A New Status Before God

In the first place, you have been justified. This is to say that God looks upon you and deals with you as though you were perfectly righteous, as though you had never sinned and will never sin. However difficult this idea may be for you to grasp, it represents an event that has already taken place and that will never change.It is not that God wears blinkers and pretends you are better than you are. He knows about your sin. Yet his feelings toward you and his dealings with you are based on a righteousness Christ has given you. God treats you as though you were as righteous as Jesus.-John White, The Fight, (IVP, 1976)

If you haven't read The Fight before, you're missing out.