Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
All regeneration or new life, thus salvation, is from the Lord alone, is indeed known in the church, but is believed by few, for the reason that men are not in the good of charity. It is as impossible for those who are not in the good of charity to have this belief, as it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle; for the good of charity is the very ground for the seeds of faith.Truth and good agree, but truth and evil never: they are of a contrary nature and are averse one to the other. For this reason, so far as a man is in good, so far he can be in truth; or so far as he is in charity, so far he can be in faith; especially in this chief point of faith, that all salvation is from the Lord.
That this is the chief point of faith, is evident from many passages in the Word, as in John:
God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16).Again:
He that believeth in the Son hath eternal life, but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him (John 3:36).Again:
This is the work of God, that ye believe in Him whom the Father hath sent (John 6:29)Again:
This is the will of Him that sent Me, that everyone that seeth the Son, and believeth in Him, should have eternal life; and I will raise Him up at the last day (John 6:40).Again:
Except ye believe that I am, ye shall die in your sins (John 8:24).Again:
I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in Me, though he die, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die (John 11:25-26).That no one can believe in the Lord unless he is in good, that is, that no one can have faith unless he is in charity, is also evident in John:
As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become children of God, to them that believe in His name; who were born not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:12-13).And again:
I am the vine, ye are the branches; he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit, for without Me ye can do nothing. If one abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered. As the Father hath loved Me, I also have loved you; abide ye in My love. This is My commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you (John 15:5-6, 9, 12).From these passages, it can be seen that love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor are the life of faith. But that they who are in evil, that is, in a life of evil, cannot possibly believe that all salvation is from the Lord, has been made evident to me from those who had come into the other life from the Christian world; and also from those who in the life of the body had confessed with the mouth and had even taught, according to the doctrinal tenet of faith, that without the Lord there is no salvation, and yet had led a life of evil. These, when the Lord was merely named, forthwith filled the sphere with endless difficulties (for in the other life that which spirits merely think is perceived, and diffuses from itself a sphere, in which it becomes manifest in what kind of faith they are; Note here Arcana Coelestia 1394:
It is owing to the existence of such perception as enables one to know in an instant what is the quality of another in respect to love and faith, that spirits and angels are joined together into societies in accordance with their agreement, and are separated from fellowship according to their disagreement; and this so exquisitely that there is not the smallest difference which does not dissociate or consociate. Hence the societies in the heavens are so distinct from one another that nothing can be conceived to be more so; and this in accordance with all the differences of love to the Lord, and of faith in Him, which cannot be numbered. Hence comes the form of heaven, which is such as to represent one man; and this form is continually being perfected.Among the same, when love or charity was merely mentioned, there was perceived from them something as it were full of darkness and at the same time clotted from a kind of filthy love; which thing was of such a nature as to extinguish, suffocate, and pervert all perception of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor. Such is the faith at this day, which they say saves without the good of charity.
The same also on being asked what faith they had (since they had not that which they had professed in the life of the body) said (for in the other life no one can conceal what he thinks) that they believed in God the Creator of the universe. But when they were examined in order to see whether it was so, it was found that they did not believe in any God, but thought that all things are of nature and that all things that have been said about eternal life are empty and worthless. Such is the faith of all those within the Church who do not believe in the Lord but say that they believe in God the Creator of the universe.
For truth can flow in from no other source than the Lord; nor can truth be inseminated in anything except the good which is from the Lord.That it is the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding by means of which and from which come life and salvation, is very well known from the words of the Holy Supper: "This is My Body;" "this is My Blood;" which is the Lord's Divine Human; and it is evident that all the Holy is from this. Whether you say His Divine Human, or His Body, or His Flesh, or the Bread, or the Divine Love, it is the same; for the Lord's Divine Human is pure Love, and the Holy is of love alone, and from this is derived the Holy of faith.
(from Arcana Coelestia 2343:3-9;1394)