But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them. (Luke 11:42-44)
The Pharisees in Jesus day were consumed with the law (Torah, given to Moses on Mount Sinai). They followed the letter of the law in terms of cleanliness and moral actions. They considered themselves better because they were obedient to God by following His rules. The entire Gospel shows Jesus preaching an entirely different message. He talks about love, and being of the Spirit, and that obedience comes not out of being right, but out of pure love for God.
Consider the story of the prodigal son. Two sons, one a selfish spendthrift that comes home with the intention of begging. The other a loyal, faithful steward of the family. Timothy Keller, in the book The Prodigal God, states that both brothers are lost. It's easy for us to see the mistakes of the younger brother: the selfish taking of his piece of the estate, his immoral wanderings, the decimation of his fortune, and his desire to return home in humility. Pay attention to the elder brother, though! When the father welcomed the youngest son back into the family with celebration and love, he responded with anger, and said, Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time, and yet you never....(Luke 15:29)
He felt that his obedience and loyalty earned him a spectacular reward, and then realized that his profligate younger brother reaped the benefits HE expected to receive. Wow, he was mad! Keller proposes that trying to be moral by upholding the Lord's commandments is a way of trying to control God, to control what happens in our lives, and that these actions are a symptom of lost-ness, more so than even the immoral younger brother, because the elder brother often doesn't seem himself as a Pharisee.
A Pharisee is a legalist. Legalism is a term referring to an over-emphasis on discipline of conduct, or legal ideas, usually implying an allegation of misguided rigor, pride, superficiality, the neglect of mercy, and ignorance of the grace of God or emphasizing the letter of the law over the Spirit. This type of behavior doesn't make you a Christian, and doesn't provide a fire policy, although a lot of people think it does.
You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. (Luke 16:15)
Remember that Jesus said the truth will set us free?
So what is truth?
Jesus IS truth. Period.
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