Salvation has never been a matter of outward actions but a matter of the heart.
The Pharisees kept the Law and yet Jesus continually condemned them.
And he set the bar even higher than Law keeping in Matthew 5-7. He addressed the heart, which is where sin comes from in the first place.
Even today, He looks for men and women after His own heart.
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>> “The Pharisees kept the Law and yet Jesus continually condemned them.” <<
Obviously false!
The Pharisees kept only their own false law of Takanot and Ma’assim.
This is what Yeshua revealed to us through the synoptic gospels, as they were first written in the only language used by Yehova. (Hebrew)
The Greek translations thereof were somewhat twisted, since they were made by the same Pharisees that nullified Yehova’s laws in favor of their own.
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Mathew 23;3
All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.