Our Righteousness is in Christ.

Romans 8:10 says; "But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness" Romans 3:22 says, "This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe." Romans 5:1 tells us that we have been justified through faith. Faith, Righteousness, Justification these big words sound impressive and are sometimes confusing, but they are of great importance to us. Faith stands as a key, because according to Heb. 11:6, one cannot please God without faith. Faith needs an object, something to have faith or to believe in and that must be Jesus Christ. Real faith is characterized by acting on what we say we believe and by the bearing of fruit in our lives. Acts do not produce faith, but acts are the result of a life of faith. Because of our faith, just as with Abraham we are declared righteous. Righteousness and justification come from the same root word in Greek. Justification is the legal term which means that we are legally and formally acquitted from guilt by God as judge. Righteous is the condition that we stand in because of God's "not guilty" verdict. Faith becomes the legal tender that "purchases" our salvation, but just like money, it needs something behind it to give it value. With our money it used to be gold, but with our faith the backing is, was, and always will be the Blood of the Cross of Christ.