There are two sorts of good works; and a man may be shrewdly guessed
at with reference to his faith, even by the works that he chooseth
to be conversant in.
There are works that cost nothing, and works that are chargeable;
and observe it, the unsound faith will choose to itself the most
easy works it can find: for example, there is reading, praying,
hearing of sermons, baptism, breaking of bread, church-fellowship,
preaching, and the like; and there is mortification of lusts,
charity, simplicity, and open-heartedness with a liberal hand to the
poor, and their like also. Now, the unsound faith picks and chooses,
and takes and leaves; but the true faith does not so. Satan is
afraid that men should hear of justification by Christ, lest they
should embrace it. But yet if he can prevail with them to keep
fingers off, although they do hear and look on and practise lesser
things, he can the better bear it; yea, he will labor to make such
professors bold to conclude they shall by that kind of faith enjoy
Christ, though by that they cannot embrace him nor lay hold of him;
for he knows that how far soever a man engages in a profession of
Christ with a faith that looks on but cannot receive nor embrace
him, that faith will leave him to nothing but mistakes and
disappointments at last.
The Son of God was manifest that he might destroy the works of the
devil, but these men profess his faith and keep these works alive in
the world. 1 John, 3. Shall these pass or such as believe to the
saving of the soul? For a man to be content with this kind of faith
and to look to go to salvation by it, what to God is a greater
provocation?
The devil laugheth here, for he knows he has not lost his vassal by
such a faith as this, but that rather he hath made use of the
gospel, that glorious word of life, to secure his captive, through
his presumption of the right faith, the faster in his shackles.