I assume by religion, you refer to the Church and its worship
practices.
I fully agree with you that ultimately, it is Jesus who is our
salvation. We need to know him and live the kind of life that he
wants us to lead if we are to enter the kingdom of heaven. It is
pointless for a Christian to memorise the entire bible, pray
from dawn till dusk and go for communion thrice a day if
he/she does not have a heart for Jesus and instead live like a
rascal.
But how do we get to know Jesus and find out how he
wants us to live ? As Catholic Christians, the answer lies in the
bible and the teachings of the
Catholic Church.
So I agree that religion itself does not save but
religion is certainly not a bar to salvation. On the
contrary, Jesus established the Church to guide us in our
earthly journey towards eternal life (heaven). God has given
us many gifts through the Church, such as the sacraments of
baptism, reconciliation, communion, confirmation, matrimony, holy
orders and annointing of the sick.
Do I think I'm religious ? If by that you mean walking
perfectly in God's ways, I have a long long way to go. I
often disappoint God with my sinful ways but I also know that he
will always be there to forgive and welcome me back into his
arms if I repent and truly have a change of
heart.
Yes Omnia while religions s do not save they are certainly not a
bar to salvation.
I didn't mean walking perfectly in God's way. If God waited for
us to be perfect before becoming involved in our life then no one
single man could ever hope to get to know God because men are too
imperfect.The keyword for God is Immanuel that is God who is with
us.
If somebody asked us or any Christians what our parent is like
certainly we would be able to describe them quite well. Though we
are not our parent but we do know them.
The same when somebody asked a Christian what our God is like.
Ideally all Christian should be able to answer not just through
reading the bible but also from our own experience of following
Jesus in our life. The thing with Saul is that he was a religious
man who probably memorize the torah but apart from memorizing the
torah Saul had never known God, he didn't know that prosecuting
fellow men were wrong. When Saul became Paul the difference is that
Paul knows what God is like.
The bible contains testimonies that leads to promises to God's
promises to whoever that believe in him. Knowing God's promises and
walking in God's promises are two different things. even knowing
the promises and really believing in them are also two different
things.