteousness that we receive from God.” A person is righteous coram deo, that is, he is in a right relationship with God, when he simply receives the imputed obedience of Christ and the forgiveness of sins through faith. This righteousness is passive and comes apart from the Law. A human person is not righteous in God’s eyes because of his choice or commitment, his good works or his piety, his emotions or intellect. Instead, he is righteous because the Father chooses him from the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:3-14) and declares him righteous on account of Jesus’ atoning death and justifying resurrection (Rom.3:21-28, 4:18-25). Thus, Luther describes Abraham’s righteousness of faith, saying, “The other kind of righteousness is the righteousness of faith, which does not depend on any works, but on God's favorable regard and his 'reckoning' on the basis of grace." Christian righteousness is freely given by the Spirit through the means of grace (i.e. baptism, the proclamation of forgiveness on account of Christ, the Lord’s Supper).

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