The New King James Version says righteousness will be imputed to us. To understand ‘imputed’, picture funds being transferred from one account to another. Banks do it every day. Imagine yourself totally destitute and unable to pay your debts.

Then in an astounding act of grace someone pays off all your debts, transferring so much to your account that you never have to work again. That’s an analogy of what happened at the cross when God ‘imputed’ all your sins to Christ’s account, and ‘imputed’ all His righteousness to your account. Mind-blowing, isn’t it?

Would you say, ‘I can’t allow you to pay all these debts alone, so I’ll work to prove myself worthy of your grace’? We do that when we ‘add’ our good works to Christ’s finished work.

Paul writes, ‘For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.’ (2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV) In the same sense God ‘made’ Jesus who never sinned, to ‘be’ sin, He ‘made’ you who could never be righteous enough, to ‘become’ righteous in His eyes.

You say, ‘But I feel such guilt when I sin.’ You’re supposed to! But when Christ took away all your sin, He took away all your guilt. So what are you feeling? Inner conflict! Your regenerated spirit is telling you that you can’t indulge in sin; it’s not who you are anymore! Why did God do it this way? Because any righteousness we could achieve falls far short of what He requires. Rejoice—today God sees you clothed in the righteousness of Christ, therefore you’re always...http://www.dailydevotionalsonline.com/devdetails.php?devotional=thewordfortoday&&id=4841

The doctrine of imputed righteousness falls short of the word of Jesus Christ Himself. For you see, Jesus Christ made it indeed known that only those who do works of righteousness will enter into His Kingdom. He never made this a secret at all.
From the beginning, Jesus Christ was clear about who would and who would not enter into His Kingdom

Matthew 5
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3. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5
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10. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.'

From the above, it is obvious that for one to be persecuted for righteousness sake, it would not be persecution on basis of 'imputed works of righteousness, but one's actual works of righteousness.
Jesus Christ eventually set things straight in His story about the Sheeps vs Goats, by providing us with details of what it is the righteous would in fact do to earn a place in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Matthew 25 vs 31-40 (ESV)
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31. “The Son of Man will come again with divine greatness, and all his angels will come with him. He will sit as king on his great and glorious throne.
32. All the people of the world will be gathered before him. Then he will separate everyone into two groups. It will be like a shepherd separating his sheep from his goats.
33. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34. “Then the king will say to the godly people on his right, ‘Come, my Father has great blessings for you. The kingdom he promised is now yours. It has been prepared for you since the world was made.
35. It is yours because when I was hungry, you gave me food to eat. When I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink. When I had no place to stay, you welcomed me into your home.
36. When I was without clothes, you gave me something to wear. When I was sick, you cared for me. When I was in prison, you came to visit me.’
37. “Then the godly people will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food? When did we see you thirsty and give you something to drink?
38. When did we see you with no place to stay and welcome you into our home? When did we see you without clothes and give you something to wear?
39. When did we see you sick or in prison and care for you?’
40. “Then the king will answer, ‘The truth is, anything you did for any of my people here,[b] you also did for me.’
41. “Then the king will say to the evil people on his left, ‘Get away from me. God has already decided that you will be punished. Go into the fire that burns forever—the fire that was prepared for the devil and his angels.
42. You must go away because when I was hungry, you gave me nothing to eat. When I was thirsty, you gave me nothing to drink.
43. When I had no place to stay, you did not welcome me into your home. When I was without clothes, you gave me nothing to wear. When I was sick and in prison, you did not care for me.’
44. “Then those people will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty? When did we see you without a place to stay? Or when did we see you without clothes or sick or in prison? When did we see any of this and not help you?’
45. “The king will answer, ‘The truth is, anything you refused to do for any of my people here, you refused to do for me.’
46. “Then these evil people will go away to be punished forever. But the godly people will go and enjoy eternal life.”

The works done mirror the commandment that Jesus Christ gave to Peter i.e. the works are the foundation/the rock on which the His church is built upon,

John 21 vs 15-17 (ESV)
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15. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
16. He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
17. He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?”
and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.

Where “Feed my lambs.” can be seen to refer to the following works of righteousness It is yours because when I was hungry, you gave me food to eat. When I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink.
And “Tend my sheep.” points to the following works of righteousness When I had no place to stay, you welcomed me into your home. When I was without clothes, you gave me something to wear. When I was sick, you cared for me. When I was in prison, you came to visit me.’