True and False Faith “There is much false coin in the world, washed pewter and gilded brass; there are sepulchres garnished outwardly, and full of rottenness and stench within; there are many that want not their artifices in religion as well as in common converse.  Good things may be imitated when they are not rooted… The apostle speaks of ‘a dead faith’ (see James 2:26), which is like the carcase of a man without life, a faith that deserves no more the name of faith than the carcase doth the title of a man when the enlivening and principal part is fled.  There is a ‘repentance unto life,’ (see Acts 11:18), which supposeth a dead repentance, such as Ahab’s humiliation, like marble sweating tears in moist and rainy weather without any mollifying of the natural hardness, or Judas his sorrow, raised by the fire in his conscience, not like Peter’s, by the spiritual influence of His Master.  There is a ‘lively hope’ (see I Peter 1:3), which supposeth a dead hope; there is a ‘lively stone,’ (see I Pet. 3:5), which implies that there are lifeless stones, that are not inwardly fitted and prepared for the spiritual building.  The building upon the rock and the sand might have the same beauty, form, and ornaments, but not the same foundation; one was stable and the other tottering.  There is a ‘repentance towards God,’ (see Acts 20:21), when the dishonor of God afflicts us, which implies there is a repentance towards ourselves, when the danger of our own persons starts a pretended sorrow for sin.  There is a faith that is sound and lasting, a faith that is temporary and perishing, a faith that starts up like a mushroom in a night, and withers at the next scorching temptation.  There is a faith common with devils, and a faith proper to Christians; there is a faith of Christ and a faith in Christ.”     -- Stephen Charnock  (1628-1680)