No, not at all. The only connection required is to Jesus Christ, period. And that is the only way. Period.
This whole thing is so badly misunderstood that it's mind boggling. Religion is about making yourself acceptable to God (and will always fail). A relationship with Jesus Christ is about putting your trust in him and him only---and it is NOT religion...it is not ritual, it is not tradition, it is not any of those things. It is just too simple to understand for some.
But wouldn't the Buddhist monk and the mentally ill people in my example still go to hell because they didn't know and accept Jesus (even if their non-acceptance wasn't their fault), but the sleazeball deacon goes to eternal glory because he presumably asks Jesus to forgive his sleazy ways on his deathbed?
Many things I do not know, nor does anyone else.
What happens at the moment of death? Does time stand still for those dying out of grace through "no fault of their own," and are they given an opportunity to accept? I have no idea. Maybe. Or, an argument could be made that God endows us with a certain portion of soul essence that he already knows something about, which is how and why are born and grow up in a certain part of the world. There are all kinds of ways I can imagine it, but none of my imaginings matter. All I know is that I believe God is just and things will be as they should.
Don't be the darkness.
America will perish while those who should be standing guard are satisfying their lusts.
