Romans 4:14

For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. Romans 4:14  ESV

In order to interpret God's Word correctly, we must always make sure that we are reading any given verse as a part of those around it - context is so, so important. In verse 13, Paul said, "For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith."

And, previously, in verse 6, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works

It was important for the Jews then and for us today to recognize, and acknowledge that no amount of loyalty to or keeping of sacraments, rituals, rules, traditions, etc., whether Biblical or man-made,  will have any bearing on our salvation. Salvation cannot be obtained by any amount of effort, and now Paul tells us why:
  
For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.

"Adherents of the law" is also translated "they which are of the law," and "those who live by the law." What Paul is saying here that our obedience to God's law, or any law,  cannot have anything to do with us being "heirs of the world," children of the promise of Abraham.

If we believe that our keeping of any of God's commandments has something to do with our salvation, we completely discredit everything that Christ accomplished.

Paul makes that very clear when he says that, if we attempt to obtain salvation through keeping of the law, faith is null and the promise is void. This is so serious, and we need to understand why this is true.

Faith, which is how we are justified, cannot be tied to or in addition to any sort of effort on our behalf as the means of justification. Saving faith means reliance upon Christ for salvation; assurance, belief. 

If we believe that we need to put forth effort, good works, obedience to God's commands in addition to having faith in order to obtain a relationship with God, then we reveal the fact that we do not rely on Christ for salvation and assurance, but on Christ and ourselves - which makes faith of no effect. 

It's impossible, by definition, to have faith in the blood of Christ as sufficient, and then attempt to add any sort of effort/works to faith as a requirement or basis for salvation. 

This reveals a total lack of faith, and any attempt to do so is very dangerous territory. We must make sure we do not hold to a belief that will result in faith being made null, and the promises God has made to His children void. This means having complete faith in Christ as our Savior, truly believing that His blood was sufficient, and that when He said "it is finished," it really was.

It's normal for us to want to be busy doing something, especially when it comes to something as important as this. We want to make sure that we are doing all we can to uphold our end of the deal - we feel it's our responsibility to do this. It doesn't make sense to stop trying to do our best to be accepted by God.

Yet, the Bible says we are accepted according to what Christ has done, regardless of anything we have done!

The Bible says relax child, you are His because of Jesus. Rest in His arms, child, He loves you! Put aside your tiresome efforts to obtain a relationship that is free, and come know Him personally! Spend your life growing to know and love Him more, and the peace will be unparalled!

Clarification...

It's important to note that, while our relationship with God itself is by faith through grace - our works having nothing to do with initiating that relationship - the effort we put forth once that relationship has been established has everything to do with the strength of that relationship. 

Our desire to pursue God with all of our heart indicates that our heart has been converted from darkness to light. The more we follow our heart's desire to pursue a close relationship with God, the more we are able to rise above the trivial, temporary things of this world and set our sights on good, pure, eternal things. This will result in life characterized by works that point to and exalt our God! 

Complacency runs rampant within the Church, and we need to recognize it to begin to battle it. 

I am as guilty as anyone, it's so easy to get caught up in earthly pursuits and allow our relationship with God to be moved to the back burner...but there are no worthy excuses. We need to rise up, take Satan's strategies and tools, and destroy them - we are already conquerors with Christ over all of that! 

The key to battling complacency is not attempting to live a more "Christian" life, but pursuing a deeper relationship with God - which will  result in a life that is truly pointing back to Him.

I implore each one of God's children to examine our lives, asking God where we are nullifying faith by relying on something else completely or in addition to the work of Christ. He will provide us with the saving faith that stands on it's own, apart from any works. Then, we need to pray that He will overwhelm us with a passion that compels us to move forward according to His purpose, for His glory - that He will give us the strength and desire to put forth an effort that can and will change the lives of those around us!