“Without faith can no good work be done, accepted and pleasant unto God. For _as a branch cannot bear fruit of itself_, saith our Saviour Christ, _except it abide in the vine, so cannot you, except you abide in me_. Faith giveth life to the soul; and they be as much dead to God that lack faith, as they be to the world, whose bodies lack souls. Without faith all that is done of us, is but dead before God. Even as a picture is but a dead representation of the thing itself, so be the works of all unfaithful (unbelieving) persons before God. They be but shadows of lively and good things, and not good things indeed. For true faith doth give life to the works, and without faith no work is good before God.” _ibid. Part III._ “We must set no good works before faith, nor think that before faith a man may do any good works. For such works are as the course of an horse that runneth out of the way, which taketh great labour, but to no purpose.” _ibid._ “Without faith we have no virtues, but only the shadows of them. All the life of them that lack the true faith is sin.” _ibid._ “As men first have life, and after be nourished, so must our faith go before, and after be nourished with good works. And life may be without nourishment, but nourishment cannot be without life.” _Homily of works annexed to faith. Part I._ “I can shew a man, that by faith without works lived and came to heaven. But without faith never man had life. The thief on the cross only believed, and the most merciful God justified him. Truth it is, if he had lived and not regarded faith and the works thereof, he should have lost his salvation again. But this I say, faith by itself saved him. But works by themselves never justified any man.” “Good works go not before, in him which shall afterwards be justified. But good works do follow after, when a man is first justified.” _Homily on fasting. Part I._ 8. From the whole tenor then of her liturgy, articles and homilies, the doctrine of the church of _England_ appears to be this: 1. That no _good work_ properly so called, can _go before_ justification: 2. That _no degree_ of true sanctification can be previous to it. 3. That as the _meritorious cause_ of justification is, the life and death of Christ; so the _condition_ of it, is faith. Faith alone; and 4. That both inward and outward holiness, are consequent on this faith, and are the ordinary, stated condition, of final justification.