It's not like how you get to Carnegie Hall

Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."
Galatians 3:6

And my righteous ones will live by faith.
Hebrews 10:38

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9

It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."

1 Corinthians 1:30,31

Thanks to Allen Wheeler for the righteous by faith explanation.