Jesus’ message is that the Kingdom of God is at hand. It is a call to create a loving society. Contemporary Christianity’s overwhelming focus on individual salvation is a corruption of Jesus’ message.
-Dean Brackley, SJ-

It is not some religious act which makes a Christian what he or she is, but being caught up in the messianic suffering of God through Christ. The woman who anoints Christ’s feet with oil does so without any specific confession of sin. The Centurion of Canaan doesn’t confess his sins, he acts on faith, and Christ holds him up as a model. A religious act is always partial; an act springing from faith is always whole, because it involves the whole life.
-Dietrich Bonhoeffer-