I.) 1. First, The love of God. For thus saith his word, _Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength_. Such a love is this, as engrosses the whole heart, as takes up all the affections, as fills the entire capacity of the soul, and employs the utmost extent of all its faculties. He that thus loves the Lord his God, his spirit continually _rejoiceth in God his Saviour_. His _delight_ is _in the Lord, his_ Lord and his all, to whom _in every thing he giveth thanks. All_ his _desire is unto God, and to the remembrance of his name_. His heart is ever crying out, _Whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee_. Indeed, what can he desire beside God? Not the world, or the things of the world. For he _is crucified to the world, and the world crucified to him_. He is crucified to the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eye, and the pride of life. Yea, he is dead to pride of every kind: for _love is not puffed up_; but he that dwelling in love, _dwelleth in God, and God in him_, is less than nothing in his own eyes.
II.) 2. The second thing implied in the being _altogether a Christian_ is, the love of our neighbour. For thus said our Lord in the following words, _Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself_. If any man ask who is my neighbour, we reply, every man in the world; every child of his, who is _the father of the spirits of all flesh_. Nor may we in any wise except our enemies, or the enemies of God and their own souls. But every Christian loveth these also as himself, yea, _as Christ loved us_. He that would more fully understand what manner of love this is, may consider St. _Paul’s_ description of it. It is _long-suffering and kind: it envieth not: it is not rash or hasty in judging: it is not puffed up_, but maketh him that loves, the least, the servant of all. Love _doth not behave itself unseemly_, but _becometh all things to all men_. She _seeketh not her own_, but only the good of others, that they may be saved. Love _is not provoked_. It casteth out wrath, which he who hath, is wanting in love. It _thinketh no evil_. It _rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth_. It _covereth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things_.
III.) 3. There is yet one thing more that may be separately considered, tho’ it cannot actually be separate from the preceding, which is implied in the being _altogether a Christian_. And that is the ground of all, even faith. Very excellent things are spoken of this throughout the oracles of God. _Every one_, saith the beloved disciple, _that believeth, is born of God. To as many as received him, gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name._ And, _this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith_. Yea, our Lord himself declares, _He that believeth in the Son hath everlasting life; and cometh not into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life_.
4. But here let no man deceive his own soul. “It is diligently to be noted, the faith which bringeth not forth repentance and love, and all good works, is not that right living faith, but a dead and devilish one. For even the devils believe, that Christ was born of a virgin, that he wrought all kinds of miracles, declaring himself very God: that for our sakes he suffered a most painful death, to redeem us from death everlasting: that he rose again the third day: that he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father, and at the end of the world, shall come again to judge both the quick and dead. These articles of our faith the devils believe, and so they believe all that is written in the Old and New Testament. And yet for all this faith, they be but devils. They remain still in their damnable estate, lacking the very true Christian faith.”[5]
5. “The right and true Christian faith is (to go on in the words of our own church) not only to believe that holy scripture, and the articles of our faith are true, but also to have a sure trust and confidence, to be saved from everlasting damnation by Christ. It is a sure trust and confidence which a man hath in God, that by the merits of Christ his sins _are_ forgiven, and he reconciled to the favour of God,――whereof doth follow a loving heart, to obey his commandments.”