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In Romans chapter 6 verses 10 and 11 it says,
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For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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We were dead in trespasses and sins but now we cannot help but praise God day by day because He has made us alive through Jesus Christ who died for us.
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I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
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It is not through our own efforts to believe that this fact is accomplished within us; faith arises within us by itself. Such is the experience of true faith, revealed through the Holy Spirit of God when we accept the love of God that is freely given and, in our spirits, receive His Son Jesus Christ as Lord.
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Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
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"But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved). (Ephesians 2:4-5)
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This is true. Salvation is purely God-given grace. It is not received through good deeds or efforts. Salvation is free of charge; there is no price to pay. It is simply a case of being thankful for the love by which the only begotten Son of God took all your sins upon Himself as He was crucified, shed His blood, and died. This kind of simplicity that allows a person simply to believe unconditionally brings about the kind of faith that is acceptable in God's eyes.
A baby does not exert itself in any way in order to be born and become a child in the family. The right to become a child of God is given in the same way.
In James chapter 1 verse 18 it says,
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"Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.
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Your spirit has been born into this world clothed in flesh in order that it might be born a second time before God through the Holy Spirit.
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"Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever." (1 Peter 1:23)
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In this way, we are born and live our lives as descendants of Adam, and therefore as sinners, but now we have been saved from sin by the grace that God bestows.
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"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
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The grace that we receive free of charge like this is God's gift.
If we could become righteous by performing good deeds, paying the price ourselves, or keeping closely to the law, we would not be able to say that it is grace. If we were made righteous by the law, Christ would have suffered a meaningless death (See Galatians 2:21).
This righteousness of God is absolute.
So when another kind of righteousness - in other words, man's store of good deeds accomplished by his own efforts - is given more importance than God's righteousness, Isaiah chapter 64 verse 6 says,
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"... all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6).
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Also, in Job chapter 35 verse 8 God says,
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"... And your righteousness [may profit] a son of man" (Job 35:8).
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