Believe & Obey - Know and Do!

“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 (John 3:36).”

At my University where I teach full time, we had a book study focusing on Habits of the Mind: Intellectual Life as a Christian Calling by James Sire. This study brought up some interesting points that should be a focus for all Christians, especially on the idea of acting on what we know to be true! He points out an interesting principle that appears from Studying God’s Word:

“We only know what we act on

Or

We only believe what we obey (p. 96).”

He is talking to the Christian intellectuals – professors at Universities who declare themselves Christians and yet may not approach their disciplines and their own studies from a Christian worldview. He goes on to state:

Christian intellectuals, however, must not even pretend to hide such a dichotomy. There is unity of knowing-doing, believing-obeying, orthodoxy-orthopraxy, theory-practice. Thinking Christians who do not do as they say are not Christian intellectuals at all. A Christian intellectual cannot escape the burden. Christian intellectuals are those whose intellectual lives are lived to the glory of God. They will do what they claim they know (p. 105).

As I review the concept of knowing and doing, acting on what we already know from the Scripture, I realize that this should be a focus for all Christians! Do we really believe the Word of God if we do not obey and act upon it? Do we really believe? It reminds me of Paul’s struggle in Romans 7:18; “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.” However even Paul goes on to mention in Romans 8:26 that the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. So even though we wrestle within ourselves, there is someone to help us act boldly on what we believe!

Are you acting on what you know the Bible wants you to do? Are you obeying what you believe to be true in the Bible? Do you need assistance in obeying? Or do you need help with your unbelief (Mark 9:24)? Are we following the commands in John 13 – “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:35).” I wonder if we begin acting on our beliefs, will the World notice? Will we then begin to be the light of the World (Matt 5:14, John 8:12) and the Salt of the Earth (Matt 5:13)?