Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.  2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV

Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!  2 Corinthians 5:17 AMP

“Therefore if any man be in Christ…” What does it mean to be “in Christ”? Galatians 3:27 says, “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” You are baptized into Christ when you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Romans 10:9-10 says, “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” And Romans 10:13 says, “For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” The moment you believe in Jesus, call on Him, and confess Him as Lord, you are “in Christ”. You are made a brand-new creation in Christ! You are brand new on the inside! The Holy Spirit has given you new life! You are also immediately made righteous. You don’t have to wait to be righteous – you ARE righteous because Jesus took ALL your sin and exchanged it for His righteousness. He removed your old filthy rags and put a spotless robe of righteous on you!

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Romans 3:23-26 KJV

He says “to declare at this time His righteousness! You are freely justified WHEN you believe. Not later; not only when you die and go to Heaven. Jesus said that you cannot see the Kingdom of Heaven unless you are born again of the Spirit of God (John 3:1-8). Born-again Christians are not merely reformed, rehabilitated, or reeducated – they have been re-created! When we are converted to Christ, we are not merely turning over a new leaf, but we are beginning a whole new life, under a brand-new Master.

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.  Romans 6:4 KJV

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.  2 Corinthians 5:21 KJV

Jesus traded His righteousness for our sin – He took our sin away from us and gave us, in return, His righteousness. We don’t just HAVE righteousness, we are MADE righteous. We are the righteousness of God in Christ! We are not becoming righteous – we are already righteous right now! We can walk in newness of life, because that’s exactly what we have – a brand new life.

For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)  Romans 5:17 KJV

That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.  Romans 5:21 KJV

Believers are not sinners, saved by grace. They WERE sinners – then they received Jesus – now they are the righteousness of God in Christ! If you keep seeing yourself as a sinner, then you will act like one and you will have a hard time walking with God and keeping your life straight. We need to learn what God’s word says about who we are in Christ and develop a righteousness consciousness. Because we have already received the gift of righteousness, we can – right now – reign in life through Jesus, Himself. We reign over sin; we reign over sickness and disease; we reign over poverty; we reign over the devil and his demons; we reign in righteousness in THIS life.
 
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; 10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.  Revelation 5:9-10 KJV

Jesus made us kings – a royal race – and priests, unto our God, so that we can reign over the earth! He didn’t say that we would reign only in Heaven – we are to righteously reign in this life, on this earth – we are kings and priests now!

For in the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith [disclosed through the way of faith that arouses to more faith]. As it is written, The man who through faith is just and upright shall live and shall live by faith.  Romans 1:17 AMP

Only the righteous man and woman can LIVE by faith. The Father makes us righteous by faith so that we can continue to live by faith! You need to learn what the Word of God says about you, so you can see yourself as God sees you – washed in the blood, righteous, and just – and then walk it out in your life.