It is said that the dogma concerning salvation and justification by faith alone is strengthened and confirmed by the devised modes of conjunction thereof with good works; but it must be understood that that doctrine cannot by any means be so strengthened and confirmed. For that dogma is meant by the dragon; and the confirmation of it by reasonings from the natural man is described by this beast; and by the dragon and his beast is signified such as are not in accordance with the Word, and cannot be conjoined with it.

[2] In order that it may be clear that it cannot possibly be conjoined, it shall here be shown that faith alone cannot produce any good; in other words, from faith alone good fruit cannot possibly be produced. It is supposed that faith consists in believing that the Lord suffered on the cross for our sins, and thereby redeemed us from hell; and that a faith in these things is what principally justifies and saves. And, besides this, it is supposed that faith consists in believing that God is triune; also in believing those things that are in the Word; in believing in eternal life, and a resurrection on the day of the Last Judgment, and the other things which the church teaches. Now because they separate faith from the life of charity, which is to do good works, most persons at this day suppose, that to know these things, to think and speak of them, is the faith which saves. They therefore pay no attention to willing them and doing them; nor do they even know that they ought to will and do them. Neither does the church teach this, because the doctrine of the church is a doctrine of faith alone, and not a doctrine of life. The doctrine of life they call moral theology, which they regard as of little account, because they believe that the virtues of a moral life, which in themselves are good works, contribute nothing to salvation.

[3] But that to know, think, and speak of the things above mentioned, is not faith, and, even although they are called faith, that still they do not produce goods, as a tree its fruits, is evident from the following:

1. Everything that a man knows, thinks, and speaks, so far as he understands it, he calls truths; and everything that he wills and does, so far as he loves it, he calls goods. Hence truths pertain to a man's faith, and goods to his love. From this it is evident that the truths of faith are distinct from the goods of love; just as knowing and thinking are from willing and doing.

That they are distinct, and how far they are so, can be known from this fact. It is possible for a man to know, think, speak, and even understand, many things that he neither wills nor does, because he does not love. On the other hand, whatever a man wills and does from love, this he also thinks and speaks of from faith, if not before the world, yet when he is by himself and left to himself. From this it follows:

[4] 2. That the love and will of man enter into everything pertaining to his faith and thought; but that faith and thought cannot enter into his love and will. For what a man loves, he also loves to do, know, think about, speak of, and understand, thus also to believe. Similarly if the will be assumed in the place of the love, what a man wills, he also wills to do, know, think about, speak of, and understand, thus also to believe. The reason why the same things are said of the will as of the love is, that the love is of the will, and the will is the receptacle of love. It follows, therefore, that love gives rise to faith, as the will to thought. And because faith, like thought, is produced, and love like the will produces, it follows that to say that faith produces love is an inversion. From these things it first becomes evident that to believe that faith produces goods, which are called good works, as a tree produces fruit, is contrary to order.

[5] 3. What is said here concerning faith and love, is also to be understood of truth and good, since truth pertains to faith and faith to truth; for what a man believes, he calls truth. Good also pertains to love and love to good; for what a man loves, he calls good. Truth, regarded strictly, is nothing else but good in form; for good may indeed present itself in such a way as to be felt, but not seen, except in some form. And the form in which it presents itself so as to be seen in the thought that is in the understanding and perception, is called truth. From these considerations also it follows, that love produces faith, as good produces truth; consequently that faith does not produce the good of love, as a tree does fruit.

[6] 4. Moreover, to know and thence to think and speak are from the memory; but to will and to do from love are from the life. Man can think and speak many things from the memory which are not from his life - which is love - as is the case with every hypocrite and flatterer. He cannot, however, when left to himself, think and speak anything from the life which is not from his love. For love is the life of every one; and according to the quality of the love such is the life; but the memory is only the storehouse, from which the life selects what it thinks and speaks, and what may serve it for nourishment. To say therefore that faith produces goods as a tree does fruit, is to say that a man's thought and speech produce his life, and not that the life produces these; when, yet, the wicked, even the very worst, can think and speak truths from the memory, but only the good can do so from the life.

[7] 5. That faith alone, or a faith separate from goods in act, which are good works, is not possible, is evident from the essence of faith, which is charity. Charity, moreover, is the affection for doing those things that pertain to faith. Therefore faith without charity is like thought without affection; and thought without affection is not thought; consequently faith without charity [is not faith]. To speak, therefore, of faith without charity is to speak of thought without affection, also of life without a soul, of manifestation (existere) without being (esse), of a form without that which forms, of a product without that which produces, and of an effect without a cause. Faith alone therefore is a nonentity; and from a nonentity to produce goods in act, which are good works, as a good tree does fruit, is a contradiction, from which what is believed to be something turns out to be nothing.

[8] 6. Because faith without charity is not possible, and yet the thought and persuasion that it is so seems to be faith, and is also called faith, but is not saving faith; it is merely an historical faith, because it proceeds from the mouth of another. For he who believes any thing from another whom he supposes worthy of credit, and so accepts it, stores it in his memory, and thence thinks and speaks of it, without seeing whether it be false or true, possesses it merely as something historical. If, however, he confirms it in himself, by appearances from the Word, and by reasonings, then from an historical faith it becomes a persuasive faith; and this is like the sight of an owl, which sees objects in darkness, and not in the light. Such a persuasive faith exists from every confirmation of what is false. For every falsity can be confirmed, until it appears to be like truth; and falsity when confirmed shines with a fatuous light (lumen).

From these things also it is clear that such a faith cannot produce good works.

[9] 7. Because the faith that is only thought is nothing but an historical or persuasive faith, it follows that it is merely natural. For spiritual faith is produced from spiritual love - which is charity - just as light is caused by the sun; it does not produce that love, just as the light does not produce the sun. A faith, therefore, merely natural is produced by a love merely natural, which derives its soul from the love of self; the delight of this love is a delight of the flesh, which is called pleasure, lust, and wantonness; from these flow evils of every kind, and from these evils, falsities. It is evident, therefore, that the faith proceeding therefrom cannot produce goods as a tree does good fruits. And even if it does produce any, they are goods from the man's proprium; and these in themselves are evils, and at the same time merit-seeking goods, which are in themselves iniquitous. It is different, however, with spiritual faith, of which we shall speak in the following article.