The Bible declares how God loved us in spite of our sins and how He gave His blessed Son to die on Calvary's Cross to clear our title to heaven. Sadly, instead of taking Him at His Word, thousands turn away from His gracious offer, "going about to establish their own (self) righteousness" (Rom.10:3).

So they do "good and religious works" and may even make great sacrifices, thinking that a God of love will surely accept their self-efforts and overlook their sins. But this is presumption, not of faith. How can a God of justice overlook sin? We should thank Him for His matchless love in that He Himself paid for our sins so we might receive salvation as "the gift of God," obtained by faith in Christ alone.

We know the Law's outer constraints upon man always failed to change our "Old (fallen) Man's" sinful nature' because man is "weak through" the ever-present Sin infection in "the flesh" (Rom 8:3) of our bodies, where the Serpentine nature dwells... and still remains even after we are saved!

Romans 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, Condemned Sin In The Flesh:

God's death the blow to our fallen Adamic "Old Man" at the cross when we were crucified "with Him." Our "Old (sin-tempted) Man (self)" was crucified with Christ. Thus we are now loosed from the power and "the works of the Devil."  We as believers have died to Sin by our co-death with Christ. Thus the 'Sin' nature in our flesh has no more power over us... as dead men.

1 John 3:8b ...For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy (Greek, "luo," put off) the works of the devil.

Romans 6:6-7 (AMP) We know that our old (Old Man, our unrenewed) self was nailed to the cross with Him in order that [our] body [which is the instrument] of Sin might be made ineffective and inactive for evil, that we might no longer be the slaves of sin. 7 For when a man dies, he is freed (loosed, delivered) from [the power of] sin.

Galatians 2:20a I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me...

The moment we believed in Jesus Christ as our Savior, we became justified, as though we've never sinned; all our sin-debt was fully paid for... our sins past, sins present and even sins yet future! We died to Sin and the world. Being now "in Christ" we are declared forever righteous in God's eyes.

1) Righteousness is "Imputed" or counted to us, covering believers with Christ's righteousness.

Colossians 3:3 For ye are dead, and your Life (Zoë, spirit life) is hid with Christ in God.

Christ died 'FOR US' to make our Standing Acceptable... "in Christ."

2Cor. 5:21 he (God the Father) hath made him (Jesus) to be sin 'for us,' who knew no sin; (so) that we might be made the righteousness of God 'IN HIM.'

Philippians 3:9 And be found in him (Christ), NOT having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

Eph 1:6 (KJV) To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.  

It is in realizing the truth that we are held secure in God's love and stand in Christ's righteousness that we can go on and endure life's difficulties and even our failures. In this state of knowing we are secure in Christ that the Lord can proceed in His work of actually renewing our fallen souls through the difficulties we will no doubt endure as all men do.

2) Then, while we forever stand secure and in Christ's imputed righteousness, God also begins a work in our lives, seeing to it that Christ's own righteous life that now dwells in our spirit is then "imparted" to renew our souls. Then His life Nature actually becomes our new Nature in actuality. This is possible only because of the Biblical fact that Christ died not only 'for us,' to pay our sin-debt but He also died... 'AS US'. Thus our Old Self Died "with Him," and we also  rose "with Him" from the dead... that we might Have and Enjoy "Newness of Life... In Him."

Romans 6:3-4 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized (immersed) into Jesus Christ were baptized (immersed) into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

2 Peter 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be Partakers Of The Divine Nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Christ Has reconciled us to God and Now Lives In Us as Our True 'Life.'

Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: …

Romans 5:10 we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled (having been reconciled), we shall be saved (completed) by his "life."  

So, By God's Grace WE STAND Holy and Blameless (Eph 1:3-4). We stand in His unconditional love and in His 100% Pure Grace. If you are "Born of God," you STAND righteous "in Christ."

The normal 'trials of life' that we all are experiencing are all part of the process that God ordained for us to become "renewed" in our souls. Every trial is intended to push us to Christ as our real new self and to trust in His love, grace and care. Unlike the lost, our trials are working 'for the eternal good.'

2 Cor 4:16b (NIV) ... outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly (in our soul's mind emotion and will) we are Being Renewed day by day.

Romans 8:28-29 ... we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate (the believers) to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

We are Saved by Grace & OUR WALK is Also 100% by Grace – We never graduate from GRACE! We walk daily in the very same way we were saved – by trusting Him. We began one day by trusting Him in faith … and that's how we go on.

Col. 2:6 "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord (by grace), so (also) walk ye in him:"

You May Say "But Honestly, I Don't Always Trust Him." That's OKAY, because He is working by ALL things in your life, even your failure, to ultimately turn you to trust and know "Christ in you" as your all. We will progress, but in all honesty, it takes a lifetime of years to be renewed, so don't be discouraged. It is His work to renew our souls and He will continue to perform it until the day we are raptured to "meet the Lord in the air" (1Thes 4:13-18).

Philippians. 1:6 "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:"

Philippians 2:13 (NIV) for It Is God Who Works In You to will and to act according to his good purpose.

Actually, even our failures are useful because every time we recognize our failures or something in our mindset that is not right it just confirms that we still live in corruptible Sin-laden bodies that are tainted by the Sin nature in our flesh (cf. Rom 8:3). Yet the real us, in our spirit, was regenerated the moment we first believed and Christ's own life came to dwell in us. From that moment of our salvation, the Lord began working to transform our soul. Our old way of living, by self desires and self-strength, must diminish and we must learn to trust Christ in us as our new, innermost, governing life. This renewal His work – NOT ours!

Our ONE "work ordained of God is... to believe (trust in and cling) in Him (Christ)" (cf. Jn 6:29). God birthed us and He will grow us up "in Christ"... teaching us to trust Him in us. We'll never be 100% free of failings while we live in these Sin-laden bodies; we may be tempted by our self-interested flesh and sometimes fail, but we are accepted "in Him." We must get our eyes off us and upon "Him who is our (real) life" (Col 3:4a) and His limitless love and grace toward us. We cling to the truth of His word!