Many professing Christians have a wrong understanding of what faith is. In order to “close the sale” and get their hearers to “accept Jesus,” preachers are quick to quote verses such as:
[Romans 10:9] If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
[John 3:16] For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
[Ephesians 2:8-9] For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
However, they fail to explain what faith is. Their hearers remain under the impression that believe and faith refer to believing certain facts to be true.
But that’s not saving faith. Mental assent is not faith. Intellectual belief is not faith. Head knowledge is not faith. Merely believing the right doctrines won’t save anyone.
Saving faith includes obedience, and those who are disobedient show that they don’t really believe. The Bible is very clear about this:
[John 3:36] Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
[Hebrews 3:18-19] And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.
Saving faith is the faith of Abraham, a faith that obeys, a faith that works, not a faith that believes and does nothing.
[Hebrews 11:8] By faith Abraham obeyed.
[Hebrews 11:17] By faith Abraham offered up Isaac.
Please understand that obedience is a salvation issue, not a rewards issue. Those who are lazy and disobedient won’t enter heaven. They are still rebels at heart, regardless of what they believe.
What about you? Do you obey Jesus? Do you have the faith of Abraham? Or are you hiding behind man-made doctrines to justify your laziness and disobedience?