Unfortunately, most people form their own personal theology from earth inward, when all theology or beliefs about Christianity should be from heaven outward. Our belief system always begins from God and what He thinks and believes to be true, not what we think and believe to be true based on our feelings or experience or what other people try to tell us. People make conclusions about their identity in God based on their actions, feelings, and thoughts instead of purely from what God says is the truth.
Jesus is the truth about everything, and God says that “He made Him (Jesus) to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ.” God says that we all BECAME the righteousness of God in Christ. As people in union with Christ, we have a totally new nature, and our nature now as Christians is one of righteousness; not just righteousness but the righteousness of God in Christ. 2 Peter 1:4 says that we became “partakers of the divine nature.” Of course, we aren’t divinity, but we are in union with Christ who is. Christ is our life, and his righteousness is our righteousness. That’s not just about our position before God; it’s about our new nature. Christians don’t sin by nature; they sin by choice, because their nature is righteousness . All those longings in your heat for righteous behavior; all those “ought to’s” inside of you are actually the true “want to’s” of the new creation you are. Those longings in your heart represent your true heart in nature. That’s the real you in Christ that wants to walk in holiness because your identity is one of righteousness. This is what God believes about you, and the transformation process in the Christian life is God calling you forth to walk out your true identity as righteous. That’s why John 16 says that one of the jobs of the Holy Spirit is to convict us of righteousness. Every time you fail, what God believes about you is how he deals with you. God doesn’t heap on condemnation; that’s what the enemy does. God is constantly trying to get us to see and believe the truth about who we actually are in our new nature. When we come into agreement by faith with what He believes, we can start manifesting the real truth about who we are as new creatures in Christ.