February 28, 2019

TEMPTATION (pt. 1)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
TEMPTATION
(pt. 1)



Those only who are being regenerated, undergo spiritual temptations; for spiritual temptations are pains of mind induced by evil spirits, with those who are in goods and truths. While those spirits excite the evils which are with them, there arises the anxiety of temptation. Man does not know whence this anxiety comes, because he does not know this origin.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 187)

February 27, 2019

REGENERATION (pt. 10)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
REGENERATION
(pt. 10)



The man who is regenerated is, as to his internal man, in heaven, and is an angel there with the angels, among whom he also comes after death; he is then able to live the life of heaven, to love the Lord, to love the neighbor, to understand truth, to relish good, and to perceive the happiness thence derived.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 182)

February 26, 2019

REGENERATION (pt. 9)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
REGENERATION
(pt. 9)



The internal man is first regenerated by the Lord, and afterwards the external, and the latter by means of the former. For the internal man is regenerated by thinking those things which are of faith and charity, but the external by a life according to them. This is meant by the words of the Lord:
Unless anyone be begotten of water and the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:5).
"Water," in the spiritual sense, is the truth of faith, and "the spirit" is a life according to it
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 181)

February 25, 2019

REGENERATION (pt. 8)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
REGENERATION
(pt. 8)



What it is for the internal man to rule and the external to serve, and vice versa, may be illustrated by this:

• If a man places all his good in pleasure, in gain, and in pride, and has delight in hatred and revenge, and inwardly in himself seeks for reasons which confirm them, then the external man rules and the internal serves.

• But when a man perceives good and delight in thinking and willing well, sincerely, and justly, and in outwardly speaking and doing in like manner, then the internal man rules and the external serves.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 180)

February 24, 2019

REGENERATION (pt. 7)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
REGENERATION
(pt. 7)



Everyone has an internal man and an external man; the internal is what is called the spiritual man, and the external is what is called the natural man, and each is to be regenerated, that the man may be regenerated.

With the man who is not regenerated, the external or natural man rules, and the internal serves; but with the man who is regenerated, the internal or spiritual man rules, and the external serves.

Whence it is manifest that the order of life is inverted with man from his birth, namely, that serves which ought to rule, and that rules which ought to serve.

In order that man may be saved, this order must be inverted; and this inversion can by no means exist, but by regeneration from the Lord.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 179)

February 23, 2019

REGENERATION (pt. 6)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
REGENERATION
(pt. 6)



No man can be regenerated unless he knows such things as are of the new life, that is, of spiritual life. ... These he must learn from revelation.

As that:
• the Lord, who is God from eternity, came into the world to save the human race;
• He has all power in heaven and in earth;
• the all of faith and the all of charity, thus all truth and good, is from Him; that there is a heaven, and a hell;
• man is to live to eternity, in heaven if he has done well, in hell if he has done evil.
These and many other things belong to faith, which the man who is regenerating ought to know; for he who knows them, may think them, afterwards will them, and lastly do them, and so have new life. Whilst he who does not know that the Lord is the Savior of the human race, cannot have faith in Him, love Him, and thus do good for the sake of Him. He who does not know that all good is from Him, cannot think that his own salvation is from Him, still less can he will it to be so, thus he cannot live from Him. He who does not know that there is a hell and a heaven, nor that there is eternal life, cannot even think about the life of heaven, nor apply himself to receive it, and so in other cases.
(from The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 177, 178)

February 22, 2019

REGENERATION (pt. 5)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
REGENERATION
(pt. 5)



No man can be regenerated unless he knows such things as are of the new life, that is, of spiritual life. The things which are of the new life, or which are of the spiritual life, are truths which are to be believed and goods which are to be done; the former are of faith, the latter of charity. These things no one can know from himself, for man apprehends only those things which are obvious to the senses, from which he procures to himself a light which is called natural light, from which he sees nothing else than what relates to the world and to self, but not the things which relate to heaven and to God. These he must learn from revelation.

As that:
• the Lord, who is God from eternity, came into the world to save the human race;
• He has all power in heaven and in earth;
• the all of faith and the all of charity, thus all truth and good, is from Him; that there is a heaven, and a hell;
• man is to live to eternity, in heaven if he has done well, in hell if he has done evil.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 177)

February 21, 2019

REGENERATION (pt. 4)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
REGENERATION
(pt. 4)



Man continually inclines to, and lapses into, what he derives from heredity: hence he confirms with himself that evil, and also superadds more from himself. These evils are altogether contrary to spiritual life; they destroy it; wherefore, unless man receives new life, which is spiritual life, from the Lord, thus unless he is conceived anew, is born anew, is educated anew, that is, is created anew, he is damned; for he wills nothing else, and thence thinks nothing else, but what is of self and the world, in like manner as they do in hell.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 176)

February 20, 2019

REGENERATION (pt. 3)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
REGENERATION
(pt. 3)



Every man is born of his parents into the evils of the love of self and of the world. Every evil, which by habit has acquired as it were a nature, is derived into the offspring; thus it descends successively from parents, from grandfathers, and from great-grandfathers, in a long series backwards; whence the derivation of evil at length becomes so great, that the whole of man's own life is nothing else but evil. This continual derivation of evil is not broken and altered, except by the life of faith and charity from the Lord.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 175)

February 19, 2019

REGENERATION (pt. 2)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
REGENERATION
(pt. 2)



Man is not born of his parents into spiritual life, but into natural life. Spiritual life consists in loving God above all things, and in loving his neighbor as himself, and this according to the precepts of faith, which the Lord has taught in the Word. But natural life consists in loving ourselves and the world more than the neighbor, yea, more than God Himself.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 174)

February 18, 2019

REGENERATION (pt. 1)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
REGENERATION
(pt. 1)

He who does not receive spiritual life, that is, who is not begotten anew by the Lord, cannot come into heaven; which the Lord teaches in John:
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except anyone be begotten again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (3:3)
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 173)

February 17, 2019

REPENTANCE AND THE REMISSION OF SINS (pt. 9)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
REPENTANCE AND THE REMISSION OF SINS
(pt. 9)

After a man has explored himself, and acknowledged his sins, and has done the work of repentance, he must remain constant in good even to the end of life. For if he afterwards relapses into his former life of evil and embraces it, he then profanes, for he then conjoins evil with good; whence his latter state becomes worse than his former, according to the words of the Lord:
When the unclean spirit goes out from a man, he walks through dry places, seeking rest, but doth not find; then he saith, I will return into my house whence I went out; and when he cometh and findeth it empty, and swept, and adorned for him, then he goeth away, and adjoineth to himself seven other spirits worse than himself, and, entering in, they dwell there, and the latter things of the man become worse than the first (Matt. 12:43-45).
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 169)

February 16, 2019

REPENTANCE AND THE REMISSION OF SINS (pt. 8)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
REPENTANCE AND THE REMISSION OF SINS
(pt. 8)

The repentance which takes place in a free state is of avail, but that which takes place in a state of compulsion is of no avail. States of compulsion are states of sickness, states of dejection of mind from misfortune, states of imminent death, as also every state of fear which takes away the use of reason. He who is evil, and in a state of compulsion promises repentance, and also does good, when he comes into a free state returns to his former life of evil; it is otherwise with the good.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 168)

February 15, 2019

REPENTANCE AND THE REMISSION OF SINS (pt. 7)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
REPENTANCE AND THE REMISSION OF SINS
(pt. 7)

• The signs that sins are remitted, that is, removed, are these which follow.

They whose sins are remitted, perceive a delight in worshiping God for the sake of God, and in serving their neighbor for the sake of their neighbor, thus in doing good for the sake of good, and in speaking truth for the sake of truth; they are unwilling to claim merit by anything of charity and faith; they shun and are averse to evils, as enmities, hatreds, revenges, adulteries, and the very thoughts of such things with intention.

• But the signs that sins are not remitted, that is, removed, are these which follow.

They whose sins are not remitted, worship God not for the sake of God, and serve the neighbor not for the sake of the neighbor, thus they do not do good and speak truth for the sake of good and truth, but for the sake of themselves and the world; they wish to claim merit by their deeds; they perceive nothing undelightful in evils, as in enmity, in hatred, in revenge, in adulteries; and they think of them and concerning them in all license.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 167)

February 14, 2019

REPENTANCE AND THE REMISSION OF SINS (pt. 6)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
REPENTANCE AND THE REMISSION OF SINS
(pt. 6)

It is believed that sins are washed away, or are washed off, as filth is by water, when they are remitted; but sins are not washed away, but they are removed; that is, man is withheld from them when he is kept in good by the Lord; and when he is kept in good, it appears as if he were without them, thus as if they were washed away; and so far as man is reformed, so far he is capable of being kept in good. ... He who believes that sins are in any other manner remitted, is much deceived.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 166)

February 13, 2019

REPENTANCE AND THE REMISSION OF SINS (pt. 5)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
REPENTANCE AND THE REMISSION OF SINS
(pt. 5)

Repentance of the mouth and not of the life is not repentance. Sins are not remitted by repentance of the mouth, but by repentance of the life. Sins are continually remitted to man by the Lord, for He is mercy itself, but sins adhere to man, however he may suppose that they are remitted; nor are they removed from him but by a life according to the precepts of true faith. So far as he lives according to them, so far sins are removed; and so far as they are removed, so far they are remitted.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 165)

February 12, 2019

REPENTANCE AND THE REMISSION OF SINS (pt. 4)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
REPENTANCE AND THE REMISSION OF SINS
(pt. 4)

The man who explores himself that he may do the work of repentance, must explore his thoughts and the intentions of his will, and must there explore what he would do if it were permitted him, that is, if he were not afraid of the laws, and of the loss of reputation, honor, and gain. There the evils of man reside, and the evils which he does in the body are all from thence.

They who do not explore the evils of their thought and will, cannot do the work of repentance, for they think and will afterwards as they did before, and yet to will evils is to do them. This is to explore one's self.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 164)

February 11, 2019

REPENTANCE AND THE REMISSION OF SINS (pt. 3)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
REPENTANCE AND THE REMISSION OF SINS
(pt. 3)

He who lives the life of charity and faith does the work of repentance daily; he reflects upon the evils which are with him, he acknowledges them, he guards against them, he supplicates the Lord for help. For man of himself continually lapses, but he is continually raised by the Lord, and led to good. Such is the state of those who are in good. But they who are in evil lapse continually, and are also continually elevated by the Lord, but are only withdrawn from falling into the most grievous evils, to which of themselves they tend with all their endeavor.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 163)

February 10, 2019

REPENTANCE AND THE REMISSION OF SINS (pt. 2)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
REPENTANCE AND THE REMISSION OF SINS
(pt. 2)

He who only acknowledges universally that he is a sinner, and makes himself guilty of all evils, and yet does not explore himself, that is, see his own sins, makes confession, but not the confession of repentance; he, because he does not know his own evils, lives afterwards as he did before.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 162)

February 9, 2019

REPENTANCE AND THE REMISSION OF SINS (pt. 1)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
REPENTANCE AND THE REMISSION OF SINS
(pt. 1)

He who would be saved must confess his sins, and do the work of repentance.

• To confess sins, is to know evils, to see them in one's self, to acknowledge them, to make himself guilty, and to condemn himself on account of them. When this is done before God, it is the confession of sins.

• To do the work of repentance, is to desist from sins after he has thus confessed them, and from a humble heart has made supplication for remission, and to live a new life according to the precepts of charity and faith.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 159-161)

February 8, 2019

MERIT (pt. 8)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
MERIT
(pt. 8)

To think and believe that they who do good will come into heaven, and also that good is to be done in order that they may come into heaven, is not to regard reward as an end, thus neither is it to place merit in works; for even they who do good from the Lord think and believe so, but they who thus think, believe and do, and are not in the love of good for the sake of good, have regard to reward as an end, and place merit in works.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 157)
In the manuscript, the author, Emanuel Swedenborg, annexed to each section of the doctrine extracts from the  Arcana Coelestia, because in the  Arcana Coelestia the same things are more fully explained.  Arcana Coelestia is available in print or online.

February 7, 2019

MERIT (pt. 7)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
MERIT
(pt. 7)

The delight itself, which is in the love of doing good without an end to reward, is a reward which remains to eternity, for heaven and eternal happiness are insinuated into that good by the Lord.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 156)
In the manuscript, the author, Emanuel Swedenborg, annexed to each section of the doctrine extracts from the  Arcana Coelestia, because in the  Arcana Coelestia the same things are more fully explained.  Arcana Coelestia is available in print or online.

February 6, 2019

MERIT (pt. 6)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
MERIT
(pt. 6)

Because all good and truth are from the Lord, and nothing of them from man, and because good from man is not good, it follows that merit belongs to no man, but to the Lord alone.

The merit of the Lord consists in this, that from His own power He has saved the human race, and also, that He saves those who do good from Him.

Hence it is that in the Word, he is called "just" to whom the merit and justice of the Lord are ascribed, and he is called "unjust" to whom are ascribed his own justice and the merit of self.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 155)
In the manuscript, the author, Emanuel Swedenborg, annexed to each section of the doctrine extracts from the  Arcana Coelestia, because in the  Arcana Coelestia the same things are more fully explained.  Arcana Coelestia is available in print or online.

February 5, 2019

MERIT (pt. 5)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
MERIT
(pt. 5)

That good is not to be done for the sake of reward, the Lord Himself teaches in Luke:
If ye love those who love you, what grace have you? for sinners do the same; rather love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing; then shall your reward be great, and ye shall be the sons of the Most High (6:32-35).
That man cannot do good that is good from himself, the Lord also teaches in John:
A man cannot take anything unless it be given Him from heaven (3:27).
And in another place:
Jesus said, I am the vine, ye are the branches: as the branch cannot bear fruit from itself, unless it shall abide in the vine, so neither can ye unless ye shall abide in Me: He who abideth in Me and I in him, he beareth much fruit, for except from Me ye cannot do anything (15:4-8).
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 154)
In the manuscript, the author, Emanuel Swedenborg, annexed to each section of the doctrine extracts from the  Arcana Coelestia, because in the  Arcana Coelestia the same things are more fully explained.  Arcana Coelestia is available in print or online.

February 4, 2019

MERIT (pt. 4)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
MERIT
(pt. 4)

Genuine charity and genuine faith is without any merit, for good itself is the delight of charity, and truth itself is the delight of faith; wherefore they who are in that charity and faith know what good not meritorious is, but not they who are not in charity and faith.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 153)
In the manuscript, the author, Emanuel Swedenborg, annexed to each section of the doctrine extracts from the  Arcana Coelestia, because in the  Arcana Coelestia the same things are more fully explained.  Arcana Coelestia is available in print or online.

February 3, 2019

MERIT (pt. 3)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
MERIT
(pt. 3)

They who do good for the sake of reward, do not do good from the Lord, but from themselves, for they regard themselves in the first place, because they regard their own good; and the good of the neighbor, which is the good of fellow-citizens, of human society, of the country, and of the church, they regard no otherwise than as a means to an end. Hence it is, that the good of the love of self and of the world lies concealed in the good of merit, and that good is from man and not from the Lord, and all good which is from man is not good; yea, so far as self and the world lies concealed in it, it is evil.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 152)
In the manuscript, the author, Emanuel Swedenborg, annexed to each section of the doctrine extracts from the  Arcana Coelestia, because in the  Arcana Coelestia the same things are more fully explained.  Arcana Coelestia is available in print or online.

February 2, 2019

MERIT (pt. 2)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
MERIT
(pt. 2)

To do good, which is good, must be from the love of good, thus for the sake of good. They who are in that love are not willing to hear of merit, for they love to do, and perceive satisfaction therein, and, on the other hand, they are sorrowful if it be believed that what they do is for the sake of anything of themselves. This is almost like those who do good to their friends for the sake of friendship; to a brother for the sake of brotherhood, to wife and children for the sake of wife and children, to the country for the sake of the country, thus from friendship and love. They who think well, also say and insist, that they do not do good for the sake of themselves, but for the sake of others.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 151)
In the manuscript, the author, Emanuel Swedenborg, annexed to each section of the doctrine extracts from the  Arcana Coelestia, because in the  Arcana Coelestia the same things are more fully explained.  Arcana Coelestia is available in print or online.

February 1, 2019

MERIT (pt. 1)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
MERIT
(pt. 1)

They who do good that they may merit, do not do good from the love of good, but from the love of reward, for he who wills to merit, wills to be rewarded; they who do so, regard and place their delight in the reward, and not in good; wherefore they are not spiritual, but natural.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 150)
In the manuscript, the author, Emanuel Swedenborg, annexed to each section of the doctrine extracts from the  Arcana Coelestia, because in the  Arcana Coelestia the same things are more fully explained.  Arcana Coelestia is available in print or online.