Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
What It is to Act According to Divine Order, and What Not to Act According to it
Everything that is done according to Divine order is inwardly open even to the Lord, and thus has heaven in it; but everything that is not done according to Divine order is inwardly closed, and thus has not heaven in it.
Therefore, Divine order is for the Lord to flow in through the interiors of man into his exteriors, thus through the will of man into his action. This takes place when the man is in good, that is, when he is in the affection of doing good for the sake of good, and not for the sake of himself.
When a man does good for the sake of himself, and not for the sake of good, his interiors are closed, and he cannot be led of the Lord by means of heaven, but he is led by himself.
The love determines by whom he is led, for everyone is led by his love.
He who loves himself more than his neighbor, leads himself; but he who loves good is led by good, consequently by the Lord from whom is good.From all this it can be seen what the difference is between living according to order, and not living according to it.
How a man must live for it to be according to order, the Word teaches, and the doctrine of faith from the Word. He who does not look beyond external things cannot possibly apprehend this; for he knows not what that which is internal is, scarcely that there is anything internal, and still less that this internal can be opened, and that when it is opened, heaven is therein. The intelligent of the world are especially in this ignorance, and those of them who hold that there is something internal, nevertheless have no idea, or a fatuous idea, about it. Hence it is that they believe but little, and moreover apply their knowledges to confirm that all things are of nature.
Everyone ought to be led to Christian good, which is called "charity," through the truth of faith; for the truth of faith will teach not only what charity is, but also what its nature must be; and unless he learns this first from the doctrine of his church (for he cannot possibly know it from himself), he cannot be prepared and thus adapted to receive this good.
For example: he must know from the doctrine of faith, that it is not of charity to do what is good for the sake of self, or for the sake of recompense, thus not to merit salvation through works of charity; he must also know that all the good of charity is from the Lord, and nothing at all from self; besides many other things which instruct what charity is, and what its quality must be.
From these considerations, it can be seen that —
A man cannot be led to Christian good except through the truths which are of faith.A man must know further that truths do not of themselves enter into good, but that good adopts truths and adjoins them to itself; for the truths of faith lie in the memory of a man, as in a field extended beneath the interior sight. Good from the Lord flows in through this sight, and chooses from them, and conjoins with itself, the truths which are in agreement with it. The truths which lie beneath cannot flow into the good which is above; for it is quite contrary to order, and even impossible, for the lower to flow into the higher.
From all this it can now be known how Christian good is born with a man when he is being regenerated, and therefore also what must be the quality of the man when he has been regenerated, namely, —
He acts from good, but not from truth; that is, that he is led of the Lord by means of good, and no longer by means of truth; for he is then in charity, that is, in the affection of doing this good.All who are in heaven are so led, for this is according to Divine order; and thus all things which they think and act flow, as it were spontaneously and from freedom. It would be quite different if they were to think from truth and to act from it; for then they would think whether a thing ought to be so done, or not, and they would thus come to a standstill in every detail, and thereby would obscure the light they have, and finally they would act according to those things which they themselves love, thus according to influx from those things which favor their loves, which is to be led by themselves, and not by the Lord.
(from Arcana Coelestia 8513, 8516)