And when we talk about justification we say that justification is a declaration by God in which He declares that we are righteous, not that we are; but by faith in Christ He declares that we are righteous by crediting His own righteousness through Christ to us so that we are covered literally with the righteousness of God in Christ. That is why we are justified or declared righteous, because we have been literally given credit for the perfect righteousness of God in Christ. That happens at salva