Righteousness & Justification
We believe, teach, and confess that We cannot obtain forgiveness of sin and righteousness before God by our own strength, merits, or works, but we receive forgiveness of sin and become righteous before God by grace, for Christ’s sake, through faith, when we believe that Christ suffered for us and that for His sake our sin is forgiven and righteousness and eternal life are given to us. For God will regard and reckon this faith as righteousness. [Romans 3:21-26; 4:5; 5:1; Genesis 15:6; 2 Corinthians 5:19]
Righteousness, like faith, is a gift from God and not a human accomplishment (Romans 3:22-24, 28). In Greek “righteousness” and “justification” are the same word. Our righteousness is found in that God declares sinners righteous for Christ’s sake. Our sins have been imputed or credited to Christ our Savior and Christ’s righteousness has been “imputed” or “credited” to us (Matthew 18:23-35; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 4:25). So our righteousness does not come to us through the works of the law but only through faith that Christ’s works are sufficient for our righteousness and salvation (Genesis 15:6; Romans 3:28; Romans 4:5; Galatians 5:4-5). This is called “justification by faith” or “justification by grace” (Acts 4:12; 10:43).