Man's Part in His Salvation

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

CONJUNCTION IS RECIPROCAL

Conjunction with the Lord is a reciprocal conjunction, that is, that the Lord is in man and man in the Lord. That conjunction is reciprocal, Scripture teaches and reason also sees.

As to His conjunction with His Father, the Lord teaches that it is reciprocal, for He says to Philip:

Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me (John 14:10, 11)

That ye may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father (John 10:38).

Jesus said, Father, the hour is come glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee (John 17:1).

Father, all things that are Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine (John 17:10).

The same is said by the Lord respecting His conjunction with man, namely, that it is reciprocal; for He says:

Abide in Me and I in you; he that abideth in Me and I in him, the same beareth much fruit (John 15:4, 6).

He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, abideth in Me and I in him (John 6:66).

In that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you (John 14:20).

He that keepeth the commandments of Christ abideth in Him, and He in him (1 John 3:24; 4:13).

Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth in him, and he in God (1 John 4:15)

If anyone hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me (Apoc. 3:20).

From these plain statements it is clear that the conjunction of the Lord and man is reciprocal; and because it is reciprocal it necessarily follows, that man ought to conjoin himself to the Lord, in order that the Lord may conjoin himself to man; and that otherwise conjunction is not effected, but withdrawal and a consequent separation, yet not on the Lord's part, but on man's part.

FREEDOM OF CHOICE

In order that such reciprocal conjunction may exist, there is granted to man freedom of choice, giving him the ability to walk in the way to heaven or in the way to hell. From this freedom that is given to man flows his ability to reciprocate, which enables him to conjoin himself with the Lord, and also with the devil. 

HYPOTHESES RESPECTING FAITH AND FREEDOM OF CHOICE

It is to be lamented that the reciprocal conjunction of the Lord and man, although it stands out so clearly in the Word, is unknown in the Christian church. It is unknown because of certain hypotheses respecting faith and freedom of choice. The hypothesis respecting faith is that it is bestowed upon man without his contributing anything toward the acquisition of it, or adapting and applying himself, any more than a stock, to the reception of it. The hypothesis respecting freedom of choice is that man does not possess a single grain of freedom of choice in spiritual things. But that the reciprocal conjunction of the Lord and man, on which depends the salvation of the human race, may not remain longer unknown, necessity itself enjoins its disclosure, which may be best effected by examples, because they illustrate.

EXAMPLES

There are two kinds of reciprocation by which conjunction is effected:

• One is alternate
• The other mutual.

The alternate reciprocation by which conjunction is effected, may be illustrated by the action of the lungs in breathing. Man draws in the air and thereby expands the chest; then he expels the inhaled air and thereby contracts the chest. This inhalation and the consequent expansion is effected by means of the pressure of the air proportionate to its column; while the expulsion and the consequent contraction are effected by means of the ribs by the power of the muscles. Such is the reciprocal conjunction of the air and the lungs, and on it depends the life of all bodily sense and motion, for these swoon when respiration ceases.

Reciprocal conjunction, which is effected by alteration, may also be illustrated by the conjunction of the heart with the lungs and of the lungs with the heart. The heart from its right chamber pours the blood into the lungs, and the lungs pour it back again into the left chamber of the heart; thus is that reciprocal conjunction effected on which the life of the whole body is altogether dependent. There is a like conjunction of the blood with the heart, and vice versa. The blood of the whole body flows through the veins into the heart, and from the heart it flows out through the arteries into the whole body; action and reaction effect this conjunction. There is a like action and reaction (by which there is a constant conjunction) between the embryo and the mother's womb.

NO SUCH RECIPROCAL CONJUNCTION OF THE LORD AND MAN

But there is no such reciprocal conjunction of the Lord and man. That is a mutual conjunction, which is effected not by action and reaction, but by cooperation. For the Lord acts, and from Him man receives action, and operates as if of himself, even by the Lord from himself. This operation of man from the Lord is imputed to him as his own, because he is held constantly by the Lord in freedom of choice. The freedom of choice resulting from this is the ability to will and to think from the Lord, that is, from the Word, and also the ability to will and to think from the devil, that is, contrary to the Lord and the Word. This freedom the Lord gives to man to enable him to conjoin himself reciprocally with the Lord, and by conjunction be gifted with eternal life and blessedness, since this, without reciprocal conjunction, would not be possible.

This reciprocal conjunction, which is mutual, may also be illustrated by various things in man and in the world. Such is the conjunction of soul and body in every man; such is the conjunction of will and action, also of thought and speech; such is the mutual conjunction of the two eyes, the two ears, and the two nostrils. That the mutual conjunction of the two eyes is in a manner reciprocal, is evident from the optic nerve, in which fibers from both hemispheres of the cerebrum are folded together, and thus folded together they extend to both eyes. It is the same with the ears and nostrils.

There exists a like reciprocal and mutual conjunction between light and the eye, between sound and the ear, odor and the nose, taste and the tongue, touch and the body; for the eye is in the light and the light in the eye, sound is in the ear and the ear in the sound, odor is in the nose and the nose in odor, taste is in the tongue and the tongue in taste, and touch is in the body and the body in touch. This reciprocal conjunction may also be compared to the conjunction of a horse and a carriage, an ox and a plough, a wheel and machinery, a sail and the wind, a musical pipe and the air; in short, such is the reciprocal conjunction of the end and the cause, and such also is that of the cause and the effect.

(True Christian Religion 371)

What Shall We Do?

Selection from Doctrine of Life ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?

Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.   (John 6:26-29)

Man has two faculties, one called the will and the other the understanding. They are distinct from each other, but they are so created that they may be one; and when they are one, they are called the mind. The human mind then, consists of these two faculties, and the whole life of man resides therein. As all things in the universe which are according to Divine order have relation to good and truth, so all things with man have relation to the will and the understanding —

• For good with man pertains to his will
• Truth with him pertains to his understanding.

For these two faculties are the receptacles and subjects of good and truth: the will is the receptacle and subject of all things belonging to good, and the understanding is the receptacle and subject of all things belonging to truth. Goods and truths with man reside nowhere else; nor, consequently, do love and faith, since love has relation to good, and good to love, while faith has relation to truth and truth to faith.

Nothing is of greater importance to know than how the will and the understanding constitute one mind.

They make one mind as good and truth make one; for there is between the will and the understanding a marriage similar to that between good and truth. The nature of this marriage was stated in some measure in the preceding article; and to this it should be added that, as good is the very being (esse) of a thing and truth is its consequent existing (existere), so the will with man is the very being (esse) of his life and the understanding is its consequent existing (existere); for good, which is of the will, forms itself in the understanding, and in a certain manner renders itself visible.

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They who are in good and truth have will and understanding, but they who are in evil and in falsity have not will and understanding; but instead of will they have cupidity, and instead of understanding they have science. For the truly human will is the receptacle of good, and the understanding is the receptacle of truth; for which reason will cannot be predicated of evil, nor can understanding be predicated of falsity, because they are opposites, and opposites destroy each other. Hence it is, that the man who is in evil and thence in falsity, cannot be called rational, wise, and intelligent.

With the evil, also, the interiors of the mind, in which the will and the understanding principally reside, are closed. It is believed that the evil also have will and understanding, because they say that they will, and that they understand; but their willing is only cupidity, and their understanding is only knowing.   (New Jerusalem and Heavenly Doctrine 33)

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There are many truths which appear to pertain to faith only; as, that there is a God, that the Lord, who is God, is the Redeemer and Saviour; that there is a heaven and a hell; that there is a life after death; and many others, of which it is not said that they are to be done, but that they are to be believed.

These truths which pertain to faith are also dead with the man who is principled in evil, but alive with the man who is principled in good.

The reason is, that the man who is principled in good does well from the will, and also thinks well from the understanding not only before the world but also before himself, when he is alone. It is otherwise with the man who is principled in evil.

It was stated that these truths appear to pertain to faith only; but the thought of the understanding derives its existence (existere) from the love of the will, and this love is the being (esse) of the thought in the understanding, as was said above.

For whatever any one wills from love, that he wills to do, wills to think, wills to understand and wills to speak; or what is the same thing, what any one loves from the will, this he loves to do, loves to think, loves to understand and loves to speak.

Moreover, when a man shuns evil as sin, he is then in the Lord and the Lord works all things. Therefore, to those who asked Him what they should do that they might work the works of God, the Lord said:

This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent. (John 6:28, 29).

To believe on the Lord is not only to think that He is, but also to do His words, as He teaches elsewhere.

(from Doctrine of Life 43; 47, 48)

Inheriting the Lord's Kingdom

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

WHAT IS EXTERNAL SHALL NOT BE THE HEIR OF THE LORD'S KINGDOM

To become an heir, or to inherit, signifies eternal life in the Lord's kingdom.

All who are in the Lord's kingdom are heirs; for they live from the Lord's life, which is the life of mutual love; and from this they are called sons. The Lord's sons or heirs are all who are in His life, because their life is from Him, and they are born of Him, that is, are regenerate. They who are born of anyone are heirs; and so are all who are being regenerated by the Lord, for in this case they receive His life.

In the Lord's kingdom there are those who are external, those who are interior, and those who are internal.

• Good spirits, who are in the first heaven, are external
• Angelic spirits, who are in the second heaven, are interior
• Angels, who are in the third, are internal.

They who are external are not so closely related or so near to the Lord, as they who are interior; nor are these so closely related or so near to the Lord, as they who are internal. The Lord, from the Divine love or mercy, wills to have all near to Himself; so that they do not stand at the doors, that is, in the first heaven; but He wills that they should be in the third; and, if it were possible, not only with Himself, but in Himself.
 
What pertains to doctrine does not itself make the external, still less the internal; nor with the Lord does it distinguish churches from each other, but that which does this is a life according to doctrinals, all of which, provided they are true, look to charity as their fundamental.

What is doctrine but that which teaches how a man must live?

The heir of the Lord's kingdom is not what is external, but what is internal. What is external is so too, but through what is internal, for they then act as a one. That it may be known how the case herein is, it is to be kept in mind that all who are in the heavens — as well those who are in the first and in the second, as those who are in the third, — that is, as well those who are external and those who are interior, as those who are internal — are heirs of the Lord's kingdom; for they all make one heaven. In the Lord's heavens, the internals and the externals are circumstanced exactly as they are in man.

The angels in the first heaven are subordinate to those in the second, and these are subordinate to the angels in the third heaven. The subordination, however, is not that of command, but is, as in a man, the influx of things internal into things more external; that is, the Lord's life inflows through the third heaven into the second, and through this into the first, in the order of their succession, besides that it inflows immediately into all the heavens. The inferior or subordinate angels do not know that this is so unless reflection is given them by the Lord; thus there is no subordination of command.

• In proportion to the existence of what is internal in an angel of the third heaven is he an heir of the Lord's kingdom;
• In proportion to the same in an angel of the second heaven is he an heir;
• In proportion to the existence of what is internal in an angel of the first heaven, is he too an heir.

It is that which is internal that causes anyone to be an heir.

With the interior angels there is more of what is internal than there is with the more external angels, and therefore the former are nearer to the Lord, and are more fully heirs. That which is internal is love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor; in proportion therefore to the love and the charity which they have, in the same proportion are they sons and heirs, for in the same proportion are they partakers of the Lord's life.

But no one can possibly be taken up from the first or external heaven into the second or interior heaven until he has been instructed in the goods of love and the truths of faith. So far as he has been instructed, so far he can be taken up, and can come among angelic spirits. It is the same with angelic spirits before they can be taken up or come into the third heaven, or among angels. By instruction the interiors are formed, and thereby the internals, and are adapted to receiving the goods of love and the truths of faith, and thereby the perception of what is good and true.

No one can perceive what he does not know and believe, consequently he cannot be gifted with the faculty of perceiving the good of love and the truth of faith except by means of knowledges, so as to know what they are and of what nature.

It is so with all, even with infants, who are all instructed in the Lord's kingdom. But these are easily instructed, because they are imbued with no principles of falsity; they are however instructed in general truths only; and when they receive these they perceive things without number or limit.

The case in this respect is the same as it is with one who has been persuaded respecting any truth in general:

The particulars of the general truths, and the singulars of the particulars, which are confirmatory, he easily learns, as it were of himself, or spontaneously; for he is affected by the truth in general, and thence also by the particulars and singulars of the same truth, which confirm; for these enter into the general affection with delight and pleasantness, and thus constantly perfect it.

These are the internal things on account of which they are called "heirs," or by means of which they can inherit the Lord's kingdom.

But they first begin to be heirs, or to have a heritage, when they are in the affection of good, that is, in mutual love, into which they are introduced by the knowledges of good and truth, and by the affections of them; and in proportion as they are in the affection of good, or in mutual love, in the same proportion are they "heirs," or have an inheritance. For mutual love is the veriest life [vitale] which they receive from the Lord's essence, as from their Father.

(from Arcana Coelestia 1799; 1802)