caricature of God’s righteousness

09-01-2026 - Posted by Geert-Jan

Originally posted on January 08, 2026 – by Andre Piet

Is God’s righteousness an obstacle to forgiveness?

Within Christian orthodoxy there is a widespread conviction that God’s righteousness prevents Him from forgiving without payment. This idea is often presented as self-evident: God may want to forgive, but He cannot do so unless His righteousness is first satisfied. Forgiveness would only be possible after the debt has been fully paid — either by the sinner himself or by a substitute.

This conviction is not a marginal view, but a foundational premise within orthodoxy. It is explicitly expressed in preaching and laid down in confessional documents.

Thus Paul Washer relates:

I spoke with a group of university students and I said: I want to tell you the most dreadful news in all of Scripture. And they braced themselves. And I said: okay, here it comes. God is good. And a student said: what is the problem with that? And I said: well, you are not. So what does a good God do with people like us? The problem is that God is righteous. He cannot forgive. God cannot set aside one attribute in favor of another. So, if God wants to forgive an ungodly people, He must first satisfy the demands of His own righteousness.

Here God’s righteousness is explicitly presented as an obstacle to forgiveness: God can not forgive as long as this requirement has not been met.

A comparable line of thought is found with Josh McDowell (in More Than a Carpenter):

When He went to the cross, almost two thousand years ago, a holy, righteous God poured out His wrath on His Son. And when Jesus said, “It is finished,” God’s righteous nature was satisfied. … You could say that at that moment God was “given leave” to treat humanity with love without having to destroy a sinful human being…

Here too, forgiveness is made dependent on prior satisfaction. Only after God’s righteousness has been “satisfied” would space arise for love.

This conviction is moreover normatively laid down in the Heidelberg Catechism:

God wills that His righteousness be satisfied; therefore we must make full payment to it, either by ourselves or by another.
(Lord’s Day 5)

And in Lord’s Day 6:

In no other way could payment for our sins be made than by the death of the Son of God.

These formulations leave no room for forgiveness without payment. God’s righteousness is here presented as a necessary condition that must first be fulfilled.

forgiveness is not deferred payment

Forgiveness does not presuppose that a debt is first paid, but that the one who is entitled to demand retribution refrains from doing so. As soon as payment becomes a condition for forgiveness, forgiveness ceases to exist.

A debt that has been fully paid — by whomever — is not a forgiven debt, but a settled debt. Substitution does not alter that principle. What remains is settlement, not remission.

righteousness is not an abstract legal system

In Scripture, righteousness is not an abstract legal system to which God would be subject. Righteousness is what God does. It describes His actions in which He does justice, sets things right, and brings about what is right.

… for He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth;
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples in His faithfulness.
—Psalm 96:13—

YHWH has made known His salvation;
He has revealed His righteousness
before the eyes of the nations.
—Psalm 98:2—

They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness
and shall jubilate over Your righteousness.
—Psalm 145:7—

God is not righteous because He conforms to an external norm, but because He does justice to what He has spoken and promised. His righteousness is not an independent power that binds Him, but the expression of His faithfulness and reliability.

doing justice, setting right, and bringing to right

God’s righteousness does not exclude intervention. It can mean judgment, discipline, and even retribution. Scripture speaks of this without reserve. God does not leave evil untouched, but sets straight what is crooked.

Yet nowhere is this presented as a necessary condition for forgiveness. Judgment and retribution have their place within God’s action, but they do not form a barrier that makes grace impossible.

God does not need to be satisfied

Scripture nowhere speaks of a God who must be reconciled, but of a God who Himself reconciles. God does not change His attitude after a sacrifice has been offered. He Himself takes the initiative.

God was in Christ conciliating the world to Himself…
—2 Corinthians 5:19—

It is not God who is reconciled, but the world. It is not God’s disposition that changes, but the enmity in the human being that is removed.

reconciliation is not payment

The evangel proclaims not a God who can forgive only after satisfaction has been made, but a God who forgives and thereby transforms people. Forgiveness speaks of God’s free grace; reconciliation speaks of what God effects in hostile and alienated creatures.

To reconcile in Scripture means that enmity gives way to love. The human being is changed from enemy into lover. God remains who He is. Not payment, but God’s action in accordance with what He has spoken and promised brings about this reversal.

Delen: