Do you strive to keep "the rules", or do you revel in the grace of God? Not in the sense, "Shall I go on sinning so that grace may increase?" (Rom. 6:1), but in the knowledge that in His grace, God has provided a remedy for our sin problem in the person, death and resurrection of Jesus. See Rom. 6:23.
The Pharisees were "experts in the law" who placed sets of rules around the law to strive for righteousness, but in their great knowledge, learnings and zeal, they were blinded to the truth of the One who was sent to make them righteous (Rom. 5:19)
We see that the Pharisees with their co-accused, the Sadduccees, even planned to murder Jesus, the One who came to save them: "So from that day on they plotted to take His life" (Jn. 11:53). Their sin was increasing, not decreasing whilst their righteousness was diminishing: first, they allowed the death of John the Baptist, then they asked for the murder of Jesus, then they murdered Stephen themselves.
In his book "Pharisectomy", Peter Haas claims that "we all have a hidden Pharisee lurking inside us." He doesn't mean something wierd like there's another person inside us, but simply that we have a tendency to be legalistic and attempt to earn our salvation. He says, "... the Pharisees were so obsessed with maintaining their ceremonial purity that they'd rarely even eat with a normal person (aka a non-Pharisee)." (p.4) The Pharisees lived under a heavy yoke, but Jesus says, "I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matt. 11:29-30
I am often asked if I'm religious. Here's my answer: Religion is man trying to reach God. Christianity is God coming to man.
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