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Einstein does not have any special authority as a religious teacher. I do not share all his views; and in fact I think his metaphysical perspectives on a comprehensible universe were a contributing factor to his most famous scientific errors; rejection of quantum machanics and indeterminacy, and resistances to singularities and the instability of large scale spacetime which follow from general relativity. However, I do honour his breadth of thought, his foundational contribitions to modern physics, and his gentle and thoughtful approach to religious belief.
I've also heard it argued that Einstein's religious views may have subconsciously led to what he called his "biggest blunder" involving the cosmological constant. Since the universe was essentially the same as God for Einstein, he may have subconsciously willed the universe to be static and unchanging.
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If Einstein is to be cited in the context of discussions of God, and a personal God in particular, then in fairness we need to recognize Einstein's own views, whether they fit well with our own views or not.
Yes, but as you point out, Einstein's religious views are well-known. He was not shy about expressing them. So is it really necessary for us to explain his religious views every time we quote him on religion?
I definitely believe in a personal God, yet I use an Einstein quote on religion in my sig file. No one should infer from this that my view of God is the same as Einstein's. Rather, I include Einstein's quote to combat the views of the modern "militant atheists" (Dawkins, Hitchins, et al), who claim that religion is a terrible evil that should be eradicated. The Einstein quote illustrates that someone more intelligent than them thought otherwise.
"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind." — Albert Einstein
I am very astonished that the scientific picture of the real world around me is very deficient. It gives us a lot of factual information, puts all of our experience in a magnificently consistent order, but it is ghastly silent about all and sundry that is really near to our heart, that really matters to us. It cannot tell us a word about red and blue, bitter and sweet, physical pain and physical delight; it knows nothing of beautiful and ugly, good or bad, God and eternity. Science sometimes pretends to answer questions in these domains, but the answers are very often so silly that we are not inclined to take them seriously. — Erwin Schroedinger
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