Coming closer to God through lawful legalism does not oblige morally either because it does not require a reform of motives but only of forms of behavior. Jesus warns the Pharisees and scribes with the following words:

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others." (Matthew 23:23)

The form of the law must not be an aim in itself. A definition of the law exists to define the motives of human heart, in order to help man to differentiate a real love from self-righteous goodness and other sins. Because it deals with motives, the Biblical revelation is different from all other human philosophies that deal with irrelevant questions. There is not a dogma in it which blindly looks upon behavior. We see from Biblical examples that holy breads which are dedicated to the holy service in the temple can be used for food beyond its holy role if someone starves. The holiness of Sabbath is in the spirit and not in the blind form of literal vacation. The law is made for man and man is not made for the law. The only dogma which exists in the Bible is the one which defines the motives of human heart. The sin of the heart can be never excused in the name of anyone's aims.

When man has lost the contents of the real love in his heart then the form of the commandments is replaced with a contents of the guilt arising precisely due to a lack of love. As man does not have love to think about the appropriateness of his deeds, a formal observing the commandments becomes an aim in itself to him. That is how legalism arises.

For instance, if a spiritually reformed nation had been liberated from voraciousness, pride and boastfulness and later has lost contents of a real love, then, as a by-product of the spiritual apostasy, a form of behavior appears which is an aim in itself - the traditional "goodness". in the example cited, it is regarded as a sin of pride and boastfulness even if man just mentions to have newly bought things at home or it is regarded as an indecency if at least little food has not been left on the plate at the end of a meal. A multitude of behavior rules remind in that way just nostalgically of the former times when behind their form really stood the contents of a real love.

So, when behind a lawful form the contents of love disappears, the legalism appears which is soon transformed into human customs and tradition which are very favored because they never oblige morally and never require the reform of the heart.

Today, in the time of reviving of the religiousness, the growth of crime is noticeable as well as every other evil. The state of the world is worse and worse which shows the wrong role of today's religion. Not only that its requirements are not morally obliging, but also because its role is wrong. Human customs not only fail to require a reform of the heart but also help those who make mistakes to be even more free in their aberration because they serve to them for a calming of their dirty consciousness.

Mush as the observers of these customs are not interested in the motivation which moves them to the observation of them, they are more sensitive to a violation of their form.

"Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 'Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders?'...

Jesus replied, 'And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?'" (Matthew 15:1-3)