Jesus was not interested in making people religious, but leading them to a loving relationship with himself, and therefore with God. He offered forgiveness and healing to sin-sick souls as the basis of new life, opening up a path of discipleship, compassion and mystical union with God.

This means that once I let go my own self-righteous stance and admit myself a sinful, violent self-centered individual, then open my life to the forgiveness and healing of Christ, a new principle of life is implanted. This is called being “born again” of the Spirit of God.

from The Way of Love