There are two kinds of righteousness that come to us as part of the new covenant. The first is imputed (ascribed) righteousness. The second kind of righteousness is actual deliverance from the nature and the effects of sin. Today there is little understanding of the second kind of righteousness.
Yet it is the second kind of righteousness that characterizes the new covenant. There are relatively few verses in the New Testament that speak of imputed righteousness. However there are numerous passages in the New Testament that proclaim the necessity for the practice of righteous behavior on the part of the believer.
