Listen to Nancy’s answer recorded live on Moody Radio.
Righteous is not something that we can earn for but rather it is a gift from God
The Bible’s standard of human righteousness is God’s own perfection in every way including behavior, attitudes and actions. God Himself is the standard by how righteous is defined and measured. He is the very definition of righteousness.
Because our God is righteous and just He cannot have fellowship with a sinful person and therefore, mankind, in his natural state, cannot be in fellowship with God because we have all sinned and the penalty for that sin is death which is separation from God.
So how can I become righteous?
No person, no matter how “good” he or she appears to be, will never, on their own, be able to meet God’s requirements for righteousness. The bad news is that it is not possible for man to attain on his own; the bar is simply too high. The good news is that true righteousness is possible for mankind, but only through the forgiveness of sin by Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We have no ability to achieve righteousness in and of ourselves.
2 Corinthians 5:21 “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Romans 5:19 “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.”
What happens to our sin?
This means that we are made righteous in the sight of God; that is, that we are accepted as righteous and treated as righteous by God on account of what the Lord Jesus has done. He was made sin; we are made righteousness!!!
All this is why we can boldly approach the throne of grace! Hebrews 4:16, : “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” …