Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
All things of the church are perverted when the good of charity, which is the good of life, is separated and removed from faith as not contributing and effecting anything to salvation. Thereby all things of the Word and thence all things of the church are falsified, for the Lord says that the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments,To love God above all things, and the neighbor as thyself.These two commandments signify to live and act according to the commandments of the Word; for to love is to will and to do, since what a man interiorly loves, that he wills, and what he wills that he does. "The law and the prophets" signify all things of the Word.
There are two principles of evil and falsity into which the church successively falls.
• One is dominion over all things of the church and of heaven, which dominion is meant in the Word by "Babel" or "Babylonia;" into this the church falls by reason of evil"The dragon" especially signifies the religion of faith separate from charity — some things whereby the defenders of faith separate seduce the world: —
• The other is the separation of faith from charity, in consequence of which separation all the good of life perishes; (this is meant in the Word by "Philistia," and is signified by "the he-goat" in Daniel, and by "the dragon" in Revelation; into this the church falls by reason of falsity.)
They especially seduce by teaching that as from oneself no one can do good that is in itself good, or can do good without placing merit in it, so good works can contribute nothing to salvation; nevertheless, goods should be done on account of use for the public good, and these are the goods that are meant in the Word and thence in preachings, and in some of the prayers of the church.
How great an error this is shall now be told.
When a man does good from the Word, that is, because it is commanded by the Lord in the Word, he does it not from himself but from the Lord, for the Lord is the Word (John 1:1, 14), and the Lord is in those things that man has from the Word, as He teaches in these words in John:
He that keepeth My Word, I will come unto him and will make My abode with him (John 14:23).This is why the Lord so often commands that His words and commandments must be done; and that those who do them shall have eternal life; so also that everyone will be judged according to his works. From this it then follows that those who do good from the Word do good from the Lord, and good from the Lord is truly good, and so far as it is from the Lord there is no merit in it.
That good from the Word, thus from the Lord, is truly good, is evident also from these words in Revelation:
I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with Me (Rev. 3:20).This shows that the Lord is always and continually present and bestows the effort to do good, but that man must open the door, that is, must receive the Lord; and he receives Him when he does good from His Word. Although this appears to man to be done as of himself, yet it is not of man but of the Lord in him. It so appears to man because he has no other feeling than that he thinks from himself and acts from himself; and yet when he thinks and acts from the Word he does it as if of himself, therefore he then also believes that he does it of the Lord.
From this it can be seen that the good that a man does from the Word is spiritual good, and that this conjoins man to the Lord and to heaven.
But the good that a man does for the world's sake and for the sake of the communities in the world, which is called civil and moral good, conjoins him to the world and not to heaven.
Moreover, the conjunction of the truth of faith is with spiritual good, which is the good of charity towards the neighbor, because faith in itself is spiritual, and what is spiritual cannot be conjoined with any other good than what is equally spiritual. But civil and moral good, separate from spiritual good, is not good in itself, because it is from man; yea, so far as self and the world lie concealed in it, it is evil; this good, therefore, cannot be conjoined with faith, yea, if it were to be conjoined faith would be dissipated.
(from Apocalypse Explained 741:1-4)