Selected Puritan Readings (Post 1 ~ Faith)

"​As gold is the most precious among the metals, so is faith among the graces. Faith cuts us off from the wild olive of nature, and grafts us into Christ. Faith is the vital artery of the soul: ‘The just shall live by his faith’ (Hab. 2:4). Such as are destitute of faith may breath, but they lack life… When I believe God’s love to me, this makes me weep that I should sin against so good a God. Faith is the mother of hope; first we believe the promise, then we hope for it. Faith is the oil which feeds the lamp of hope. Faith and hope are two turtle-dove graces; take away one, and the other languishes…
And the life of a saint is nothing but a life of faith. His prayer is the breathing of faith (Jas. 5:15). His obedience is the result of faith (Rom. 16:26). A godly man by faith lives in Christ, as the beam lives in the sun: ‘I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me’ (Gal. 2:20). A Christian by the power of faith sees above reason, trades above the moon (2 Cor. 4:18). By faith his heart is finely quietened; he trusts himself and all his affairs to God (Psa. 112:7)."
~Excerpts from The Godly Man’s Picture
by Thomas Watson