Can religion, good works, or church membership give you victory over sin and death?

Les explains that death is a frightening thing we all hate, and that the sting of death is sin—death and sin are almost synonymous, which is why we dread it. The strength of sin is the Law, for it was the Law that showed sin to be what it really is. Then he points to the declaration, "But thanks be to God, who giveth the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ," and stresses that there is no other way to gain victory over sin and death. Religion won't do it, good works won't do it, joining a church won't do it; it has to be by virtue of the resurrection power of the Gospel. He then moves to verse 58, where Paul winds the letter down and says "therefore" in light of everything written in the previous 15 chapters, and especially with regard to the believer's hope.