"It is not one or two good actions, but a good conversation, which will speak a man to be a right Christian. A true believer, like the heavenly orbs, is constant and unwearied in his motion and actings. Enoch `walked with God,' it is not taking a step or two in a way which denominates a man a walker, but a continued motion. No man is judged healthy by a flushing color for a particular carriage, but for a general course. A sinner in some few acts may be very good: Judas repents, Cain sacrifices, the Scribes pray and fast; and yet all were very false...A saint in some few acts may be very bad: Noah is drunk, David defiles his neighbour's wife, and Peter denies his best friend; yet these persons were heaven's favourites. The best gold must have some grains of allowance. A Christian may stumble, nay, he may fall, but he gets up and walks on in the way of God's commandments; the bent of his heart is right, and the scope of his life is straight, and thence he is deemed sincere."
-- George Swinnock (1627-1673)