Did Jesus come to Earth as a religious leader?

No religion died on the cross for me, to save me from my sins....but Jesus did. That makes it a personal relationship with Him. Jesus scolded "religious" leaders in His day. He said they had a "form/appearance" of godliness, but their hearts were far from Him. They were hypocrites. They would stand on the streets and either prayed to God or preach about God and when they prayed they would twist their faces all up as if they were praying in earnest to make people think they were so godly, but they were not. God saw through them. They just wanted to be popular with the crowd and for people to say oh look how holy this person is. They were phonies. But God said in His Word, there's a way to know when people are phony, as well. John 3:16 said that Jesus died for everyone in the world, so he could save everyone in the world, not just a certain denomination. So when it comes to religion, it means nothing when it comes to Salvation, because salvation is for everyone.

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, (jesus), that [u]whosoever[/u] believes in Him ( for salvation), shall not perish, but have everlasting life." That is a promise from God and he never breaks his promises.

Eternal salvation is above religion. Religion is just manmade philosophy. It is "man" wanting to box God in, to his own idea of what he thinks is the way to heaven, but not following God's Word, nor God's own Plan of Salvation. God did not give man permission to change His great plan. That's because it works.