No one is righteous?

[Christian2]

Romans 3:10: There is no one righteous, not even one.

Luke 1:6: And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

Is this a contradiction?

Thanks.

[Fliegender]

Romans 3:10: There is no one righteous, not even one.

Luke 1:6: And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

Is this a contradiction?

Thanks.

Romans is considered to be an exegesis of Habakkuk 2:4, “the just shall live by His faith”. All people are born into sin, even the most illustrious men and women of the Old Testament. Romans defines “the just”, whom these Just people are in effect. To make a long story short, the Just are those who have believed God. In modern parlance, the Just are those who have been born of the Spirit.

Luke 1:6 deals with specific individuals. It’s possible these two would fit the modern definition of “born again” or born of the Spirit. Other notable individuals from the Old Testament are undoubtedly in this select group: Abraham, David, Ruth, Naomi...the list is long. How can someone who lived before Jesus be saved? The same way any Old Testament saint was saved: by believing God. The same way you and I are saved.

[Kurieuo]

Abram believed and it was credited to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:6) We, all who are in Christ, are declared righteous before God. Not of our own accord, but on account of Christ.

As to the second part, even if keeping all the commandments and ordinances, the Pharisees added more laws. Yet, Jesus raised the bar the highest in saying it isn't just actions, but the condition of our hearts towards God and others. It isn't just the person committing adultery who commits adultery, but the one who lusts has too committed adultery in their heart -- both persons are corrupt and sinful.

Now there is another way one can understand "righteouseness", but I don't believe it applies in this instance. That is, we might see a good and moral person and call them "righteous" or "good". And yet, Jesus said only God is good. As only God is good, similarly there are none righteous except God. So we understand when someones says, "there's a good man", or "that's a good women" they don't mean they're perfectly so, but rather relative to most people around we see certain people as "good" and even "righteous" relative to most. Mother Teresa many would say was a good and godly woman, and yet, we know she'd have her flaws even if we call her a good and righteous woman.

Many of the prophets were considered righteous, because by contrast to those around them they minimally had a heart for God. They often heard from and spoke God's words. And yet, according to God's perfect standard which sees the heart of everyone of us, our every thought and desire, such people aren't good -- only God is good. Such people might have been called righteous, yet such we understand they're not completely righteous.

So there is a range of avenues one can take, which Scripture itself offers and are supported by Scripture that avoids contradiction. If it isn't necessarily the case there is a contradiction, then it can't be declared contradiction. And, I think that here, there is plenty of room for discussion.

[Christian2]

Thank you for the comments.

We may never know what Paul had in his mind when he said:

Romans 3:10: as it written, There is no one righteous, not even one.

Most scholars think Paul referenced Psalm 14: "There is no one who does good,
not even one."

But Psalm 14 doesn't say there is no one righteous, but says no one who does good.

And as pointed out Jesus said only God is good.

Perhaps some think being righteous is the same as being sinless?

But look at Abraham. He was righteous, but sinned.

[RickD]

All believers are made righteous in Christ. That doesn't mean we stop sinning.