¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. ²⁰ Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.Righteousness Through Faith²¹ But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. ²² This righteousness is given through faith in^[h] Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.                        These verses tell it like it is.   No one is good enough for God.  You can’t pile up Brownie points and hope they make you acceptable in His sight.  The only people who think they can make it on their own are people who have cut God down to their size.  The problem is that God is WHO HE IS and he is perfect holiness.  That’s the bad news and it’s the good news.             How can people like you or me be made right with God? Where do we get the righteousness we need?            The good news is that God’s kind of righteousness has been made available to us  (Romans 2:21)  as a free gift  (Romans 3:24).  It’s for anyone who has faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:22), which simply means you don’t get the gift unless you take it.