Excerpts from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
That charity is the "brother" of faith is evident to everyone from the nature or essence of faith. This brotherhood was represented by Esau and Jacob and was the ground of their dispute about the birthright and the consequent dominion.For both faith and charity are the offspring of the church.
The union of faith and charity is called "the covenant of brethren" (Amos 1:9).Jacob was desirous of supplanting his brother Esau, as is evident also in Hosea:
To visit upon Jacob his ways, according to his doings will He recompense him; he supplanted his brother in the womb (Hos. 12:2-3).But that Esau, or the charity represented by Esau, should nevertheless at length have the dominion, appears from the prophetic prediction of their father Isaac:
By thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass, when thou hast the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck (Gen. 27:40)Or what is the same, the Church of the Gentiles, or new church, is represented by Esau, and the Jewish Church is represented by Jacob; and this is the reason for its being so often said that the Jews should acknowledge the Gentiles as brethren; and in the Church of the Gentiles, or primitive church, all were called brethren, from charity.
Such as hear the Word and do it are likewise called brethren by the Lord (Luke 8:21)Those who hear are such as have faith; those who do are such as have charity; but those who hear, or say that they have faith, and do not, or have not charity, are not brethren, for the Lord likens them unto fools
Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. (Matt. 7:21-27).
(from Arcana Coelestia 367)