#30 Part 11 Christ Lives in the Heart Through Faith.Consequently, anyone who wants to bring forth fruits of good works, Christ has to live in his heart through faith. From all this it is sufficiently apparent, and it follows unequivocally, that genuine faith in Christ is part and parcel for godliness. Indeed, this same faith, so to speak, is the soul, the foundation, and the root for godliness. Just as the human body is dead without its soul, so also godliness and good works are a dead image if there is no faith in Christ alongside. The righteous person shall live his faith (Hab. 2:4, Rom. 1:17, Gal. 3:11). What I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, Paul says about himself and all true Christians (Gal. 2:20). Accordingly, wherever there is no faith in Christ, there is also no spiritual life, there are also no upright good works as fruits of the spiritual life. In the same way that a building which has no foundation, but instead is built upon quicksand, is not stable (Mat. 7:26), so also where the foundation of faith is not placed upon Christ, there also the building of godliness and good works have no stability. Just as a tree grows up out from the root, so also godliness true faith. If this root is taken away, then it also will soon lose its genuine godliness. Furthermore, just as godliness and good works cannot exist without true faith, so also true faith cannot exist without an honest confession of sin and genuine contrition over it. (Schola Pietatus-Volume 1 by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, p. 16-17)
