There is No Life when Faith is Separated from Charity

From Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Faith is to know and think these truths; and charity is to will and do them.

... truth is called faith when man knows and thinks it;
... truth becomes charity when man wills and does it.

Truth is like a seed; viewed out of the ground it is merely a seed, but when it passes into the ground it becomes a plant or a tree, and puts on its own form and thus takes another name. Truth is also like a garment, which apart from man is merely a piece of cloth fitted to the body, but when it is put on it becomes clothing in which is a man. It is the same with truth and charity. So long as truth is known and thought it is merely truth, and is called faith; but when a man wills and does it, it becomes charity, just as a seed becomes a plant or a tree, or a piece of cloth becomes clothing in which is a man.

Moreover, knowledge and thought therefrom are two faculties distinct from the will and the act therefrom, and they may be separated; for a man may know and think many things that he does not will and thus does not do. When these are separated they do not constitute the life of man; when they are conjoined they do constitute it. It is the same with faith and charity. All this can be made more clear by comparisons. In the world light and heat are two distinct things, which may be separated or may be conjoined; in the winter season they are separated, in the summer season they are conjoined. When separated they do not produce vegetable life, that is, they do not produce anything; but when conjoined they do produce and bring forth.

Again, the lungs and the heart in man are two distinct things whose motions may be separated or may be conjoined. They are separated in swooning and suffocation; and when separated they do not constitute the life of man's body, but when conjoined they do constitute it.  It is the same with man's knowledge and thought therefrom to which faith pertains, and with will and deed to which charity pertains, the lungs and also light correspond to faith therefrom, and the heart and also heat correspond to the will and to charity therefrom.

From all this it can be seen that in faith separated from charity there is no more of life than in knowing and thinking separated from willing and doing; in this the only life is that man wills to think, and makes himself speak and believe accordingly.

(Divine Wisdom xi:14(6))

Are There Few That Be Saved?

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

... The man of the church supposes that all who are out of the church, and are called Gentiles, cannot be saved, because they have no knowledges of faith, and are therefore wholly ignorant of the Lord, saying that without faith and without knowledge of the Lord there is no salvation, and thus he condemns all who are out of the church. Indeed many of this sort who are in some doctrine, even if it be heresy, suppose that all outside this, that is, all who do not hold the same opinion, cannot be saved; when in fact the case is not so at all. The Lord has mercy toward the whole human race, and wills to save and draw to Himself all who are in the universe.

The mercy of the Lord is infinite, and does not suffer itself to be limited to those few who are within the church, but extends itself to all in the whole world. Their being born out of the church and being thus in ignorance of faith, is not their fault; and no one is ever condemned for not having faith in the Lord when he is ignorant of Him. Who that thinks aright will ever say that the greatest part of the human race must perish in eternal death because they were not born in Europe, where there are comparatively few? And who that thinks aright will say that the Lord suffered so great a multitude to be born to perish in eternal death? This would be contrary to the Divine, and contrary to mercy. And besides, those who are out of the church, and are called Gentiles, live a much more moral life than those who are within the church, and embrace much more easily the doctrine of true faith, as is still more evident from souls in the other life. The worst of all come from the so-called Christian world, holding the neighbor in deadly hatred, and even the Lord. Above all others in the whole world they are adulterers.

It is not so with those from other parts of the world. Very many of those who have worshiped idols are of such a disposition as to abhor hatred and adultery, and to fear Christians because of their being of this character and desirous of tormenting everyone. Indeed Gentiles are so disposed as to listen readily, when taught by angels about the truths of faith, and that the Lord rules the universe, and to be easily imbued with faith and thus to reject their idols. For this reason Gentiles who have lived a moral life and in mutual charity and innocence, are regenerated in the other life. While they live in the world the Lord is present with them in charity and innocence, for there is nothing of charity and innocence except from the Lord. The Lord also gives them a conscience of what is right and good according to their religion, and insinuates innocence and charity into that conscience; and when there is innocence and charity in the conscience, they easily suffer themselves to be imbued with the truth of faith from good. The Lord Himself said this, in Luke:

And one said unto Him, Lord, are they few that be saved? and He said unto them, Ye shall see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and yourselves cast forth without; and they shall come from the east and the west, and from the north and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God; and behold, there are last who shall be first, and there are first who shall be last (Luke 13:23, 28-30).

By "Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" are here meant all who have love, as shown above.

(Arcana Coelestia 1032)

The Regenerate Man Relative To The Unregenerate Man

Selection from Arcana Coelestia Emanuel Swedenborg

With the regenerate man there is a conscience of what is good and true, and he does good and thinks truth from conscience; the good which he does being the good of charity, and the truth which he thinks being the truth of faith.

The unregenerate man has no conscience, or if any, it is not a conscience of doing good from charity, and of thinking truth from faith, but is based on some love that regards himself or the world, wherefore it is a spurious or false conscience.

With the regenerate man there is joy when he acts according to conscience, and anxiety when he is forced to do or think contrary to it;

but it is not so with the unregenerate, for very many such men do not know what conscience is, much less what it is to do anything either according or contrary to it, but only what it is to do the things that favor their loves. This is what gives them joy, and when they do what is contrary to their loves, this is what gives them anxiety.

With the regenerate man there is a new will and a new understanding, and this new will and new understanding are his conscience, that is, they are in his conscience, and through this the Lord works the good of charity and the truth of faith.

With an unregenerate man there is not will, but instead of will there is cupidity, and a consequent proneness to every evil; neither is there understanding, but mere reasoning and a consequent falling away to every falsity.

With the regenerate man there is celestial and spiritual life;

but with the unregenerate man there is only corporeal and worldly life, and his ability to think and understand what is good and true is from the Lord's life through the remains before spoken of, and it is from this that he has the faculty of reflecting.

With the regenerate the internal man has the dominion, the external being obedient and submissive;

but with the unregenerate the external man rules, the internal being quiescent, as if it had no existence.

The regenerate man knows, or has a capacity of knowing on reflection, what the internal man is, and what the external;

but of these the unregenerate man is altogether ignorant, nor can he know them even if he reflects, since he is unacquainted with the good and truth of faith originating in charity.

Hence may be seen what is the quality of the regenerate, and what of the unregenerate man, and that they differ from each other like summer and winter, and light and darkness; wherefore the regenerate is a living, but the unregenerate a dead man.

(Arcana Coelestia 977)