Holy, righteous, good - all of Christ

Are believers really saints? Can we practice righteousness or holiness? Does Christ really see us in this light? The answer is, yes. We're reborn. Paul defines the unrighteous, what they do and how they act, and then he says, 

"And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."
When it says "sanctified", this is what it means (taken from biblos.com):
hagiazó: to make holy, consecrate, sanctify
Original Word: ἁγιάζω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: hagiazó
Phonetic Spelling: (hag-ee-ad'-zo)
Short Definition: I make holy, sanctify
Definition: I make holy, treat as holy, set apart as holy, sanctify, hallow, purify.

Total depravity (our standing before God) is overcome, here and now, by the flowing mercies in Christ Jesus. 

Here's an excellent article on all that we are in Christ Jesus: http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/the-stupendous-reality-of-being-in-christ-jesus

Consider Romans 11:16, which references Christ as the root and believers as branches:

If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches. (Romans 11:16)
Christ is the root. If Christ is holy, then according to Paul, all those in Christ are made holy by virtue of being in Him. Christ said Himself, "I am the Vine; you are the branches". 

Let’s look quickly at the two words, “good” and “holy”.agathos = good
Reference: Ephesians 2:10; besides others
Definition: Intrinsically good, good in nature, good whether it be seen to be so or not. 

This goodness originates from God, and is empowered by Him. But in Ephesians 2:10 it says the Lord prepares good works for us to accomplish. He is a God of life and action, and He gives us actions to accomplish.

hagios = holyDefinition: Set apart by (or for) God, holy, sacred.
References: 1 Corinthians 6:11, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4, Romans 6:19, Hebrews 12:14, Romans 11:16, 1 Corinthians 7:14, Ephesians 5:27

Again, this originates from God in that we become like Him, pronounced to be like Christ, set apart from the world because we are like Christ. This is what Christ has done: set us apart for Himself.

We submit fully to Christ. That’s what living righteously is all about: submitting fully and joyfully to Christ so that we can be used of Him. He works through us. We live in righteousness, we witness to others, and we present our bodies as living sacrifices holy and acceptable to God for the purpose of Christ’s exaltation and proclamation.

How would you define submitting fully to Christ? I would define it as something like “Here I am; Lord, send me!” When faced with His glory, our response is praise, worship and service.

Believers do not live rightly or do any holy thing outside of Christ. The ability to do anything in a godly manner comes from God, Who is goodness and mercy. This is the relationship:

We do good works (which God has laid out for us) by His grace in enabling us to do so. We do not do good works or live righteously because we want to "look good", or because we want to earn something; we do them because God has amazingly saved us, and it is a “reasonable service” to live our lives for the glory of God in whatsoever we do. We cannot earn what we already have. 

We cannot be righteous without Christ. However, with Him, we can. So the idea that believers can be righteous is cemented in the fact that Christ is the difference. Christ enables us to be so. God is in living, active relationship with us, right now. Christ is exalted and magnified by the idea that He has accomplished what He set out to do, finishing His work and revealing a people much changed by what He has done.

Why not go to Him? Cast all your cares upon Him. Cry out to Christ to change you, to wash you clean. We need constant reminders of the gospel, all day, every day. Christ came to save the needy, the broken, the sinful. He is the Great Physician, healing hearts and lives. Why not turn to Him?