How Faith & Obedience are Connected - Jerrry Bridges

                          HOW FAITH AND OBEDIENCE ARE CONNECTED

Thoughts from his book, The Pursuit of Holiness, Chapter 15, "Holiness and Faith":


Obedience to the revealed will of God is often just as much a step of faith as claiming a promise of God. In fact, an intriguing thought from the book of Hebrews is that the writer appears to use obedience and faith interchangeably.

For example, he speaks of the Old Testament Hebrews who would never enter God's rest because they disobeyed (3:18).  Yet they were not able to enter because of their unbelief (3:19). This interchange of unbelief and disobedience also occurs later in the book (4:2, 6).

Faith is not only necessary to salvation, it is also necessary to live a life pleasing to God. Faith enables us to claim the promises of God--but it also enables us to obey the commands of God. Faith enables us to obey when obedience is costly or seems unreasonable to the natural mind.

The world's values surround us on every hand. Fame, fortune and present happiness are held as the most desirable goals in life. But the Bible contradicts the value of these goals: Whoever wants to be great  among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave (Matthew 20:26-27).

The rich should not put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain,
but are told to put their hope in God, to be rich in good deeds and to be generous and willing to share (1 Timothy 6:17-18).

It takes faith to pursue such biblical values when the society around us is pursuing goals that are totally opposite. This faith focuses on believing that God ultimately upholds and blesses those who obey Him, and who trust Him for the consequences of obedience.

Noah

Noah's life is an example of this kind of faith: By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith (Hebrews 11:7).

God's revelation to Noah concerning the forthcoming judgment on the world was first of all a warning. By faith Noah believed that warning. He had conviction about things not yet seen based solely upon the revealed Word of God. Noah also had confidence that the way of salvation from the impending judgment was through God's appointed means--the ark. He responded to that promise, and so saved both himself and his family.

Noah's building of the ark may well be considered one of the greatest examples the world has ever witnessed of perseverance in a difficult duty of obedience. For 120 years he labored because he both heeded the warning of God and believed the promise of God.

The path of obedience in the pursuit of holiness is often contrary to human reason. If we do not have conviction in the necessity of obeying the revealed will of God as well as confidence in the promises of God, we will never persevere in the difficult pursuit.

We must have conviction that it is God's will that we seek holiness -- regardless of how arduous and painful the seeking may be. And we must be confident that the pursuit of holiness results in God's approval and blessing, even when circumstances make it appear otherwise.