ands by
the truth, though it cost life or cloak, though it be against pope or
kings; as we see that the martyrs did. For such a heart is satisfied
and rests easy because it has a gracious, loving God. Therefore it
despises all the favor, grace, goods and honor of men, lets them come
and go as they please; as is written in Psalm xv: "He contemneth them
that contemn God, and honoreth them that fear the Lord"; that is, the
tyrants, the mighty, who persecute the truth and despise God, he does
not fear, he does not regard them, he despiseth them; on the other
hand, those who are persecuted for the truth's sake, and fear God more
than men, to these he clings, these he defends, these he honors, let it
vex whom it may; as it is written of Moses, Hebrews xi, that he stood
by his brethren, regardless of the mighty king of Egypt.

Lo, in this Commandment again you see briefly that faith must be the
master-workman in this work also, so that without it no one has courage
to do this work: so entirely are all works comprised in faith, as has
now been often said. Therefore, apart from faith all works are dead,
however good the form and name they bear. For as no one does the work
of this Commandment except he be firm and fearless in the confidence of
divine favor; so also he does no work of any other Commandment without
the same faith: thus every one may easily by this Commandment test and
weigh himself whether he be a Christian and truly believe in Christ,
and thus whether he is doing good works or no. Now we see how the
Almighty God has not only set our Lord Jesus Christ before us that we
should believe in Him with such confidence, but also holds before us in
Him an example of this same confidence and of such good works, to the
end that we should believe in Him, follow Him and abide in Him forever;
as He says, John xiv: "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life,"--the Way,
in which we follow Him; the Truth, that we believe in Him; the Life,
that we live in Him forever.

From all this it is now manifest that all other works, which are not
commanded, are perilous and easily known: such as building churches,
beautifying them, making pilgrimages, and all that is written at so
great length in the Canon Law and has misled and burdened the world and
ruined it, made uneasy consciences, silenced and weakened faith, and
has not said how a man, although he neglect all else, has enough to do
with all his powers to keep the Commandments of God, and c