When the Bible says that God has declared us righteous, it isn’t saying we’ve suddenly become flawless or that sin has vanished from our lives. It’s saying something far more wonderful that God now sees us in His Son.
Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The word justified means declared righteous. It comes from the courtroom, but it carries the warmth of a Father’s heart. The Judge has not only pardoned us; He has brought us home.
Through Christ, God has made peace with us, not as a cold agreement between former enemies, but as a Father embracing His child. The hostility is over, the striving has ended, and we are home.
To be declared righteous doesn’t mean we never sin. It means God has chosen to see us through the righteousness of Jesus. He looks at His Son and says,
“This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
And by sheer grace, He looks at you and says the same.
Second Corinthians 5:21 says, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
Notice those two words, in him. That is the whole mystery of grace. We are not just handed righteousness as a certificate. We are brought into Christ Himself. His righteousness is not something we borrow; it is something we share because His life now lives in us.
When God declared you righteous, He didn’t simply change your record; He changed your address. You moved out of Adam and into Christ. You are no longer defined by your failure but by His faithfulness.
And when you fail, because you will, God does not rip up the declaration. He points to His Son and says, “That is where your life is now. Safe. Secure. Complete.”
This is not an abstract doctrine. It is the heartbeat of our relationship with God. He has united Himself to us in Jesus so completely that He cannot see us apart from Him. When you stand before God, you do not stand alone. You stand wrapped in Christ, loved with the same love the Father has for His Son.
So no, justification does not mean we are flawless. It means that the Righteous One has joined Himself to us, and in Him, we are right with God, fully accepted and fully loved.
This is why grace cannot be abused. When you truly see the love that rescued you, you will not want to run back to the storm. The one who knows he has been brought into Christ does not treat grace like a loophole. He clings to it like a lifeline. Holiness is not a condition for acceptance. It is the fruit of being loved.
Justification changes your standing.
Union changes your heart.
Both are the work of grace.
The same Spirit who declared you righteous is shaping your life to look like the One who lives within you. You are being changed, slowly but surely, from the inside out, not to become righteous, but because you already are in Him.
When the Father looks at you, He does not see a failure trying harder. He sees His Son living in you. You are His delight, not His disappointment.
You are not perfect, but you are perfectly loved.
You are not sinless, but you are forgiven.
You are not flawless, but you are found in Christ.
That is what it means to be declared righteous not a statement shouted from a distance, but a whisper of love from the heart of God:
“You are Mine, and I am yours.”