THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE (pt. 103)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE
for the
NEW JERUSALEM
FROM THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Emanuel Swedenborg
— Doctrinal Series —
(pt. 103)
A MAN OUGHT TO SHUN EVILS AS SINS
AND FIGHT AGAINST THEM AS OF HIMSELF

As there is in man, from the Lord, this ability to reciprocate and return, and consequently this mutuality, the Lord says that a man must do the work of repentance, which no one can do except as of himself:
Jesus said: Except ye repent ye shall all perish (Luke 13:3, 5).
Jesus said: The kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye, and believe the gospel (Mark 1:14-15).
Jesus said: I am come to call sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32).
Jesus said to the churches: Repent (Rev. 2:5, 16, 21-22; 3:3).
It is also said:
They repented not of their works (Rev. 16:11).

(LIFE 103)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE (pt. 102)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE
for the
NEW JERUSALEM
FROM THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Emanuel Swedenborg
— Doctrinal Series —
(pt. 102)
A MAN OUGHT TO SHUN EVILS AS SINS
AND FIGHT AGAINST THEM AS OF HIMSELF

The Lord loves man and wills to dwell with him, yet He cannot love him and dwell with him unless He is received and loved in return. From this alone comes conjunction. For this reason the Lord has given man freedom and reason — freedom to think and will as of himself, and reason in accordance with which he may do so.

To love and to be conjoined with one in whom there is nothing reciprocal is not possible, nor is it possible to enter in and abide with one in whom there is no reception.

As there are in man, from the Lord, reception and reciprocation, the Lord says:
• Abide in Me, and I in you (John 15:4).
• He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit (John 15:5).
• At that day ye shall know that ye are in Me, and I in you (John 14:20).

The Lord also teaches that He is in the truths and in the goods that a man receives, and that are in him:
• If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you. If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love (John 15:7, 10).
• He that hath My commandments, and doeth them, he it is that loveth Me and I will love him, and will make My abode with him (John 14:21, 23).

So that the Lord dwells in a man in what is His own, and the man dwells in those things which are from the Lord, and thus dwells in the Lord.

(LIFE 102)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE (pt. 101)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE
for the
NEW JERUSALEM
FROM THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Emanuel Swedenborg
— Doctrinal Series —
(pt. 101)
A MAN OUGHT TO SHUN EVILS AS SINS
AND FIGHT AGAINST THEM AS OF HIMSELF

It is in accordance with Divine order that man should act in freedom according to reason, because to act in freedom according to reason is to act from himself. And yet these two faculties, Freedom and Reason, are not proper to man, but are the Lord's in him; and in so far as he is a man they must not be taken away from him, because without them he cannot be reformed, for without them he cannot perform repentance, he cannot fight against evils, and afterwards bring forth fruits worthy of repentance. Now as it is from the Lord that man possesses freedom and reason, and as man acts from them, it follows that he does not act from himself, but as from himself.

(LIFE 101)