Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
— The Doctrine of Charity and Faith —
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).The learned within the church call the Faith which saves, "trust" and "confidence," namely, that God the Father sent His Son in order to reconcile mankind to Himself, and thus to save those who have this Faith.
But in regard to the trust and confidence which is called Faith itself, the case is this. Those who are in the love of self and of the world, that is, those who are in evils and the consequent falsities, cannot have this Faith, for their heart is not toward God, but toward themselves and the world. Whereas those who are in charity toward the neighbor and in love to the Lord can have such Faith, for their heart is toward the Lord. This the Lord also teaches in John:
As many as received Him, to them gave He the power to be the sons of God, even to those who 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)those who are "born of bloods, of the will of the flesh, and of the will of man," are those who are in what is evil and false from the loves of self and of the world. And those who are "born of God" are those who are in the good of charity and of faith from the Lord.
(from Arcana Coelestia 5826)
There will be internal good and truth if there be spiritual good which is of the church.
The spiritual good which Israel represents is the good of truth, that is, truth in the will and in act. This truth, or this good of truth, in man, makes him to be the church. When truth has been implanted in the will (which is perceived by the fact that the man is affected with truth for the sake of the end that he may live according to it), then there is internal good and truth. When man is in this good and truth, then the kingdom of the Lord is in him, and consequently he is the church, and together with others like him makes the church in general.
From this it may be seen that in order that the church may be the church, there must be spiritual good, that is, the good of truth, but by no means truth alone — from which at this day the church is called the church, and one church is distinguished from another. Let everyone think within himself whether truth would be anything unless it had life for the end. What are doctrinal things without this end? and what the precepts of the Decalogue without a life according to them? For if anyone is acquainted with these, and with all their meaning in its fullness, and yet lives contrary to them, of what benefit are they? have they any effect at all? except, with some, damnation? The case is similar with the doctrinals of faith from the Word, which are precepts of Christian life, for they are spiritual laws. Neither do these conduce to anything unless they become of the life. Let a man consider within himself whether there is anything in him that is anything except what enters into his very life; and whether the life of man, which is life, is anywhere else than in his will.
From this then it is that it is said by the Lord in the Old Testament, and confirmed in the New, that all the Law and all the Prophets are founded in love to God, and love to the neighbor, thus in the life itself, but not in faith without life; therefore by no means in faith alone, consequently neither in confidence, for this is impossible without charity. If this appears with the evil in times of danger, or when death is at hand, it is a spurious or false confidence; for not the least of this confidence appears in them in the other life, however much they may have professed it with apparent ardor at the approach of death. That faith, whether you call it confidence or trust, effects nothing with the wicked, the Lord Himself teaches in John:The confidence which in an eminent sense is called Faith, appears like spiritual confidence even with the evil, when their life is in danger, and when they are sick. But as they then think about the state of their life after death, either from the fear of hell, or from the love of self of heaven, they have not the confidence of Faith; for what is from fear is not from the heart, and what is from the love of self is from an evil heart; and therefore when such persons come back out of mortal danger, or when they recover from disease, they return into their former life, which was a life of no confidence, that is, a life of no Faith. From this it is evident that the Faith which is called "confidence," is possible only with those who are in charity toward the neighbor, and in love to the Lord.As many as received, to them gave He the power to be sons 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).They who are "born of bloods" are those who do violence to charity, also who profane truth; they who are "born of the will of the flesh" are those who are in evils from the love of self and of the world; and they who are "born of the will of man" are those who are in persuasions of falsity; for a "man" signifies truth, and in the opposite sense falsity. They who are "born of God" are those who have been regenerated by the Lord, and thence are in good. These are they who receive the Lord, and these are they who believe in His name, and these are they to whom He gives the power to be sons of God, but not to the others; from which it is very plain what faith alone effects for salvation.
Moreover in order that man may be regenerated and become the church, he must be introduced through truth to good; and he is introduced when truth becomes truth in the will and in act. This truth is good, and is called the good of truth, and produces new truths continually; for then for the first time it makes itself fruitful. The truth which is thence brought forth or made fruitful is what is called internal truth, and the good from which it is, is called internal good; for nothing becomes internal until it has been implanted in the will, because what is of the will is the inmost of man. So long as good and truth are outside of the will, and in the understanding only, they are outside of the man; for the understanding is without, and the will is within.
Nor is the Faith which is meant by believing the things which are from God, that is, the truths which are from the Word, possible with those who are in evils from the love of self or the love of the world; for the love of self and of the world either rejects the truths of faith, or extinguishes, or perverts them.
(from Arcana Coelestia 7491, 7492)
The good of heavenly love and the truth of its faith continually flow in from the Lord, but are not received where the loves of self and of the world reign; but on the contrary where these loves reign, that is, are continually in the thought, are the end, are in the will, and make the life, the good and truth which flow in from the Lord are either rejected, or extinguished, or perverted.
With those with whom they are rejected, the good which is of love and the truth which is of faith are held in contempt, and also in aversion. With those with whom they are extinguished, the good of love and the truth of faith are denied, and the contrary evils and falsities are affirmed. But with those with whom they are perverted, the good of love and the truth of faith are misinterpreted and are applied to favor evil and its falsity.From this it is again evident that neither can such persons have the confidence of Faith; for he who does not believe the truths which are from God, cannot believe in God; because to believe in God is to believe from the truths which are from God.
All who are in heavenly love, have confidence that they will be saved by the Lord; for they believe that the Lord came into the world in order to give eternal life to those who believe and live according to the commandments which He taught; and that He regenerates these, and so makes them fit for heaven; and that He does this Himself alone, from pure mercy, without the aid of man. This is meant by "believing in the Lord."
That those alone are in Faith who live according to the precepts of Faith, the Lord teaches in John:
The light is come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the light, because their works were evil. Everyone that doeth evils hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, lest his works should be reproved. But he that doeth the truth cometh to the light, that his works may be made manifest, because they have been wrought in God (John 3:19-21)to "come to the light" denotes to come to faith in the Lord, thus to faith from the Lord. In like manner in Luke:
Why call ye Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the thing which I say? Everyone that cometh unto Me, and heareth My saying, and doeth them, is like a man that built a house, and laid a foundation upon the rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that built a house upon the earth without a foundation (Luke 6:46-49)those who "do the Lord's sayings" or "words" are those who love the neighbor and love the Lord; for he who loves, does (John 14:20, 21, 23, 24; 15:9-17).
(Arcana Coelestia 9239-9245)
(series to be continued)