That an imperfect person can be declared righteous by faith (in which the apostle Paul described faith as "the assured expectation of what is hoped for, the evident demonstration of realities that are not seen" at Heb 11:1), is seen at what the apostle Paul wrote to the Roman Christians concerning those who become ' joint-heirs with the Christ ': "For those who live according to the flesh (or allow fleshly desires to take precedence) set their minds on the things of the flesh (such as allowing sexual desire to cause a man [or in some cases, a woman] to "keep on looking at a woman so as to have a passion for her" that is not his wife, Matt 5:28, or cultivating a strong desire for material things, such as a new or "fancy" car, a "nice" home, expensive jewelry so as to look "fabulous", wanting to receive "glory" from men, etc, John 5:42, 44; 1 Thess 2:6; not being fully focused on pleasing God, Luke 9:62; see also Prov 25:27 that says: "It is not good to eat too much honey, nor is it glorious to seek one's own glory"), but those who live according to the spirit (allowing God's spirit to guide a person, as David did [2 Sam 23:2], though he failed to do so with regard to Bathsheba, allowing sexual desire to overtake him, 2 Sam 11:2-4; 1 Kings 15:5), on the things of the spirit".(Rom 8:5; Note: God's personal name is Jehovah, Ps 83:18)
Paul now establishes that a person who has been chosen by Jehovah God as a ' joint-heir with Christ '(Rom 8:17; 2 Thess 2:13), that these ones are "declared righteous" like Jesus was, for unless they were, then they would not be qualified to be members of God's Kingdom (2 Thess 1:5) and receive a resurrection from the dead to become immortal spirit "sons of God"(1 Cor 15:50-57), saying: "We know that God makes all his works cooperate together for the good of those who love God, those who are the ones called according to his purpose (or the 144,000 chosen from among both the Jews and the nations for God's Kingdom, Rev 5:9, 10), because those whom he gave his first recognition (which is the "offspring" of the "woman" at Gen 3:15, which "woman" is the body of loyal angels from which came the first "son" or Jesus Christ for God's Kingdom, and which 144,000 other "sons" from the earth are added as her "children" [Rev 14:1-3], Isa 54:1, 2; see also Gal 4:26 whereby Paul says that this "woman" is "our mother" and then quotes Isaiah 54:1 at verse 27) he also foreordained (as a collective body in advance, not individual persons, for each member of God's Kingdom must prove loyal till death to receive "the crown of life", Rev 2:10, for "many are invited, but few chosen", Matt 22:14) to be patterned after the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn (or the one chosen first and anointed as a member of God's Kingdom, Matt 3:16, 17, who set the perfect "pattern" to follow, 1 Pet 2:21) among many brothers.(Eph 1:13, 14) Moreover, those whom he foreordained are the ones he also called (or chose to serve as "a kingdom, priests to his (or Jesus) God and Father", Rev 1:6); and those whom he called are the ones he also declared to be righteous (Greek lemma [or base word] dikaioo that means "to render just or innocent", Strong's Concordance). Finally those whom he declared righteous are the ones he also glorified".(Rom 8:28-30)
Hence, those who are chosen or selected as members of God's Kingdom, "partakers of the heavenly calling" (Heb 3:1), pattern their lives after Jesus Christ (who established that a person must be "producing the fruits [or conduct] of the Kingdom", Matt 21:43; Gal 5:21-23), exercising faith (not just believing, see James 2:24 that says: "You see that a man is to be declared righteous by works [that show we have faith in Jehovah God through Jesus Christ as "the Chief Agent and Perfecter of our faith", Heb 12:2] and not just by faith alone") in Jesus perfect shed blood, so as to be "declared righteous" (Rom 5:1), in which the apostle Paul wrote that "it is as a free gift that they are being declared righteous by his (or Jehovah God's) undeserved kindness through the release by the ransom paid by Christ Jesus".(Rom 3:24)
Paul further says: "Who will file accusation against God's chosen ones ? God is the One who declares them righteous".(Rom 8:33) In addition, those who will "inherit the earth" as "meek ones" (Matt 5:5) or the "other sheep" (John 10:16), will also have to be "declared righteous" in order to live on the paradise earth that Jehovah purposed when he created Adam and Eve.(Gen 1:28; Luke 23:43)
But this will not happen until the end of Jesus Millennial reign, for until that time, they are considered as "dead" by Jehovah.(Luke 9:60; Rev 20:12, 13) Only when these ones reach perfection in both body and loyalty at the end of Jesus "thousand year" reign (Rev 20:6), can they be "declared righteous" as now "sons of God", so that they receive everlasting life on the paradise earth that fulfills Jehovah original purpose for obedient mankind (and for which God's Kingdom was created, to bring to reality the paradise earth for "meek" ones, Gen 1:28) and whereby Adamic death is destroyed (1 Cor 15:26), thrown into the symbolic "lake of fire" that means "the second death" or eternal destruction.(Rev 20:14)