JESUS AND ORGANIZED RELIGION ARE NOT INTERCHANGEABLE

Jesus in the absence of organized religion loses nothing, while organized religion without Jesus at its core is dead. Believing in the substitutionary atonement of Jesus alone (with genuine faith, and not just intellectually, as the bible shows: [Jas 2:19  Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.]), is all that is needed for salvation: 

[Act 16:31  And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.]

He has made the ultimate sacrifice and done all the work. There's nothing we can contribute towards our salvation, as even the ability to have faith is a gift from God: [Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.] 

This is so straight forward and simple, that we are tempted to complicate matters by introducing complexity into the equation, because something so simple and straight forward must be suspect. It's like we are asking for the sum of 2+2, and someone instead comes along and provides us with some intricate calculation of Pi. Sure, it's impressive, but it is no solution to our original question. The temptation is then to become blinded by the impressiveness of the complexity, and accept the incorrect conclusion on that basis.

Suppose a person wants to fly from New York to San Diego, and there are two options: a) a direct flight and b) a flight from New York, to Kentucky, to Minnesota. Would anyone choose the latter as the correct flight plan? Of course not, because not only is it unnecessarily complicated, but you would also wind up at the wrong destination.

When it comes to Christianity, many people inadvertently choose option b, by putting unnecessary steps between themselves and Jesus, in the form of fatally-flawed, fellow humans. Going into the specific denominations and religions is totally unnecessary, because there is no human representative for Jesus Christ on this earth. The bible is clear on the fact that we are all hopelessly flawed, and there are no exceptions:

[Rom 3:10  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: Rom 3:11  There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. Rom 3:12  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (emphasis is mine.)]. 

So when we allow any human being to place himself between us and Christ, we are drastically increasing the odds that we wind up at the wrong destination. There is absolutely no need to allow any person to strategically place himself between you and Jesus, who is the only mediator you will ever need. He is the One who bridges the vast gulf between us and God, and we may go to Him directly, at any time, with nothing to gain and much to lose by unnecessarily complicating matters. 

[1Ti 2:5  For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 1Ti 2:6  Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. (emphasis is mine.)]. 

[Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (emphasis is mine.)].