Christians: Does righteousness exist without God?

Righteousness exists because of God's grace, not His declaration. There is a direct relationship between light and righteousness, as God is the Source of light--spiritual and earthly (or physical, that is). The fact that God existed before created light means that righteousness existed: God was still light and grace; His Nature didn't change or wasn't different just because He had not created visible light yet. There were just no people yet to gain His Grace or Light, or Righteousness. It still existed, as God Himself. What I'm saying is that God, with all His qualities, existed before He created man...so even though there were no humans to discern God's grace, it still existed...and that's even before He created discernable light...because He still had/has the source of light within Him. Interesting question.