According to Promise [Updated, Annotated]: Of Salvation, Life, and Eternity

The life of God within the soul creates an infinite difference between the person who has it and the one who does not;

O friend, if what you have within you is natural, and only natural, it will not save you! The inward work must be supernatural.

Let me now inquire as to your salvation. Are you saved by what you have done? Is your religion the product of your own natural strength? Do you feel able to achieve everything that salvation may require? Do you conclude yourself to be in a safe and happy condition because of your natural excellence and moral ability? Then you take after the manner

If you find that you are like Isaac, born according to the promise, remember that your name means “laughter,” for that is the interpretation of the Hebrew name Isaac. Take care that you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

Salvation by works is one thing; salvation by grace is another. Salvation by human strength is the opposite of salvation by divine power. Salvation by our own resolve is the opposite of salvation by the promise of God.

first part of this little book is meant to be a sieve to separate the chaff from the wheat. Use it on your own soul. It may be the most profitable and beneficial work you have ever done. He who looked into his accounts and found that his business was losing money was saved from bankruptcy. This may happen also to you. If, however, you discover that

There are times when, if I sit alone and think of the grace of God to me, the most undeserving of all His creatures, I am ready to laugh and cry at the same time for joy that the Lord should have ever looked in love and favor upon me.

They may look very much like children of God and yet still be children of wrath. Many unconverted people have beliefs which are similar to true biblical faith, and yet they do not have true faith. Certain people exhibit religious feelings which have the warmth of spiritual love, but are quite empty of God’s grace. Every grace can be counterfeited,