"God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. "
1 John 1:5
That's a pretty black and white statement, at the most primitive level. Our fellowship with God can only be realized through Jesus Christ. We do not work our way into true faith, especially in the light of verses like "...no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says 'Jesus is Accursed!' and no one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except in the Holy Spirit."
We do not work out our own salvation by means of our own actions. God saves us! This is His Spirit. Abraham did not need religion or the church to find our faith. And neither do we. But Abraham did need God, his faith, and a fellowship of righteous friends. The only thing not imperative are the friends.
"If we say we have fellowship with Him, and walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth."
All this said we do need to "walk" and work out our faith, just not before we have faith. And we are not always "in the Light as He is in the light". We have to turn our face towards His. We can act out our faith carnally before others, and even ourselves, but can never actually be "in the Light" unless we humble ourselves and "seek first the kingdom.
Too many things cloud our eyes in this world. Things we made up. But we did not create our faith. That is something we find by the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.
