ALBEIT that Good Works, which are the fruits of Faith, and follow after Justification, cannot put away our sins, and endure the severity of God's Judgement; yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, and do spring out necessarily of a true and lively Faith; insomuch that by them a lively Faith may be as evidently known as a tree discerned by the fruit.
So why not live a riotous life and repent on your death bed? Two problems occur. Firstly, if this was your plan all along then a wise all-knowing, all-seeing God might rumble it. Secondly, not all are fortunate enough to die in bed with family gathered (see previous discussion of what car? Splat).
O'Donovan tells us that the Reformers' doctrine of justification is of moral union with Christ. It is an attack on individualism, especially ethical individualism. Good works, which are akin to a tree bearing fruit and therefore suggestive of a certain inevitability, are acceptable 'in Christ'. They spring out of a believer being united with Christ (and, I would add, thus united with other believers).
It follows that a church where a small number of people are known to have contributed a lot to society will acquire the church a good reputation, even if many are just per-fillers.
What led priests to become Christians in the early church? Luke tells us that a singular influence was the observation that the leaders went to some trouble to organise a fair system for support of widows.
As Matthew put it in his Gospel, 'By their fruits you will know them'. Fruit is the material of numerical growth.
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