Now or never the holy, serious, diligent believer justified, encouraged, excited and directed, and…

The Preface.

IT is a question more boldly than accurately debated by many; [Whether a man may not be saved in any Religion, that is faithful to the principles of it by serious diligent practice?] The true Solution is this: Religion is that which men hold and do to serve and please God. 1. If men make themselves a Religion of serving Idols or Devils instead of God. 2. Or if they place their service to God himself in things that are evil (as what evil is there that some men have not brought into their Religion, and fathered upon God?) the more diligent such men are in their Religion, the more they sin. 3. Or if they make themselves a Religion of irrational ludicrous ceremonies, their greatest diligence in this will not save them. 4. Or if they hold all the Essentials of the true Religion, except some one, it cannot save them while one thing is wanting, which is Essential to that Religion, and so necessary to salvation (which is the case of real Heretics:) For they are not indeed of that Religion, if they want that which is Essential to it. 5. Or if they hold all that is Essential to the true Religion only Notionally, and hold any thing with it practically, which is contradictory and inconsistent with it, the soundness of ⟨image 4⟩their Notional belief will not save them from the mortal poison of their practical Heresy or Error.

IT is a question more boldly than accurately debated by many; [Whether a man may not be saved in any Religion, that is faithful to the principles of it by serious diligent practice?] The true Solution is this: Religion is that which men hold and do to serve and please God. 1. If men make themselves a Religion of serving Idols or Devils instead of God. 2. Or if they place their service to God himself in things that are evil (as what evil is there that some men have not brought into their Religion, and fathered upon God?) the more diligent such men are in their Religion, the more they sin. 3. Or if they make themselves a Religion of irrational ludicrous ceremonies, their greatest diligence in this will not save them. 4. Or if they hold all the Essentials of the true Religion, except some one, it cannot save them while one thing is wanting, which is Essential to that Religion, and so necessary to salvation (which is the case of real Hereticks:) For they are not indeed of that Religion, if they want that which is Essential to it. 5. Or if they hold all that is Essential to the true Religion only Notionally, and hold any thing with it practically, which is contradictory and inconsistent with it, the soundness of