We need Jesus' righteousness because, on our own, we stand before God unrighteous, unjustified, guilty of cosmic treason. We can get Jesus' righteousness because He became "a propitiation by His blood." Because of Jesus' work on the cross, God can justify sinners without compromising His holy character. God justifies us by grace, through faith, "so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6).