People sometimes confuse faith with obedience. Some preachers even claim that faith is obedience. We know that’s wrong. Paul was explicit that salvation is by faith apart from works. No obedience required (Rom 4:5; Eph 2:8-9).

What, then, is the correct relationship between faith and obedience?

Consider Abraham:

“By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and set out for a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents as did Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Heb 11:8-10).

There you have the proper relationship between the two: “By faith Abraham…obeyed.”

Put another way, his faith resulted in obedience. But they are not the same thing.

God gave Abraham a promise; he believed it and acted on it. While his actions logically followed from his faith (it made sense to do what he did given what he believed), they didn’t automatically follow from it as though Abraham was caused to obey. Not at all. Abraham could have chosen to disobey and stay put in Ur or linger around Haran. Instead, he decided to act on his faith and go to Canaan.

Every Christian should act on his or her faith, but you might not. You believe in Jesus, but do you automatically and immediately obey everything He has ever commanded you to do? Of course not. You’ve obeyed in some situations and have rebelled in others. So have we all. If obedience automatically or necessarily followed from faith, you would expect every Christian to be perfect, but we’re not. No one is. In fact, we’re all at different points of our respective spiritual journeys because because each of us has a choice to obey or disobey.

Believers should have the same attitude as the Psalmist who said,

“I hurried, not hesitating to keep your commands” (Ps 119:60).

A believer like you might hesitate to obey, not because you don’t really believe, but out of fear of what obedience will cost you, or because you love the sin you’re called to turn from, or because you might be waiting for the right “feeling” to prompt your obedience. We’ve all made excuses to delay obeying the Lord. But like Abraham and the Psalmist, you should hurry to act on your faith, and not hesitate to keep His commands.

But you should definitely hesitate before confusing faith and obedience.

Send your questions or comments to Shawn.