When God laid our sin upon Jesus,He was made to be sin, made to suffer in our stead. When He had met the demands of Justice, death could hold Him no longer. He was "declared righteous." He was "made alive". He became the "firstborn from the dead" - the Head of a New Creation. Col. 1:18.

When we believe in Jesus Christ as our Saviour, God is able to declare us righteous on the ground of what Jesus did.We become partakers of the Divine Nature, so that we are righteous by nature and righteous by faith.