"In most human languages the New Testament word dikaios is always translated 'justice,' but in English, translators often choose to translate dikaios as the word 'righteousness.'"
Problem? Perhaps. When we read the word righteousness in the Bible we immediately think of something that has to do with us...some sort of spiritual state or worth that comes from what we do. A good word to sum it up is perhaps the word piety. However, when you think of the word justice, you think of something entirely different. You think of justice having to do with others. It's a mother being able to have enough food for a newborn child. It's people having homes rather than living in the streets. It doesn't only have to do with people getting what they deserve from the justice system (although that is a part), but it is basic human rights being met. It is us being unsatisfied with the lack of people being human, being treated as human, and being able to live as God created them to live as a human being.
As you read the Bible and see the word "righteousness" I encourage you to look at how it infers justice. Listen to the following excerpt from The Justice Creed:
...God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice...
...And God's kingdom belongs to those willing to be persecuted for the sake of justice...
...The justice God desires, which he taught, must surpass that of the hypocrites...
...We believe the Holy Spirit is here now, convicting the world of sin and injustice...
- From Brian Mclaren
Justice in the Burbs p. 30
