241 What makes heaven in us also makes our religion. Love and faith make religion just as they make heaven. So you can see what religion is from what I said before about heaven.
242 The Christian religion exists where people accept the Lord and have the Bible. The basics of Christianity are loving and believing in the Lord, from the Lord. The Bible teaches how we should live so that we can accept love and faith from the Lord.
243 For the Christian religion to exist, there must be a religious philosophy that comes from the Bible, since without this, we cannot understand the Bible. But our religious philosophy by itself does not make us religious-only living by that philoso phy does. This means that faith by itself does not make a religion, but living by our faith, which is kindness, does make a religion.
A real religious philosophy has both kindness and faith in it, and not faith without kindness. A philosophy of kindness and faith together is one that we live by. A philosophy of faith without kindness is one that we do not live by.
244 People who are not Christian, but accept one God and live by some type of kindness toward other people according to their religion, share a common bond with Christians. No one who believes in God and lives a good life is condemned. So you can see that the Lord's religion is everywhere in the whole world, even if it is particularly where people accept the Lord and have the Bible.
245 All people who have religion in themselves are set free. But people who do not have religion in themselves are condemned.