Lord Christ says to the
heathen woman, John iv: "I say unto thee, they that worship God
must worship Him in spirit and in truth." [John 4:24] And this
faith, faithfulness, confidence deep in the heart, is the true
fulfilling of the First Commandment; without this there is no
other work that is able to satisfy this Commandment. And as this
Commandment is the very first, highest and best, from which all
the others proceed, in which they exist, and by which they are
directed and measured, so also its work, that is, the faith or
confidence in God's favor at all times, is the very first,
highest and best, from which all others must proceed, exist,
remain, be directed and measured. Compared with this, other works
are just as if the other Commandments were without the First, and
there were no God. Therefore St. Augustine well says that the
works of the First Commandment are faith, hope and love. As I
said above,[12] such faith and confidence bring love and hope
with them. Nay, if we see it aright, love is the first, or comes
at the same instant with faith. For I could not trust God, if I
did not think that He wished to be favorable and to love me,
which leads me, in turn, to love Him and to trust Him heartily
and to look to Him for all good things.

[Sidenote: All Works Without Faith are Idolatry]

X. Now you see for yourself that all those who do not at at all
times trust God and do not in all their works or sufferings, life
and death, trust in His favor, grace and good-will, but seek His
favor in other things or in themselves, do not keep this
Commandment, and practise real idolatry, even if they were to do
the works of all the other Commandments, and in addition had all
the prayers, fasting, obedience, patience, chastity, and
innocence of all the saints combined. For the chief work is not
present, without which all the others are nothing but mere sham,
show and pretence, with nothing back of them; against which
Christ warns us, Matthew vii: "Beware of false prophets, which
come to you in sheep's clothing." [Matt. 7:15] Such are all who
wish with their many good works, as they say, to make God
favorable to themselves, and to buy God's grace from Him, as if
He were a huckster or a day-laborer, unwilling to give His grace
and favor for nothing. These are the most perverse people on
earth, who will hardly or never be converted to the right way.
Such too are all who in adversity run hither and thither, and
look for counsel