It is following the life, The Way, of Jesus that cleanses. Jesus did not bleed so we don't have to--he bled to show us it may also be required of us. The Protestant sects that teach we won't be punished because Jesus was punished on our behalf are wrong. To sin is to follow the way of the flesh that Paul warns of. He reminds us we must follow the Spirit of God and that it must be fused into everything we are and everything we do. It is not impossible because the Spirit is that powerful. And if we miss the target (sin)? Jesus reminds us repentance (turning back to obedience) result in forgiveness of sins.
You should pay attention to those who practice the Jewish faith. While they may not entirely "get" Jesus, they surely get--and practice--the teachings of Jesus. They live them. They are a great example of Jesus in our midst because so many of them are what Jesus taught.
That is sounding like a works-based religion, and salvation by works goes directly against what the bible says.
Obviously there are differences between Catholic and non-Catholic teaching, (as I've mentioned, I went through all the Catholic stuff, many years before I came to Christ) and some of what you're saying is true, but you're leaving out the most important thing.
Yes, we have to follow God, but the problem is, no one can follow God's way perfectly, we simply can't do it in our natural state. Jesus made it crystal clear that we must be born again.
If someone is in their natural state and they try to follow God and miss the target and then "repent" each time, then they are not going to grow and experience sanctification because they skipped over the most important step, justification (a one-time event), so they are not actually saved. Spiritual birth (regeneration) is absolutely essential. We don't get saved from following the law, but by God's grace and mercy, through
faith and trust in Jesus, who paid our debt for us.
...not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.
Titus 3:5
This is an old video, but he sums it up very eloquently. It's a 'spoken word' summary of the Gospel.
I like how he completely obliterates religion (by that I mean works-based religion that goes against the simple Gospel), starting at around 2:25... and he says doing all that stuff is like "spraying cologne on a corpse."
I highly recommend taking the time to watch this:
