How the Lord Performs Uses in Man

Selection from Divine Wisdom ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
— How the Lord performs uses with man —

It is known that man from himself can do nothing good that is good in itself, but he can do this from the Lord, consequently he can perform no use that in itself is use, for use is good. From this it follows that the Lord does every use that is good by means of man. It has been shown elsewhere that the Lord wills that man should do good as if from himself; but how man is to do good as if from himself is also taught by the truths of the Word, and as this is taught by truths it is clear that truths are matters of knowledge and thought, and that goods are matters of willing and doing; thus that truths become goods through willing and doing; for what a man wills and does he calls good, and what a man knows and thinks he calls truth; so in the deed, thus in good, there is willing and thinking and knowing. Consequently the complex of these in the ultimate is good; and this has in itself an external form from truths in the thought and an internal form from the love of the will. But how the Lord performs uses in man which are goods has been told and shown in the explanation of the laws of His Divine providence.

Both of these are taught by truths — spiritual, moral, and civil.

First, it shall be shown what spiritual truths, moral truths, and civil truths are

Secondly, what a spiritual man is, also a moral and a civil man

Thirdly, that the spiritual is in the moral and the civil

Fourthly, that if these are separated there is no conjunction with the Lord

(1) What spiritual truths, moral truths, and civil truths are. Spiritual truths are those that the Word teaches respecting God: — that He is the one Creator of the universe; that He is infinite, eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, provident; that the Lord as to the Human is His Son; that God the Creator and the Lord are one; that He is the Redeemer, the Reformer, the Regenerator and Savior; that He is the Lord of heaven and earth; that He is the Divine love and Divine wisdom; that He is good itself and truth itself; that He is life itself; that everything of love, of charity, and of good, also everything of wisdom, of faith, and of truth, is from Him, and nothing of these is from man; therefore that no man has merit because of any love, charity, or good, or because of any wisdom, faith, or truth; consequently that He alone is to be adored; so again, that the Word is the holy Divine; that there is a life after death; that there is a heaven and a hell; a heaven for those who live rightly, and a hell for those who live wrongly; also many things pertaining to doctrine from the Word, as respecting Baptism and the Holy Supper. These and like things are properly spiritual truths. But moral truths are those that the Word teaches respecting the life of man with his neighbor, which life is called charity. The goods of this life, which are uses, have relation, in brief, to justice and equity, to sincerity and uprightness, to chastity, to temperance, to truth, to prudence, and to benevolence. To the truths of moral life belong also the opposites which destroy charity, and which have relation, in brief, to injustice and inequity, to insincerity and fraud, to lasciviousness, to intemperance, to lying, to cunning, to enmity, to hatred and revenge, and to ill-will. These latter are called truths of moral life, because all things that a man thinks be true, whether evil or good, he classes among truths; for that this thing is evil or that thing is good he speaks of as a truth. These are moral truths; but civil truths are the civil laws of kingdoms and states, which have relation, in brief, to many phases of justice that are observed, and on the contrary to the various kinds of violence that exist in act.

(2) The spiritual man is also a moral and a civil man. It is believed by many that the spiritual are those who know the spiritual truths enumerated above, and especially those who talk about them, and still more those who perceive them with some understanding. But such are not spiritual, for this is merely knowing, and thinking and speaking from knowledge, and perceiving from a gift of understanding that every man has, and these things alone do not make a man spiritual. There is lacking from these love from the Lord; and love from the Lord is the love of uses which is called charity. In charity the Lord conjoins Himself to man and makes him spiritual, for man then performs uses from the Lord and not from himself. This the Lord teaches in many places in the Word, and thus in John:

Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, so neither can ye except ye abide in Me. I am the vine, ye are the branches; he that abideth in Me and I in him, the same beareth much fruit; for apart from Me ye cannot do anything (15:4, 6).

"Fruits" are uses or goods of charity; and goods of charity are nothing else than moral goods. This makes clear that a spiritual man is also a moral man. A moral man is also a civil man, because civil laws are uses themselves in act, which are called practices, works, and deeds.

Take for example the fifth commandment of the Decalogue, "Thou shalt not steal." The spiritual meaning in this commandment is that a man must not take anything from the Lord and attribute it to himself and call it his, also must not take away from any one the truths of his faith by means of falsities. The moral meaning in this commandment is that man must not deal insincerely, unjustly, and fraudulently with his neighbor, or cunningly take away his wealth. The civil meaning in the commandment is that a man must not steal. Who cannot see that the man who is led by the Lord, and who is thereby a spiritual man, is also a moral and a civil man?

Again, take the seventh commandment, "Thou shalt not kill." The spiritual meaning in this commandment is, that man must not deny God, thus the Lord; for to deny Him is to kill and crucify Him with oneself; also he must not destroy spiritual life in another, for thus he kills his soul. The moral meaning in the commandment is that man must not hate his neighbor, or desire to have revenge, since hatred and revenge have murder in them. The civil meaning in the commandment is that another's body must not be killed. From this also it is clear that a spiritual man, who is one that is led by the Lord, is also a moral and a civil man. This is not true of one who is led by himself, of whom something shall be said presently.

(3). The spiritual is in the moral and the civil. This follows from what has been said above that the Lord conjoins Himself with man in the love of uses, or in charity towards the neighbor. The spiritual is from conjunction with the Lord; the moral is from charity, and the civil is from the practice of charity. The spiritual must be in man that he may be saved; and this is from the Lord, not above or outside of man but within him; it cannot be in man's knowledge alone or from that in his thought and speech, it must be in his life, and his life is willing and doing; consequently when knowing and thinking are also willing and doing the spiritual is in the moral and in the civil. If it be asked, "How can I will and do?" the answer is, Fight against evils, which are from hell, and you will both will and do, not from yourself but from the Lord, for when evils are put away the Lord does all things.

(4). If these are separated there is no conjunction with the Lord. This can be seen from reason and from experience.

From reason: If a man had such a memory and such an understanding as to be able to know and perceive all the truths of heaven and of the church, but was unwilling to do any of them, is it not said of him that he is an intelligent man but an evil man, yea all the more he should be punished? From this it follows that he who separates the spiritual from the moral and the civil is not a spiritual man or a moral man or a civil man.

From, experience: There are such persons in the world, and I have talked with them after death, and have learned that they knew all things of the Word and many truths therefrom, and believed that on this account they would shine as stars in heaven; but when their life was examined it was found to be merely corporeal and worldly, and from the evils and propensities they had thought and purposed in themselves they were merely infernal. For this reason all the things they had known from the Word were taken away from them, and they became each his own will, and were cast into hell to their like, where they talked insanely according to their thoughts in the world, and acted basely according to their loves in the world.

(from Divine Wisdom 11: 12,13)