The theology behind those 3 statements is very flawed and requires that you directly ignore or with extreme difficulty twist the statements in the bible to the contrary.
The idea goes something like this: St. Paul makes a big deal in most of his epistles about the importance of Faith. He sais taht it is By Faith alone, and not by works of the law that we are saved.
the works of the Law when correctly interpreted mean the rituals of Judaism. Circumcision, Tithes, Animal Sacrifices, etc. St paul makes this link very clear, and never imagined that people would not understand that that was what he meant by “Works of the Law”
1500 years later the link to the Jewish faith was far weaker. the understanding of their law and their Works was very different. Luther and Calvin missunderstood.
But in the Gospel, the Letters of James and even in the works of St Paul we see other places where it is explicit in the extreme that Faith without good works will not save you. If your faith does not inspire you to spread the Good News, (Evangelize) and to do works of mercy (Charity) (Feed the hungry, clothe the Naked…) that your faith is false or dead, and Jesus will not recognize you when you come for Judgment.
Jesus own rule is: Faith without good works = Hell.
The interpretation of some protestant groups on the meanings of the books of St. Paul CANNOT trump what Jesus himself said in the Gospels.!!!
In terms of Religion:
Jesus made it very clear: A branch cut from the vine will wither and die. I am the vine you are the branches.
You are Kephas, and on the Kephas I will build my Church and the Gates on Hell will not prevail against it.(Kephas is the Aramaic for Rock, translated into Greek we get Petros/Petra from where we then get the name Peter)
“They sit in the Chair of Moses, you must listen to them” (Referring to the Priests)
The chair of Moses is replaced with the Chair of Peter… the principle remains.
Jesus Never railed against organised religion. He criticised hypocrisy in the leaders that’s a very different thing.
Jesus Gave us a church. He Gave us a Hierarchy, Priests and Bishops with the authority to “Bind and Loose”, who have the authority to teach us the Gospel, and tell us what the True interpretation of the scriptures and the Sacred Tradition is. You cannot follow Jesus without “Religion”
