You can claim to have faith in God without obeying him, but professed faith without obedience to God is powerless:
Fool! When will you ever learn that “believing” is useless without doing what God wants you to? Faith that does not result in good deeds is not real faith. (James 2:20, Living Bible)
The positive effects of the gospel are preconditioned on obedience to the laws that provide them.543 To expect the blessings of heaven without obtaining and living the laws of heaven is foolish and vain:
6 You should not expect Christ to lift you into heaven while your heart remains in the manner of and fixed on the things of this world—this isn’t how faith or righteousness work.
17 Faith consists of witnessing the demonstration of Christ in another and reproducing it within yourself. (Romans 10, Author’s Reflection)
We are saved through faith in Jesus. You can’t have faith in Jesus without choosing to live as he would in your place.
Footnotes
- 1. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut if off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. (Matthew 5:30) ↩
- 2. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. (James 2:10) ↩
- 3. I also have charity for the Gentiles. But behold, for none of these can I hope except they shall be reconciled unto Christ, and enter into the narrow gate... (2 Nephi 33:9) ↩
- 4. What, do ye suppose that mercy can rob justice? I say unto you, Nay; not one whit. If so, God would cease to be God. (Alma 42:25) ↩
- 5. Therefore God gave unto them commandments, after having made known unto them the plan of redemption, that they should not do evil...for on such the plan of redemption could have no power, for the works of justice could not be destroyed, according to the supreme goodness of God. (Alma 12:32) ↩
- 6. Therefore, blessed are they who will repent and hearken unto the voice of the Lord their God; for these are they that shall be saved. (Helaman 12:23) And I say unto you again that he cannot save them in their sins; for I cannot deny his word, and he hath said that no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore, how can ye be saved, except ye inherit the kingdom of heaven? Therefore, ye cannot be saved in your sins. And he shall come into the world to redeem his people; and he shall take upon him the transgressions of those who believe on his name; and these are they that shall have eternal life, and salvation cometh to none else. Therefore the wicked remain as though there had been no redemption made, except it be the loosing of the bands of death; for behold, the day cometh that all shall rise from the dead and stand before God, and be judged according to their works. (Alma 11:37-41) ↩
- 7. And he hath power given unto him from the Father to redeem them from their sins because of repentance; therefore he hath sent his angels to declare the tidings of the conditions of repentance, which bringeth unto the power of the Redeemer, unto the salvation of their souls. (Helaman 5:11) ↩
- 8. ...unto that soul who sinneth shall the former sins return, saith the Lord your God. (D&C 82:7) ↩
- 9. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation. (Matthew 12:43-45) ↩