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Within the Christian context, the problem with legalism is well established, no one can actually live up to its requirements, and therefore no one is righteous. This is why Jesus did what he did, but that's another topic.

For example, if adultery is grounds for divorce, and lust in one's heart is morally equivalent to adultery, the lust is grounds for divorce. The point is not to divorce over lust, but instead to show how high God's standards are for righteousness, and hence convict us of our need for His, by Him imparting it to us somehow, and thereby eliminate the need for us to be experience GUILT, which has been mentioned several times by others. They are correct, living under guilt is no way to live.

This of course leads to the question you raised earlier, Abaya, about how Christians seem to lead hypocritical lives. Im sure many do. While I can only speak for myself, the point is that striving to live according to godly principles is not the means to our forgiveness or salvation, but instead the desire to do so is the fruit of the grace we have received, the gratitude we express when we try to be obedient to the law of love. Part of that law is to have compassion, forgiveness and acceptance regardless how well someone lives up to God's standards, including oneself. I note that one need not live an ascetic life, full of denial and suffering, in order to please God.

I suggest John Piper's book Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist.

Parable