The Salvation of the Faithful, and The Condemnation of the Unfaithful

Excerpts from Arcana Cœlestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
Judgment belongs to the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding

That it belongs to the Divine Human see in John:  The Father judgeth not anyone, but hath given all judgment unto the Son   (John 5:22); by the "Son" is meant the Divine Human.

That Judgment belongs to the Holy that proceeds from the Lord's Divine Human, see also in John:  If I go away, I will send the Comforter unto you; and when He is come, He shall reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment; of sin, because they believe not on Me; of righteousness, because I go unto My Father, and ye shall see Me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged (John 16:7-11)

"Sin" here denotes all unfaithfulness. His "reproving in regard to righteousness" means in regard to all that is against good, when yet the Lord united the Human to the Divine to save the world - which is the meaning of I go unto My Father and ye shall see Me no more.

His "reproving in regard to judgment" means in regard to all that is against truth, when yet evils were cast down into their hells so as no longer to be able to inflict injury - which is meant by the prince of the world being judged.

In general, His "reproving in regard to sin, righteousness, and judgment," means that it was in regard to all unfaithfulness against good and truth; and thus that there was no charity and faith; for in ancient times by righteousness and judgment were understood, as regards the Lord, all mercy and grace; and as regards man, all charity and faith.     (Arcana Cœlestia 2235:6)

[T]hat the Holy proceeds from the Lord, see in the same:  He shall not speak from Himself but shall take of Mine, and shall declare it  (John 16:13, 15); and this when the Human was made Divine, that is, when the Lord had been glorified, see in the same:  The Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified  (John 7:39).

The human race could no longer have been saved unless the Lord had come into the world and had united the Divine Essence to the Human Essence; for without the Lord's Human made Divine salvation could no longer have reached to man.

The Holy Itself that proceeds from the Lord's Divine Human is that which separates the evil from the good

for the evil so fear and shudder at the Lord's Holy that they cannot approach it, but flee far away from it into their hells, each one according to the profaneness that is in him.

(Arcana Cœlestia 2320-2321)

Good Cannot Die, Because Evil Can Be Separated From It

Selection from Arcana Cœlestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

to "cause the righteous to die with the wicked," is to make good die with evil

As this ought not to be done, and causes horror to think of, it is removed in the internal sense, and then there is presented this: that good cannot die, because evil can be separated from it.

Be it known that all the good a man has thought and done from infancy even to the last of his life, remains; in like manner all the evil, so that not the least of it completely perishes. Both are inscribed on his book of life (that is, on each of his memories [interior and exterior]), and on his nature (that is, his native disposition and genius). From these he has formed for himself a life, and so to speak a soul, which after death is of a corresponding quality.

But goods are never so commingled with evils, nor evils with goods, that they cannot be separated; for if they should be commingled, the man would eternally perish.

In relation to this the Lord exercises His providence, and when a man comes into the other life, if he has lived in the good of love and of charity, the Lord then separates his evils, and by what is good with him elevates him into heaven. But if he has lived in evils, that is, in things contrary to love and charity, the Lord then separates from him what is good, and his evils bring him into hell. Such is the lot of everyone after death; but it is a separation, and in no wise a complete removal.

Moreover, as the will of man, which is the one part of his life, has been utterly destroyed, the Lord separates this destroyed part from the other which is his intellectual part, and in those who are being regenerated, implants in this intellectual part the good of charity, and through this a new will — these are they who have conscience. Thus also, speaking generally, the Lord separates evil from good. These are the arcana which are meant in the internal sense by the statement that good cannot die, because evil can be separated from it.

(Arcana Cœlestia 2256)

The First Things to be Affirmed and Acknowledged

Selection from Arcana Cœlestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan.  Genesis 30:6

Though the name was given to him [Dan] from "judging," it nevertheless involves what is signified by all these words of Rachel: God hath judged me, and also hath heard my voice, that is, the good of life, and the holy of faith, and also in the supreme sense the justice and mercy of the Lord. It is this general principle of the church that is signified by "Dan," and that is represented by the tribe named from Dan. This general principle [the good of life, and the holy of faith] is the first that is to be affirmed or acknowledged, before a man can be regenerated or made a church.

Unless these things are affirmed and acknowledged, the rest of the things both of faith and of life cannot possibly be received, and therefore cannot be affirmed, still less acknowledged.

For he who affirms mere faith with himself, and not the holy of faith, that is, charity (for this is the holy of faith), and does not affirm this by the good of life, that is, by the works of charity, can no longer have a relish for the essence of faith, because he rejects it.

Affirmation together with acknowledgment is the first general principle with the man who is being regenerated, but is the last with him who has been regenerated

and therefore "Dan" is the first with him who is to be regenerated, and "Joseph" is the last; for "Joseph" is the spiritual man himself. But "Joseph" is the first with him who has been regenerated, and "Dan" the last; because the man who is to be regenerated commences from the affirmation that it is so, namely, the holy of faith and the good of life. But the regenerate man, who is spiritual, is in spiritual good itself, and from this he regards such affirmation as last; for with him the holy things of faith and goods of life have been confirmed.

The first boundary, that is, the midst or inmost of the land, was Beersheba, before Jerusalem became so, because Abraham was there, and also Isaac; but the last boundary, or the outermost of the land, was Dan; and hence when all things in one complex were signified, it was said, "from Dan even to Beersheba;" as in the second book of Samuel:

To transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul, and to set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beersheba (2 Sam. 3:10)  See also 2 Sam. 17:11; 2 Sam. 24:2, 15; 1 Kings 4:25.

By this expression are meant in the historic sense all things of the land of Canaan; but in the internal sense all things of the Lord's kingdom, and also all things of the church.

The reason why, as before said, "Dan" is the first boundary, and also the last, is that the affirmative of truth and good is the first of all things when faith and charity are beginning with man, and the last when man is in charity and thereby in faith. It was from this also that the last lot fell to Dan when the land of Canaan was divided for inheritance (Josh. 19:40, etc.); for the lot was cast before Jehovah (Josh. 18:6); and hence it fell according to the representation of each tribe.

And because the lot did not fall to Dan among the inheritances of the rest of the tribes, but beyond their borders (Judges 18:1), that tribe was omitted by John in the Revelation (Rev. 7:5-8), where the twelve thousand that were sealed are mentioned;

for they who are only in the affirmative of truth and also of good, and go no further, are not in the Lord's kingdom, that is, among the "sealed."

Even the worst men are able to know truths and goods, and also to affirm them; but the quality of the affirmation is known from the life.

(Arcana Cœlestia 3923: 1, 7-9)