Read carefully

Notice carefully what Paul actually says here: not “so that we might know about the righteousness of God.” not “so that we might believe in the righteousness of God.” not “so that we might proclaim the righteousness of God.” not even “so that we might be justified by the righteousness of God.” rather, he says, “so that we might become the righteousness of God.” our commission from God is that we as a community are called to embody the righteousness of God in the world—to incarnate it, if you will—in such a way that the message of reconciliation is made visible in our midst. And of course reconciliation made visible is something that can appear only in practices that show unity, love, mercy, forgiveness and a self-giving grace that the world could not even dream of apart from Christ. Richard Hays, quoted in — The Death of the Messiah and the Birth of the New Covenant, pages 60-61