Is Faith Just Following the Rules?

Working a religious system as the way to ensure heavenly glory does not bring transformation into our lives. It matters not how many spiritual boxes we tick if we remain distant from the Lord in the regular places of our lives.

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My best friend in high school was not a Christian, but I think he wanted to be. We would often have in-depth discussions about faith, religion, and the Bible. He was open about his questions, his doubts, and why he thought that faith wasn’t for him.

During one discussion, he said emphatically, “I’m just not into rules!” See, for him, faith was simply about obeying a religious system. Faith meant that your eternal soul was tied to the perfect execution of the church-bound rules; perfectly obey the religious system, and you were assured you would get to heaven when you died.

Is that all faith is? Is “faith” synonymous with “religion”? If we believe so, we will inevitably create complex systems of spiritual duties. We may even believe that God is perpetually angry at us, desiring our eternal destruction lest we find a way to turn God’s frown upside-down. Faithful rule-keeping, therefore, becomes the way to keep God’s anger at bay.

A faith based on rule-keeping is a faith focused exclusively on sin management. We work our religious system and tick the spiritual boxes so that, when we die, we merit our entrance past the pearly gates. We may think that we are living the life God desires for us, but the truth is our lives lack the intimacy with God that stands at the center of faith.

So, what does faith look like beyond simply ticking the spiritual boxes? Here are three things to consider.

1. Approaching God

In essence, the life of faith revolves around approaching the God who made us and redeemed us. This, of course, begs the question: how do we approach God? This question shows up frequently in Scripture.

Psalm 15 begins, “Who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?” Similarly, the prophet Micah asks, “With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God?” (Micah 6:6). The way we answer this question is important as it undergirds how we engage in our faith.

Micah continues his prophecy, attempting to answer this question in a variety of ways. He says, “Shall I come before God with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?” (Micah 6:6). Importantly, in Micah’s day, the answer to this question would be a resounding “Yes!”

This was exactly what God required of Israel. Not only was the Temple worship based upon those sacrificial activities, but a year-old calf was the choicest of sacrifices (Leviticus 9:3). Offering a year-old calf, without blemish or scar, was the best way one could approach God and show their devotion and allegiance.

Yet Micah’s point is that this is not the way to approach our creator and redeemer. Blind sacrifices and empty religious actions are not what God requires. A faith system based solely in following the rules quickly becomes a matter of manipulation.

After all, if a one-year-old calf is pleasing to the LORD, why not offer “a thousand rams!” If an offering of oil will make ourselves pleasing before God, then surely “ten thousand rivers of oil” will secure God’s grace for eternity, right? (Micah 6:7).

While this way of faith may seem simple and straightforward, it ultimately ends with destruction. To make this point, Micah takes the rule-based faith system to the extreme. He asks, “Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

Such a horrendous sacrifice was not unheard of in the ancient world. Other religions of the day demanded child sacrifice. Yet if God is pleased with rule-keeping, then it stands that the more extreme rules we can keep, the happier God is.

Our faith isn’t just about ticking the spiritual boxes, no matter how simple or how extreme they may be. Empty actions do not connect us to the Lord. We can always perform our religious duties without the adoration of God.

In fact, this was exactly what Israel was doing at the time. If all we offer to the Lord is the pew aerobics of our denominational life, then we fail to address the fundamental call of faith. To use Paul’s words, “our faith is futile, and we are still in our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17).

2. Responding to Jesus

What defines the life of faith? How do we ensure we approach the Lord truly and faithfully? Again, Micah has a helpful word. Micah tells Israel, “God has shown you, O mortals, what is good and what the Lord requires of you” (Micah 6:8).

We are not uninformed. The entire gamut of Scripture, from the Old Testament to the New, reveals how we are to live out our faith. In fact, the way is quite simple: “to do justly, and to love mercy, and walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).

Stale adherence to religious laws never addresses the fundamental heart of faith because it fails to embody justice, mercy, and faithfulness.

Jesus affirms this truth time and again. Echoing Micah, Jesus criticizes the Pharisees and teachers of the Law for “giving a tenth of your spices — mint, dill, and cumin — but neglecting the more important matters of the Law; justice, mercy, and faithfulness.”

Similarly, in the great separation of the sheep and goats, Jesus makes clear that the criterion of separation is not based on religious observance but on how one lives justly in the world (Matthew 25:33).

Justice, mercy, and faithfulness are not merely new rules to follow, and they are the natural ways that people of God respond to God’s presence and love in the world. Justice, for example, is the ethical response to God’s will in this world.

To do justly is to desire that God’s “kingdom come and will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Luke 11:2-3). Mercy recognizes the radical kindness we have received through the cross, boldly expressing that kindness outwardly; we live out the love of Jesus to all people, family, friends, and even enemies. Walking humbly with God is to live our lives in the presence of Jesus, here, now.

Any religious rule we attempt to abide by will fall short of true faithfulness lest it is rooted in a response to God’s loving presence.

More than rote action, the Lord desires our hearts to be turned to him in worship, adoration, and our devotion. The life of faith, therefore, is an ongoing response to the presence and call of Christ.

3. Getting Heaven into Us

The Bible is sometimes humorously referred to as “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.” Unfortunately, this makes it seem like the Bible is only concerned with what happens to us after we die. In short, faith is about “getting to heaven.”

This is not a new mistake. When an unnamed man ran to Jesus and asked, “How may I inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:17), he was asking about how he might curry favor with God and earn his place in heavenly glory.

In response, Jesus calls the man to live out the commandments and follow him (Mark 10:18-19). In another conversation, Jesus is clear that “not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).

According to Jesus, the life of faith is concerned with the everyday matters of life. Or, to put it another way, our faith is less about getting us into heaven than it is about getting heaven into us.

Jesus desires us to live our lives with him in the power of the Spirit. We live out our lives as salt and light (Matthew 5:13-14). We are called to be agents of healing and reconciliation in the world. To believe that faith is simply a matter of “inheriting eternal life” is to miss the call to have an ongoing relationship with Christ.

For further reading:

What Is the Difference Between Obedience and Legalism?

5 Problems with Legalism in the Church

Why Are We Told to 'Obey God Rather Than Human Beings'?

The Reverend Dr. Kyle Norman is the Rector of St. Paul’s Cathedral, located in Kamloops BC, Canada. He holds a doctorate in Spiritual formation and is a sought-after writer, speaker, and retreat leader. His writing can be found at Christianity.com, crosswalk.com, ibelieve.com, Renovare Canada, and many others. He also maintains his own blog revkylenorman.ca. He has 20 years of pastoral experience, and his ministry focuses on helping people overcome times of spiritual discouragement.