The single peaked at No. 4 in the United Kingdom on its original release in 1987. "True Faith" became New Order's first single to chart in the Hot 100 and would also go on to be a top 40 hit in the United States, peaking at No. 32.
A "True Faith" remix 12" single and CD single were released in 1994, and another "True Faith" remix 12" single and CD single were released in 2001. The 1994 remix charted in the UK at No. 9.
The release of "True Faith" was accompanied by a surreal music video directed and choreographed by Philippe Decouflé and produced by Michael H. Shamberg. In it, bizarrely costumed dancers leap about, fight and slap each other in time to the music, while a man in dark green makeup emerges from an upside-down boxer's speed bag and signs the lyrics. The video has often been voted amongst the best music videos of its year. Sky Television's channel The Amp, for instance, has it rated as the best video of 1987, and it won the BPI award for Best Promotional Video in 1988. The video was inspired by Bauhaus artist Oskar Schlemmer's Triadisches Ballett.
The overall tonality, themes and various elements from the video re-occurred in Decouflé's scenography and choreography for the inauguration ceremonies of the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville.
