The Anchor Gospel Ministry

In dispensational theology, God’s righteousness is not merely an abstract or static attribute; it is dynamically manifested in God’s self-consistency, His covenant dealings, His judgments, and His redemptive provisions across successive dispensations. The dispensational view holds that though God’s righteousness is unchanging, the administration of that righteousness in His dealings with humanity is progressive and varied.

God’s Righteousness Before the Fall

Before sin, Adam stood in a state of innocence, unfallen, with unbroken fellowship with God. In that dispensation (often called the Dispensation of Innocency) God’s righteousness was manifest in His holy being, His law, and His requirement of obedience.

• God’s intrinsic righteousness: God’s nature is righteous, holy, just. Even in Eden, God’s moral standard was absolute, though not fully codified in external law.
• Requirement of perfect obedience: The test given to Adam (“Of every tree … thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it”) (Gen. 2:16-17 KJV) implied that failure would bring death, thus God’s righteousness demanded perfect compliance.
• No need yet for an atonement: Because sin had not yet entered, there was no need for provision of righteousness. But God’s plan was always to address humanity’s fall consistently with His righteous character.

Even here, dispensationalists hold that the principle of accountability is vital: God’s righteousness must reign, and any deviation from His standard is judged.

God’s Righteousness After the Fall and Before Abraham

Once sin entered, God’s righteousness was manifested in two complementary directions: condemnation of sin, and provision (in type, shadow, and promise) for redemption.

• Judgment on sin: From Cain’s murder (Gen. 4) onward, God enacted consequences. The Flood (Gen. 6–9) demonstrates that God cannot indefinitely tolerate pervasive wickedness. His righteous judgment must act.
• Sacrificial provision: While no fully explicit sacrifice is commanded immediately, we see Abel’s offering (Gen. 4:4), and later the institution of animal sacrifice. These were anticipatory, typifying substitution.
• Faith reckoned as righteousness: Though Abraham is just after this era, the pattern begins here: in Gen. 15:6 (KJV) we read, “And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.” Dispensationalists interpret this as the prototype of imputed righteousness by faith (though not yet fully revealed).
• Romans 3:25-26 (KJV): “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation … to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” Even prior to the giving of the Law, God’s forbearance allows that He may pass over sins, yet now at the moment of salvation He declares His righteousness, so that He remains just and justifier.

In dispensational theology, this era is transitional: humans consistently fall short, and God already anticipates the fuller revelation in Christ, without compromising His righteousness.

God’s Righteousness with Israel

With Abraham and Moses, God enters into a distinct covenantal relationship with Israel. In this dispensation, God’s righteousness is revealed, demanded, and promised through law, covenant, sacrifice, and prophecy.

The Demand of Law and the Impossibility of Self-righteousness

Under the Mosaic Law, God set a standard of perfect obedience. Yet Israel repeatedly failed, proving that no flesh can be justified by the law (cf. Gal. 3:10).

• Romans 10:3-4 (KJV): “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”
• Psalm 143:2 (KJV): “And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.” Under the law, justification by works is impossible.

Prophetic Promise and the Coming Righteousness

Israel’s sacrificial system, prophets, and covenant promises pointed forward to the day when God would bring in the true, perfect righteousness.

• Dispensationalists emphasize that all the typology in the Mosaic system anticipates Christ, not that Israel’s system itself gives final righteousness.
• The righteous King to come will fulfill all demands, and His righteousness will be imputed to believers.

Darby on Righteousness apart from Law

John Nelson Darby’s own spiritual transformation led him to emphasize that true righteousness is apart from law and must be in Christ. Thus Darby came to lay hold of that righteousness which is apart from the law and is only to be found in Christ (Phil. 3:9).

Darby’s insight was that union with Christ meant that our standing before God is no longer based on our failure to keep law, but on Christ’s perfect obedience.

Ryrie’s Understanding of Old Testament Faith

Charles Ryrie clarifies that dispensational theology does not teach that Old Testament saints had the same understanding of Christ’s atonement that later believers do, but that they responded to God’s revelation in their day:

In Dispensationalism Today Ryrie argues that people in Old Testament times were justified by faith according to what was revealed to them, not by a full knowledge of the cross. He notes that if the earlier saints had fully understood the blood of Christ, they would not have continued offering sacrifices.

Thus, under Israel, God’s righteousness is both covenantal and anticipatory: it demands, it points, and it awaits fulfillment in Christ.

God’s Righteousness with the Church (the Present Dispensation)

In the present Church Age, God’s righteousness is offered explicitly in the person and work of Christ. No longer is Israel’s law the means; now the righteousness of God is revealed “apart from the law” (Rom. 3:21 KJV) and is received by faith alone.

Imputed Righteousness by Faith

Believers are declared righteous not by their works, but by faith in Christ:

• Romans 3:22-24 (KJV): “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe … being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
• Romans 3:26 (KJV): God acts “that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” This is the great paradox: God maintains His justice, yet justifies the sinner.

Chafer, a leading dispensational teacher, underscored this by saying:

“This bestowed righteousness … is Christ who is the very righteousness of God unto us when we are found in Him.” (Chafer)

And elsewhere he wrote:

“The justice of God is made possible and is righteously demanded in view of the shed blood of His own Son … God has, by other and sufficient means, guarded against all careless sinning on the part of those whom He has eternally saved through the merit of His Son.”

These statements show how dispensationalists hold the tension: God remains infinitely righteous, yet freely justifies the ungodly because Christ bore the penalty.

Practical Righteousness (Sanctification)

Though justification is by faith, the Church is called to live righteously. This does not earn our justification, but flows from it (“fruit” of union with Christ). Dispensationalists stress the distinction between justification (our position before God) and sanctification (our growth in holiness). The believer’s righteous walk is not the basis of being declared righteous but the demonstration of what has been declared.

Ryrie on Kingdom Righteousness and Present Mandate

Ryrie warns against conflating present kingdom righteousness with the mandate of the church:

“Kingdom righteousness in the present time is not the mandate of the church.” His emphasis is that the church is under grace now, not under the demands of Israel’s kingdom law.

Walvoord on Judicial Basis of Forgiveness

John F. Walvoord remarks:

“Forgiveness on the part of God always has a judicial basis, not an emotional basis, and represents an attitude of God based upon the satisfaction of His …” This accords with the dispensational view that God’s righteousness must be satisfied; forgiveness is not arbitrary, but grounded in the merit of Christ.

God’s Righteousness in the Future: Millennial and Eternal

Dispensational theology typically includes the Millennial Kingdom and the eternal state as final dispensations.

• Millennial righteousness manifested: In Christ’s 1,000-year reign, the righteous rule of God will be fully expressed on earth. Israel will be restored, the land promises fulfilled, temple worship reinstated, demonstrating that God was always righteous in His dealings with Israel.
• Judgment and justice: The Great White Throne judgment (Rev. 20) shows that God’s righteous standard continues in eternity.
• Eternal righteousness: In the new heaven and new earth, God’s righteousness will dwell fully; believers will live in perfect conformity to His holy nature.

Thus, the dispensational schema shows not only how God’s righteousness is applied in history but how it culminates in eternal consummation.

Expanded Quotations from Dispensational Teachers

Here below are a few more illustrative quotations and reflections from dispensational protagonists:

• Ryrie on dispensational structure:

“A dispensation is a distinguishable economy in the outworking of God’s purpose.”
He emphasizes that each dispensation is a different God-man relationship, which frames how God’s righteousness is administrated.

• Ryrie on sin and grace:

“But where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.” (Ryrie quoting Romans 5:20)
This echoes the dispensational conviction that God’s grace is not defeated by human sin, but triumphs in Christ.

• Walvoord on prophetic justice:
  In his expositions on end-time events, Walvoord repeatedly emphasizes divine justice and the righteous wrath of God as integral to prophecy (e.g., in the pouring out of vials, the final judgments).
• Darby’s emphasis on union with Christ:
  As already quoted, Darby’s own spiritual experience led him to see that “place before God was represented by [Christ’s] own.”

These quotations deepen the dispensational conviction that God’s righteousness is secure, active, and revealed progressively across the ages.

Summary

1. God’s righteousness is unchanging in its essence, He is always holy, just, and consistent.
2. Dispensational distinctions explain how God administers His righteousness differently in each era: innocence, conscience, human government, promise, law (Israel), grace (Church), and the coming kingdom.
3. Before the Fall, God’s righteousness demanded perfect obedience; after the Fall, His righteousness demanded judgment but made provision by promise and type.
4. With Israel, God’s righteousness was expressed in law, covenant, prophecy, but always pointed to Christ.
5. In the Church Age, the righteousness of God is revealed “apart from the law” (Rom. 3:21) and is received by faith, believers are justified, not by their works, but by what Christ has done.
6. Future righteousness will be wholly actualized in Christ’s reign and forever in the new creation, vindicating God’s consistency and justice across history.
7. Dispensational teachers such as Darby, Chafer, Ryrie, and Walvoord continually affirm that the cross is the hinge on which God’s righteousness is revealed, and that in Christ God remains just while justifying sinners.