Does a works religion accomplish the same thing as God's way?

Les explains that when he speaks of the Law, he is not merely referring to the Ten Commandments and Temple worship, but to anything a person attaches to as legalism. Legalism is anything you make up your mind you are going to do and then go do it. He gives the example of a twelve- or fourteen-year-old boy who thought joining the church would please his mother, and adults who decide to quit sowing wild oats, settle down, and join a church. He also mentions getting baptized as the same kind of works religion. Such efforts are like taking sacrifices to an imaginary temple, because they will not accomplish the same end as God's way.