Wherefore none of the devices of the devil shall be hidden from you, if, like Paul, ye perfectly possess that faith and love towards Christ[844] which are the beginning and the end of life. The beginning of life is faith, and the end is love. And these two being inseparably connected together, do perfect the man of God; while all other things which are requisite to a holy life follow after them. No man making a profession of faith ought to sin, nor one possessed of love to hate his brother. For He that said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God,”[845] said also, “and thy neighbour as thyself.”[846] Those that profess themselves to be Christ’s are known not only by what they say, but by what they practise. “For the tree is known by its fruit.”[847] CHAP. XV.—_Exhortation to confess Christ by silence as well as speech._ SHORTER. It is better for a man to be silent and be [a Christian], than to talk and not to be one. It is good to teach, if he who speaks also acts. There is then one Teacher, who spake and it was done; while even those things which He did in silence are worthy of the Father. He who possesses the word of Jesus, is truly able to hear even His very silence, that he may be perfect, and may both act as he speaks, and be recognised by his silence. There is nothing which is hid from God, but our very secrets are near to Him. Let us therefore do all things as those who have Him dwelling in us, that we may be His temples,[848] and He may be in us as our God, which indeed He is, and will manifest Himself before our faces. Wherefore we justly love Him. LONGER. It is better for a man to be silent and be [a Christian], than to talk and not to be one. “The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.”[849] Men “believe with the heart, and confess with the mouth,” the one “unto righteousness,” the other “unto salvation.”[850] It is good to teach, if he who speaks also acts. For he who shall both “do and teach, the same shall be great in the kingdom.”[851] Our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, first did and then taught, as Luke testifies, “whose praise is in the gospel through all the churches.”[852] There is nothing which is hid from the Lord, but our very secrets are near to Him. Let us therefore do all things as those who have Him dwelling in us, that we may be His temples,[853] and He may be in us as God. Let Christ speak in us, even as He did in Paul. Let the Holy Spirit teach us to speak the things of Christ in like manner as He did. CHAP. XVI.—_The fate of false teachers._ SHORTER.