The Apostle Paul wrote a great deal of Romans, Galatians, Colossians, and Philippians with an emphasis on the righteousness of God that is ours by faith. Many Christians today do not understand the concept of imputed righteousness, and that is probably the fault of us pastors.
The only righteousness that ultimately counts in the eyes of God is the righteousness of His Son. Every other kind of righteousness is faulty, especially that righteousness that we perform ourselves.
However, according to the Apostle John, the evidence that someone possess the righteousness of Christ is he "lives a righteous life" (I John 3:8).
So on the one hand, faith in Christ gives to you a perfect righteousness that you will never lose because it was not yours in the first place and it was given to you by God as a gift, but on the other hand, the evidence that you possess this righteousness is that you live righteously.
Too often pastors only focus on the preaching of Christian duty, responsibility, and commitment, to the neglect of the great doctrines of grace and what it is that Christ has obtained for His people.
May God lead us all into an understanding that no believer is ever ready to live right until he first understands who he is in Christ.
In Christ, the believer is perfectly righteous.
In His Grace,
Wade
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