The Christian’s path towards maturity must begin with Jesus’ righteousness and not a self-determined form of external adherence to a list of do’s and don’ts.  For our righteous acts are but filthy rags before the perfection of God Almighty.

Preliminaries: 

1. Everyone is a disciple (follower) of someone
2. Everyone will stand judgement before God
3. According to your discipleship you will either be separated from God (cursed) or reconciled to God (justified)

Observations:

1. The law doesn’t work from the outside-in
2. The law proves there is no one righteous
3. Jesus redeems us from the curse of the law
4. Jesus blesses us with His righteousness

Conclusions: 

1. If you don’t belong to Jesus then you must keep all the requirements of the law perfectly
2. If you belong to Jesus then the righteous requirements of the law will be met from the inside-out by the work of God’s Spirit

Application:
Be covenantally (permanently) united and identified with Christ

1. Repent of self-righteousness
2. Daily embrace your identity in Christ

1 Corinthians 4:3-5

“I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.”

Galatians 3:21

“Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.”

Romans 8:3a

“For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.”

Galatians 3:19a

“Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come.”

Galatians 2:15-16

“We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.”

Galatians 2:21

“I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

Romans 3:20

“Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.”

Romans 5:20a

“The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase.”

2 Corinthians 5:21

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Romans 8:3b-4

“And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

Matthew 5:20

“For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Galatians 5:3

“Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.”

James 2:10

“For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”

Jeremiah 11:3

“Tell them that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Cursed is the one who does not obey the terms of this covenant.'”

Philippians 3:7-9

“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things—indeed, I regard them as dung! — that I may gain Christ, and be found in him, not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness — a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness.”