Quoting Thomas Watson

 “If a wicked man seems to have peace at death, it is not from the knowledge of his happiness, but from the ignorance of his danger.”

 Thomas Watson

(c.1620-1686)

A HOLY LIFE - Intro 3

a treatise by John Bunyan

edited in modern English by Jon Cardwell

As there is a twofold faith, two sorts of good works, and so forth, so there is also a twofold love to Christ; the one standing, or stopping, in some passions of the mind and affections; the other is that which breaks through all difficulties to the holy commandment to do it. Scripture mentions both of these; and though all true love begins at the heart, yet that love is only minimally placed in reserve for future use when it does not break through in practice. How many there are in the world that seem to have the first, but how few show the second. The young man in the gospel (Mark 10:17) did by his running, kneeling, crying, questioning and begging of Christ to show Him the way to life, show that he had inward love to Christ and his own salvation; yet it was not a love that was “strong as death,” “fierce as the grave,” and hotter than the coals of juniper (Song of Solomon 8:6).[i] It was a love that stopped in mind and affection, but could not break out into practice. This kind of love, if it was left alone and not pressed to proceed until it comes into a laboring practice of the commandment, will love as long as you will, specifically, as long as mouth and tongue can wag; yet you shall not, by all your skill drive this love farther than the mouth; “for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain” (Ezekiel 33:31).

Nor can this love be counted as the right kind just because it is in the heart, for the heart knows how to conceal love, as much as any other matter. This is contrived or artificial love, or love that pretends to have dear affections for Christ, can give Him nothing of value. The world is full of this kind of love today, especially the professing believers of this age; but as I said, of this the Lord Jesus gives little or no credit, for it is essentially defective in its core. Therefore, Christ and His servants describe the true and right kind of love with reference to Himself and His church.

First, with reference to Himself: “If anyone loves Me,” He says, “he will keep My word” (John 14:23). And again, “Whosoever has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me” (John 14:21). And, “Whoever does not love Me does not keep My words. And the word that you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me” (John 14:24). Now, take note of where Christ places a sign of love. It is not in word or speech. It is not in great and seemingly affectionate gestures. It is, however, in a practical walking within the law of the Lord. Therefore, those, and only those are called the undefiled in the way. You know who it is that says, “I am the way.” “Blessed,” says David, “are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD” (Psalms 119:1).

But here again, the hypocrite will give us the slip by bringing our attention to his external matters, such as tithing his “mint and dill and cumin” (Matthew 23:23). Yet, he still neglects the weightier matters of the law, namely, justice, mercy, faithfulness; or else, as it relates to the meaningful and symbolic ordinances, still neglecting to do to all men as he would have them do unto him. But let them know that God never ordained expressive ordinances, such as baptism, the Lord’s supper, or the like, for the sake of water, or of bread and wine; nor was it because He takes any delight in our being dipped in water, or that we eat that bread; but they were ordained to minister to us, by the suitability of the elements, further knowledge of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, and of our death and resurrection by Him to newness of life through our sincere partaking of those elements. For this reason, he that eats and believes not, and he that is baptized and is not dead to sin nor walks in newness of life, neither keeps these ordinances or pleases God. To be dead to sin is to be dead to those things forbidden in the moral law. For sin is the transgression of the law. There is no benefit in bragging that I am a saint because of this or that expressive ordinance if I sin by practicing lawlessness, because “sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4). For I am convicted of the law as a transgressor, and therefore determined to be one that does not love Christ, though I make a noise of my obedience to Christ, and of my partaking of His expressive ordinances. The Jews of old made a great noise with their expressive and symbolic ordinances, while they lived in violation of the moral law; yet, their practice of expressive ordinances and symbolic rituals could not save them from the judgment and displeasure of their God. They could go regularly to the temple, keep their feasts, slay their sacrifices, and be pretty meticulous about all their expressively symbolic things. But they loved idols and lived in violation of the last six commandments of the Ten Commandments. This is the reason that God cast them out of His presence. Listen to what the prophet said of them, (Amos 4:4-5) “‘Come to Bethel, and transgress; to Gilgal, and multiply transgression; bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days; offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened, and proclaim freewill offerings, publish them; for so you love to do, O people of Israel!’ declares the Lord GOD.” Therefore, as I said, the hypocrite gives us the slip; for when he hears that love is in the keeping of the commandments of God, then he takes himself to the more external parts of worship, and neglects the more weighty matters, and that, to the provoking of the God of Israel.

Second, as love for God is shown by keeping His commandments, then love for my neighbor is also by keeping the commandments of God. “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey His commandments. For this is the love of God,” —in us, both to God and man, “that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:2-3). He that does not keep God’s commandments does not love God or men.

We must, therefore, learn to love one another. He that keeps God’s commandment does what is right to his brother because that is God’s commandment. He that keeps God’s commandment does unto his brother just as he would have his brother do unto himself, for that is God’s commandment. He that keeps God’s commandment does not shut up his bowels of compassion from his brother because that would run contrary to God’s commandment. Furthermore, he that keeps God’s commandment shows his brother what he must do to correctly honor the Christ that he professes to believe: therefore, he that keeps the commandment loves his brother. Yes, keeping of the commandment means loving the brethren.

But if all love were tried by this one text, which we pretend to have one to another, how much of that that we call love would be found to be nothing less? Preposterous are our spirits in all things, nor can they be guided right, but by the Word and Spirit of God; the which, the good Lord grant unto us plentifully, that we may do that which is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Yes, that there may also be wrought sound repentance in us, by them, for all that has been done by us amiss, in case He give up “Jacob to the looter, and Israel to the plunderers;” for that they have sinned against Him by not walking in His ways, and by not being obedient to His law (Isaiah 42:24).

Let me add, in case God does not only punish us in the sight of the wicked by their hand, but also embolden them to say that it was God that set them on; yes, for fear that they make those sins of ours, which we have not repented of, not only their byword against us for generations to come, but also the argument, one to another, of their justification for all the evil that they shall be allowed to do to us: saying, when men shall ask them, “Why has the LORD done thus to this land? What caused the heat of this great anger?” (Deuteronomy 29:24; 1 Kings 9:8; Jeremiah 22:8); it is because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, and walked not in His ways.

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[i] The “coals of juniper” is a Hebrew expression Gachaliy R’tamiym used in Psalm 120:4. It refers to coals that burn quite hot and quite long. [J. Cardwell’s added footnote]

[“Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”]

A HOLY LIFE - Intro 2

a treatise by John Bunyan

edited in modern English by Jon Cardwell

I told you before that there is a twofold faith, and now I will tell you that there are two sorts of good works; and with reference to his faith, a man may be deviously suspect, even by the works that he chooses to be acquainted with.

There are works that cost nothing, and works that are costly. And take note of this, the unstable faith will choose for itself the easiest 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, open-heartedness with a liberal hand to the poor, and many like these as well. Now the unstable faith picks and chooses, and it takes and leaves, but the true faith does not.

There are a great number of professors of Christ now in England that have nothing that distinguishes them from the worst of men, but their praying, reading, hearing of sermons, baptism, church fellowship, and breaking of bread. Separate them from these things, and everywhere else they are as filthy as any other, even in their whole life and behavior. In this, they have chosen the easiest things for them to do, and yet they do not love to be justly found in practicing the other. This is a certain sign that their faith is nothing, and that these things, even the things with which they practice frequently, are things they attend to, not for the purpose for which God has appointed them, but to delude and ruin themselves at the same time.

Praying, hearing, reading; why are these things ordained except that we might, by the godly use of them, gain more knowledge of God, and be strengthened by His grace to serve Him better according to His moral law? Baptism, fellowship, and the Lord’s Supper are ordained for the same purpose also. But there is a vast difference between using these things and the use of them for this purpose. A man may pray, yes, even pray for such things, as if he had them, so that he might be made better in morals without having a desire to be better in morals, or a love for the things he prays for. A man may read and hear, not to learn to do good things, but merely to know how; yes, he may be dead to doing moral goodness, and yet be zealous for reading and hearing all his days. Therefore, the people, among all professors, that are zealous for good works are the peculiar ones to Christ (Titus 2:14). What has a man done that is baptized if he does not pursue the purpose for which that appointment was ordained? Likewise, I say the same of fellowship, of breaking of bread, &etc. For all these things we should use to support our faith, to mortify the flesh, and strengthen us to walk in newness of life by the rule of the moral law. Nor can that man be esteemed holy whose life is stained with immoralities. Let him be what he can in all other things. As it pertains to practical righteousness, my mind is like the man’s who said to Christ upon this very question, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that He is one, and there is no other besides Him. And to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Mark 12:28-33). To love my neighbor as myself, to do as I desire to have done to me, this is the law and the prophets. And he that is altogether a stranger to these things, how can the love of God be dwelling in him; or how will he manifest to another that his faith will save him?

Satan is afraid that men should hear of justification by Christ, for fear that they should embrace it. Yet, if he can succeed in keeping them from grasping it, though they hear about it and even see it, and practice lesser things, he can bear with it much better; yes, he will labor to make such professors bold to conclude that they shall enjoy Christ by that kind of faith, though by that it they cannot embrace Him, nor lay hold of Him. For Satan knows that whatever length of time or energy a man exerts to engage in a profession of Christ with a faith that looks on without enabling that man to receive or embrace Him, that faith will ultimately leave him with nothing but mistakes and disappointments.

The gospel comes to some with talk only. The faith of such stands only in a verbal sound; but the apostle was resolved not to know or take notice of such a faith (1 Thessalonians 1:4, 5). He says, “For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power” (1 Corinthians 4:18-20). He whose faith stands only in saying, “I believe,” has his works in bare words also, and as much lacing the outward acts as the other, and both insignificant enough. “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:15-17). Therefore, Satan can allow this kind of faith because it is somewhat related to his own (James 2:19).

Besides, what greater contempt can be cast upon Christ than by such wordy professors is cast upon Him? These are the men, by their practice, say that the gospel is but an empty sound. Yet, the more they profess, the louder they proclaim it to be this way, to Christ’s disgrace, while they, not withstanding their profession of faith, hold and maintain their association with the devil and sin. The Son of God was manifest that He might destroy the works of the devil, yet these men profess His faith and keep these works alive in the world (1 John 3). Shall these be regarded for such as believe to the saving of the soul? For a man to be content with this kind of faith, and to seek salvation by it, what could possibly be a greater provocation to God?

The devil laughs here because he knows he has not lost his servant by this kind of faith, but rather, he has made use of the gospel, that glorious Word of Life, to bind his captive in his chains that much more quickly and securely, because the he presumes he has the right faith.

I marvel to see sin so high amidst the swarms of professors that are found in every corner of this land. No other reason can be given for it except that the gospel has lost its accustomed virtue; or perhaps because professors lack faith therein. But do you think it is for the first reason? No, the Word of our God shall stand in its strength forever; therefore, the faith of such men is not right; they have replaced shields of gold with shields of brass; or instead of the primitive faith that came by the operation of God, they got to themselves a faith that stands by the power and in the wisdom of man (2 Chronicles 12:9, 10; Colossians 2:12; 1 Corinthians 2:4, 5). And to say no more of this, why is God so angry with this land unless it was for the sin of the professors that dwell in it, polluting His name with their gifts and with their idols? God has been provoked most bitterly by us, while we have profaned His name, making use of His name, His word, and ordinances, to serve ourselves, so I say, “O Lord, what will You do to this land?” We are all looking for something; even for something that carries terror and dread in the sound of its wings as it comes, though we do not know the form nor face of it.[i][ii] One cries out, another has his hands upon his loins, and a third is driven insane from what he sees with his eyes and hears with his ears. Just as their faith has served them concerning justification, so it now serves them with regard to repentance and reformation: it can do nothing here neither; for though men cry out and have their hands upon their loins for fear, as mentioned earlier, yet, where is the church? the house? the man that stands in the gap for the land in order to turn away this wrath by repentance and correction of life? Behold the Lord comes forth out of His place and will come down and tread upon the places of the earth. The mountains will melt under Him and the valleys will be divided, as wax before the fire and as the waters that are poured down a steep place. But what is the cause of all this? —For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel (Micah 1:5).

It is that which may be observed by them that can see clearly, that all God has done to us has already been unsuccessful in bringing humility and reformation, by which His judgments must be turned away. Repentance is rare this day, and yet without doubt, that without which, things will grow worse and worse. As for them that hope that God will save His people, even if only from temporal judgments, whether they repent and reform or do otherwise, I must leave them and their opinions together. I have found this: that sometimes repentance, even of the godly, has come too late to divert such judgments. And, how some of the godly should be so indulged as to be saved from punishment without repentance, when the true and unfeigned repentance of others will not deliver them, I confess, leaves me in a wilderness! Yet the very saddest thing of all is that sin, through our familiarity to it, has become no sin. These days, the rampant wickedness has become no sin with many. Surely this was the case with Israel or else how could they say when the prophets so bitterly denounced God’s judgments against them, “I am innocent; surely His anger has turned from me” (Jeremiah 2:35)? When custom or bad example has taken away the conscience of sin, it is a sign that that soul is in a dangerous laziness; and yet this is the condition of most of those that profess to believe among us this day. But, let us leave this and proceed further.

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[i] How clearly is here portrayed the wretched state of this country towards the close of the reign of Charles II. It is the natural eloquence of one whose very thoughts were governed by scriptural expression. The martyrdoms of Essex, of Russel, and of Sydney —the uncertainty of the life of a debauched monarch, with the gloomy prospect of a popish successor, filled the country with dismal forebodings. —ED. [G. Offor’s original footnote]

[ii] It sounds strikingly similar to many of the conditions and circumstances we face in the United States of America today. [J. Cardwell’s additional footnote]

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[“Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”]

A HOLY LIFE - Intro 1

a treatise by John Bunyan

edited in modern English by Jon Cardwell

When I write of justification before God from the dreadful curse of the law; then I must speak of nothing but grace, Christ, the promise, and faith. But when I speak of our justification before men then I must join to these good works. For grace, Christ, and faith are invisible things, and are not seen by another, other than through a life that becomes so blessed a gospel as has been declared unto us the remission of our sins for the sake of Jesus Christ. He that would then have forgiveness of sins, and is delivered from the curse of God, must believe in the righteousness and blood of Christ: but he that would show to his neighbors that he has truly received this mercy of God, must do it by good works; for anything else to them is just talk: as for example, a tree is known to be what it is by its fruit, namely, whether it is of this or that kind. A tree without fruit, as long as it is living, gives every reason to doubt what kind of tree it is.

A professor of faith is just that, one who makes a profession, even if he has no good works; yet to suggest that he is truly godly, it is foolish to conclude such a thing (Matthew 7:17, 18; James 2:18). Not that works makes a man good; for the fruit does not make a good tree. It is the principle, specifically, that true faith makes a man good, and his works show him to be so (Matthew 7:16; Luke 6:44).

What conclusion do we draw from this? that all those who profess faith in Christ, that do not have good works flowing from their faith, are not saved; they are bramble bushes; they are “near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned” (Hebrews 6:8). For professors, by their fruitlessness, declare that they are not planted by God, nor are they the wheat, but “the weeds [which] are the sons of the evil one” (Matthew 13:37, 38).

It’s not that faith needs good works to help justification before God. For in this matter faith will be ignorant of all good works except those done by the person of Christ. In this case, the good man “does not work, but believes” (Romans 4:5). Because, in his justification before God, a man has not good works to bring to God; but to receive from His hand the matter of his justification by faith; nor is the matter of his justification before God from anything else other than the good deeds of another man, namely, Christ Jesus.

Yet, is there no need of good works at all, seeing that a man is justified before God without them? or can that be called a justifying faith if it does not have good works for its fruit? (Job 22:3; James 2:20, 26). Truly, good works are necessary, though God does not need them; and as far as justification with God is concerned, faith without works, that abides alone, is worthless.

Therefore, there is a twofold faith of Christ in the world, and as to the notion of justifying righteousness, they both concur and agree; however, as to the way they are applied, there they vastly differ. The one, namely, the non-saving faith, stands in speculation and naked knowledge of Christ, and so abides idle; but the other truly sees and receives Him, and so becomes fruitful (John 1:12; Hebrews 11:13; Romans 10:16). For this reason the true justifying faith is said to receive, to embrace, to obey the Son of God, as offered in the gospel: and through its expression shows both the nature of justifying faith in all its actions for this point of justification, and also the cause of its being full of good works in the world. A gift is not made mine by my seeing it or because I know the nature of the thing that is given. It is mine if I receive and embrace it; yes, and as to the point at hand, if I yield myself up to stand and fall by it. Now, he that will not only see, but also receive, not only know, but also embrace the Son of God to be justified by Him, cannot but bring forth good works because Christ, who is now received and embraced by faith, thoroughly seasons the spirit of this sinner through his faith, to the making of him capable of being justified (Acts 15:9; Genesis 18:19; Hebrews 11:11). Faith made Sarah receive strength to conceive seed, and we are sanctified through faith, which is in Christ. For faith has joined Christ and the soul together, and being so joined, the soul is one spirit with Him; not essentially, but in agreement and oneness of design. Besides, when Christ is truly received and embraced to the justifying of the sinner, in that man’s heart He dwells by His word and Spirit through the same faith also. Now Christ, by His Spirit and Word, must season the soul He dwells in: so then the soul being seasoned, it seasons the body; and body and soul, therefore, seasons the life and conversation.

We know that it does not come by sight, but of taking that eternal medicine that makes it work as it should; nor does the blood of Christ purge this or that conscience, unless it is received by faith (Hebrews 9:14).

Should that be counted right believing in Christ unto justification when it amounts to nothing more than idle speculation or naked knowledge of Him? I ask you, should that knowledge of Him be counted as saving faith when it only causes the soul to look at Him, but never makes one move toward good works? No, certainly not; for the true beholding of Jesus, that has justification and life, changes from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18).

The man that has truly believed, and by his faith received and embraced Christ for life before God, cannot be lacking of good works: for, as I said, the Word and Spirit comes by this same faith and dwells in the heart and conscience. Now, shall a soul where the Word and Spirit of Christ dwells be a soul without good works? Shall a soul that has received the love, the mercy, the kindness, grace and salvation of God through the sorrows, tears, groans, cross, and cruel death of Christ, be a fruitless tree! God forbid. This faith is like the salt that the prophet cast into the spring of bitter water, which makes the soul good and serviceable forever (2 Kings 2:19-22).

If receiving a temporal gift naturally tends to make us bow our heads in humility and gratitude, and binds us to be indebted to the giver, shall we think it will leave him who has received Christ by faith to be as unconcerned as a stone or a tree stump; or that its utmost excellence will provoke the soul to mere lip-service and give Christ a few nice words for His pains and grace, and then be finished with that business? No, no; “the love of Christ controls us” in such a way as to determine that it is only reasonable that since He gave His all for us, we should give our some for Him (2 Corinthians 5:14, 15).

Let no man, then, deceive himself, as he may and will if he does not take heed with true notions. He must examine himself concerning his faith; specifically, whether he has any? and if he does have some, whether it is the kind that will turn to account in the day when God shall judge the world.

[“Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”]

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