Darrel, I gave the reference which says when we are enrolled we are the righteous made perfect.
And you are terribly wrong, brother. We are righteous because we are made perfect in regards to remission of sins. We are not "the righteous made perfect."
Think about it, Van, did not the Old Testament Saints die, go to Sheol/Hades...and await being made perfect? What made them perfect?
The Sacrifice of Christ.
And it is no different from those being saved in this Age.
Hebrews 10:1-4
King James Version (KJV)
1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
Abraham was a member of that group, and relevant to the discussion. He died, having only animal sacrifice to bring atonement, hence...he died with his sin deb
And the righteousness ascribed to him by Paul and James...was according to the flesh. It was temporal, not eternal. He was not, as you well know, eternally redeemed.
Here is how he was redeemed:
Hebrews 10:10-14
King James Version (KJV)
10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.
14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
The Old Testament Saints were made perfect, which again, is being made complete in regards to remission of sins, retroactively. That is why the Writer distinguishes between those who of the Church (those eternally redeemed, immersed into eternal union with God, and born again in this Age) and those who died prior to the Cross and the establishment of the New Covenant:
Hebrews 12:20-24
King James Version (KJV)
20 (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:
21 And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake
22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
His point throughout the Book is "You need to embrace Christ and the New Covenant, and leave the foundational elements found in the Covenant of Law. Here he says "You have not come to the Covenant of Law, but to the New Covenant and the elements therein."
We also see the Writer include all sacrifice for sin going back to the sacrifices offered by Abel, and contrasts that with the better Sacrifice of Christ.
So I must disagree that we are "the righteous made perfect," for we are not, we are sinner made perfect in regards to remission of sins, and based on that alone are we declared righteous before God. And as I have already said, we can certainly view this as being made righteous through Christ, but it is not a practical righteousness of our own, but is our standing before God based on Christ's righteousness.
Continued...