"Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the
deeds of the law."
How much of your own righteousness do you have? If you answered by thinking that you have any at all, then you are definitely in trouble, and you have blasphemously denigrated the atonement of Christ. There is not one thing you can do to procure your right standing with God, outside of believing that Jesus Christ Himself has *fully* (and not partly) accomplished this for you.
The Fall has left us all with the accursed sense that we still somehow possess Adam's initial "righteousness." The fact is, it is completely gone. If we are going to be justified at all, it must be done in and through Christ alone, apprehended by faith.
[Puritan quote of the day: "Heaven is ours already, only we strive till we have full possession." --Richard Sibbes, in "The Bruised Reed"]
