An answer to the discourse of Mr. William Sherlock, touching the knowledge of Christ,…

We cannot indeed be united to Christ, whilst we continue in our sins,¹ in the wilful Indulgence of them; neither can we be holy, whilst we are separated from Christ, and the influence of his Holy Spirit. Mr. Shepherd sets Faith in the first place, and then Obedience after it as a fruit thereof; and well he may do so, Ye are all the Children ⟨p. 484⟩of God, by Faith in Christ Jesus, Gal. 3.26. Faith makes us Gods People; Obedience, which comes after, proves us such: Without Faith it is impossible to please to God, Heb. 11.6. and therefore without Faith it must be impossible to obey him: [Greek or Hebrew], Faith is the beginning of life, saith Ignatius: Fides principium Christiani est, Faith is the first principle, ²or mover in the new Creature, saith St. Ambrose: Laudo fructum boni operis, ³sed in Fide agnosco radicem, I praise the fruit of a good work, but I acknowledge the root of it to be in Faith: So St. Austin: And a little after he saith,⁴ That works before Faith are but, inania & cursus ceberrimus praeter viam, Vain things and a swift running beside the way. Hence our Church in the 1. Homily of good works assures us, That Faith giveth life to the Soul, and that they be as much dead to God that lack Faith, as they be to the World, whose Bodies lack Souls; that without Faith all that is done of us is but dead before God, all good works are but shadows and shows of good things; that out of Faith come good works, that be good works indeed, and without Faith no work is good before God. I suppose Mr. Shepherd cannot speak more fully; ⟨p. 985⟩it may seem harsh to some, that before Faith in Christ, there should be nothing good in us, that our best actions should be sins: but if we look on a wicked Man, that is, a Man without Faith in the Scripture-glass, nothing can be plainer; take him at an honest calling, The ploughing of the wicked is sin,