dikaioō

Semantic range

1. 1to pronounce or treat as righteous, in a legal setting
2. 2to vindicate, to show to be right
3. 3to set right

A courtroom verb: the judge's declaration that a party is in the right. Paul's argument in Romans 3–5 is that God can pronounce guilty people righteous without ceasing to be just, because of what Christ has done — the point at which the courtroom and the mercy seat meet.

The Reformation reading — justification as a purely forensic declaration, distinct from any actual change — is one interpretation of these texts, not a self-evident reading of them. Latter-day Saint doctrine holds justification and sanctification together as parts of one process and requires that a person actually be made new, not only counted new (see D&C 20:30–31, which affirms both, and Moroni 10:32–33).

James 2:21–24 uses the same verb to say a man is justified by works and not by faith only — a tension the New Testament itself leaves standing.

See also

• צְדָקָהṣədāqāh
• χάριςcharis
• ἅγιοςhagios