“The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.” – Isaiah 29:13 NIV

God’s relationship with humanity is supposed to be based on actual relationship rather than on rules. God laid out a framework so that humanity could see that they needed him (i.e. the Jewish law) Humanity added to God’s framework thereby distorting it of its true purpose. This is the extra biblical laws the Israelites put into place as well as creation of more strict definitions of the laws already given by God. They missed the point that the law isn’t even supposed to actually help them reach God. Romans 5:20-21 says this:

“The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” – Romans 5:20-21 NIV

The law was put into place for us to understand grace and that is one of the big parts of what our relationship with him should be founded on, an understanding of Godly grace. You don’t have to follow the law to get to Heaven. It won’t save you. However, Christ’s death on the cross and the grace accompanying it are something, the thing, that saves us.