Romans 4

4 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation.
If we are saved through our good works to earn God's approval, then Him offering us salvation wouldn't be a gift given out of love but rather as an obligation. Relying on our actions are in vain, we are saved by faith alone.

10 Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! 11 And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. 12 And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
Ceremonies and traditions are important as they are reminders of our faith and what God has done for us in the past. However we should not follow in the pharisees footsteps and expect these actions to give us special merit before God. I can occasionally feel superior or assume someone isn't a truly saved if they skip out on Church for 2 weeks in a row because it shows that they might not have God as their highest priority. When I might feel a certain way I reckon it would be healthy to adapt the mentality of John the Baptist (Mark 1:7) And this was his message: "After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie". In God's eyes we are equally deserving of damnation so we should be thankful that God wishes us to put our worth through faith rather than our actions.