Act 15:1-2 - "And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them..."
Here we have the classic example of man trying to attain salvation through his own works and accomplishments. As we can clearly see, the early church had to contend with the mind set that salvation was something attainable by human efforts. Let me state very adamantly , you nor I can do anything that will justify us or even make us holy before God. Only faith in what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross can produce such an experience. When we do or don't do something in an effort to earn God's love and acceptance, we at the same time leave our faith in Christ and try to establish our own righteousness by laws. The problem with this is that it produces a life of condemnation and despair. As born again believers, we must accept the reality that all I need comes through Christ and His love and now, I live a lifestyle by not trying to earn His acceptance, but rather because I love Him. Salvation is through faith alone, by grace alone, because of Christ alone. Peter said it so well in this same chapter of Acts:
"But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they (15:11)." So live a lifestyle becoming Christianity, but not because you're "earning" salvation, but rather because you have freely received. Anything else is religion at it's best and remember, the religious crowd were the greatest enemies of Christ.