I read this in a post recently and was relieved to see someone FINALLY articulate something about which I'd strongly felt for so long.
Religion simply implies something you do over and over again. It's prescriptive. It says you must do this and this and this. For instance, you can brush your teeth religiously just as you can go to church religiously. That's why a certain set doctorine is called a religion. It's prescriptive.
Faith, on the other hand, is what one believes. In Christianity, it is Spirit-led.
Let me explain thus: a person can place faith in a religion and go to hell. Whoa, how's that work, you may ask. A religion is a doctrine, as I said. It tells you how to behave. Maybe even what to believe or at least what to think. Putting faith in this is not the same thing as faith. It's just rules. It's governance. It's earthly and of man.
Faith is of God. Faith is beyond prescriptives. It's minimum legalism because of the Holy Spirit's indwelling that leads a person in the right and convicts a person in the wrong. Faith is what gets you to heaven if it's in the right Person. Jesus said none get to the Father except through me, The Father and I are one. (The Gospel of John rocks.) John 1:12 clearly states that one must believe and receive Him to get eternal life. Now is it really THAT simple? The Bible says it. Must be. That's faith. Believe the Lord Jesus and receive Him -- receiving entails something additional to believing -- and you're in. Religion comes after that and isn't always a bad thing. But it can be because it's man made. Which is my point.
When I talk faith, I classify my articles under philosophy because it most accurately describes what I'm doing, albeit not exactly. Religion is for the discussion of doctrine. What does the virtue of Temperance entail? Is Pacifism Christian? What does the Lord's Supper really do for the Christian? That sort of thing. Faith is Who is This King of Glory? Who is Jesus? What is eternal life? Is it obtainable? How?
Not trying to split hairs, but I thought I might ought to give an explaination for why I don't frequent the religion section of the forums.