Romans 1:16-17 NASB95
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. [17] For in it the righteousness of God is unveiled from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”
2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB95
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
The power of God for salvation is the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gift of righteousness that each Christian receives in their new birth is more than just you or me being made righteous. The gospel is the supernatural power of God unleashed in our lives, and therefore the righteousness that we have in Christ is beyond our imagination because it is the very righteousness of God. Because of our union with Christ, our position before God is that he sees us through the lens of the righteousness of God the Son. Jesus came to deliver us from our unrighteousness, and he did that by bringing us into union with His supernatural and glorious righteousness. This gift is not just about our position or standing before God, but it is also about the very righteousness of God being ours to draw from step-by-step in victory over the power of sin in our lives. Our righteous standing before God is a gift received through faith, and our righteous walk with God daily is the free gift of His righteousness also manifested because of daily faith. Faith does not make God’s power real. Faith is our response to how real God’s power is. Faith does not make us righteous or cause us to live a righteous life. Faith is a response that receives the free gift of God’s righteousness at the beginning of our relationship with Him and every day as we walk with him until we see Him face-to-face. Faith is not something that we do to make God do something. Faith is our response to what God has already done. Because you are in Christ, the righteousness of God is in you; therefore rest in the righteous position of Jesus and the righteous life of Jesus through you. It is not in our power to be righteous before God or to live a righteous life before God. It is all because of the power of God.