Romans 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
The righteousness of God. Remember, righteousness comes by obedience to the law of God. It was Christ’s obedience unto death that satisfied God and earned righteousness. That righteousness came by what is called above the “faith of Jesus Christ.” The faith of Jesus Christ must be that which the righteousness of God came by. That faith of Christ is the obedience to the law unto death, both in word and in deed and in thought. That’s what our savior, Jesus Christ, completed there hanging upon the cross at Calvary. When He said it is finished in John 19:30, that work that He came to do to satisfy God and earn that righteousness that would be imputed was concluded. That is the faith of Christ. Righteousness and satisfaction to God did not come by my faith. Think back to Romans 1:17.
Romans 1:17 17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Personal faith is given to see that faith that earned righteousness. The gospel of Christ in 1:16 is the same as the faith from which righteousness is revealed. The faith is that body of work, the obedience unto death of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who does this righteousness come to? It comes to all those who believe. It does not come because we believe but comes to those who believe. Belief, or the faith that we have, comes as a product of this faith of Christ. Do not confuse the root for the fruit. The root of our faith, that which our faith comes from, is the work of Christ. The fruit of His faith is our faith in Him. This is a crucial understanding that a follower of Christ must know. Our faith springs forth from what Christ has done for us. My faith has nothing to do with the finished work of Christ other than that faith is where it is revealed in my heart. Did my faith satisfy a holy God? No because God was already satisfied in the work of His dear Son. Did my faith earn righteousness? No because Christ has already done that in His obedience. You must understand that salvation is not conditioned on a work God performs in man, our faith, but is conditioned on a work that God performed in His Son, the faith of Christ.
Read these words from Horatius Bonar.
Faith is not our saviour. It was not faith that was born at Bethlehem and died on Golgotha for us. It was not faith that loved us, and gave itself for us; that bore our sins in its own body on the tree; that died
and rose again for our sins. Faith is one thing, Jesus the Christ is another. Faith is one thing, and the cross is another. Let us not confound them, nor ascribe to a poor, imperfect act of man, that which belongs exclusively to the Son of the Living God.