THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE (pt. 102)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE
for the
NEW JERUSALEM
FROM THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Emanuel Swedenborg
— Doctrinal Series —
(pt. 102)
A MAN OUGHT TO SHUN EVILS AS SINS
AND FIGHT AGAINST THEM AS OF HIMSELF

The Lord loves man and wills to dwell with him, yet He cannot love him and dwell with him unless He is received and loved in return. From this alone comes conjunction. For this reason the Lord has given man freedom and reason — freedom to think and will as of himself, and reason in accordance with which he may do so.

To love and to be conjoined with one in whom there is nothing reciprocal is not possible, nor is it possible to enter in and abide with one in whom there is no reception.

As there are in man, from the Lord, reception and reciprocation, the Lord says:
• Abide in Me, and I in you (John 15:4).
• He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit (John 15:5).
• At that day ye shall know that ye are in Me, and I in you (John 14:20).

The Lord also teaches that He is in the truths and in the goods that a man receives, and that are in him:
• If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you. If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love (John 15:7, 10).
• He that hath My commandments, and doeth them, he it is that loveth Me and I will love him, and will make My abode with him (John 14:21, 23).

So that the Lord dwells in a man in what is His own, and the man dwells in those things which are from the Lord, and thus dwells in the Lord.

(LIFE 102)