The Righteousness of God: Gift or Reward?
Rev. Aniekan "Mbomboyo" Okokon ·
Those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. — Romans 5:17
A reward is paid to someone who has done the work. A gift is given to someone who has not. Paul calls righteousness a gift five times in Romans 5 alone, and he never once calls it a reward. That should settle it. Yet the instinct to treat righteousness as something earned is so deep that most believers carry both ideas at once and are torn between them.
The righteousness of God
Paul's phrase is "the righteousness of God" - not a righteousness like God's, but God's own righteousness, put to the believer's account. "The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe" (Romans 3:22). It is not your improved conduct. It is His perfect standing, credited to you.
Why it cannot be a reward
- If righteousness were earned, no one would have it, because all have sinned.
- If it were partly earned, Christ's death would be partly unnecessary.
- If it could be earned, it could be lost - and you would spend your life afraid of losing it.
- Paul says it is "apart from the law", which is to say apart from performance altogether.
What a gift does that a reward cannot
A reward makes you anxious, because you must keep earning it. A gift makes you grateful, because you did not. A reward turns God into an employer. A gift reveals Him as a Father. And, Paul says, those who receive the gift reign in life - not those who achieve it. Reigning is what people do who are secure.
Receive it again
If you have been living as though righteousness were a reward - measuring your standing by your week - hear the verse again. Free gift. Received. Reign. Righteousness is not what you get for being good. It is what God gives so that, at last, you can be.