When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
—Romans 6.20
Those that are not Christians can still do righteousness. But when they do it, it is from a place that is not their essence. I can’t think of an analogy right now. But, they are free to do righteous sings even though they are not considered righteous people. Is that a good way to put it?
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the long way home 
Hope you’re well Paul!
We aren’t meant to be judges, so the following question could be entirely meaningless. That said, if our righteousness is in Christ, it follows that we can’t be righteous apart from Christ, regardless of what we do. That is my understanding of what you’re saying (correct me if I’m wrong). Where I get confused is how to think about that person…the one who does righteous things without a base in Christ. Is that person really wicked? My gut says they are something else, but I don’t know what it would be. I just have trouble classifying them alongside people who do truly wicked things. But then again, as I said, it’s not really my place to judge, so maybe it is not a useful (or doable) thing to figure out.
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