God desires a relationship with His people marked by love, faith, repentance, and obedience. He calls us not to cold religious observance but to love Him with our whole being and to live lives of justice, mercy, and humility (Micah 6:8). From the beginning, the Law and the Prophets pointed to this heart-centered devotion, and in Jesus Christ, we are invited into the fullness of covenant life with God through grace.

Jesus affirmed the greatest commandments as loving God and loving neighbor (Mark 12:30–31), summarizing the entire moral law. These are not abstract ideals but lived realities—seen in prayer, worship, acts of kindness, personal holiness, and commitment to the truth of God’s Word. The Christian life is not merely about belief but about transformation. The call is to present our lives as a “living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1), dedicated wholly to God’s glory.

The Anglican tradition emphasizes both faith and practice. As the Book of Common Prayer says in the General Confession, “We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done.” In response to God’s mercy, we are called to “live a new life,” empowered by the Holy Spirit. Faith in Christ is the foundation, but obedience to His commands, lived out in daily life and community, reflects true discipleship.

Faith itself is God’s gift, but it demands our response. As Jesus said, “The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent” (John 6:29). This faith is not passive but active—it expresses itself in trust, repentance, worship, and the pursuit of holiness. Conservative Anglican voices, such as Bishop J.C. Ryle, often stress the seriousness of this call: “The only evidence of saving faith is holy living.”

The Thirty-Nine Articles also affirm that good works “do spring out necessarily of a true and lively Faith” (Article XII). Therefore, God wants our hearts, our minds, our obedience, and our love. He wants us to belong wholly to Him, not out of obligation but as grateful children redeemed by grace. Through the Church, sacraments, and Scripture, God continually shapes His people for His glory and the world’s good.