Seriatim Remarks on the Doctrine of Charity and Faith (Pt. 26)

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
— Doctrinal Things of Charity —
The Internal and the External Man

They who have only a general idea about the Internal and the External Man, believe that it is the Internal Man which thinks and wills, and the External Man which speaks and acts; because to think and to will are internal, and from these to speak and act is external.

But be it known that it is not only the Internal Man that thinks and wills, but also the External; yet in one way when they are conjoined, and in another when they are separated.

When a man thinks intelligently and wills wisely, he thinks and wills from the Internal Man; but when he does not think intelligently and will wisely, he does not think and will from the Internal Man. Consequently, when a man thinks well about the Lord and about what belongs to the Lord, and when he thinks well about the neighbor and what belongs to the neighbor, and when he also wills well to these, he then thinks and wills from the Internal Man. But when a man thinks evilly in regard to these, and bears them ill will, he then does not think and will from the Internal Man. To think well is from the faith of truth, and to will well is from the love of good; but to think evilly is from the faith of what is false, and to will evilly is from the love of what is evil.

In a word, insofar as a man is in love to the Lord and in love toward the neighbor, so far he is in the Internal Man, and thinks and wills and also speaks and acts from it; but insofar as a man is in the love of self and in the love of the world, so far he is in the External Man, and insofar as he dares, he also speaks and acts from it.

The reason is that man has been created according to the image of heaven and the image of the world; the Internal Man according to the image of heaven, and the External Man according to the image of the world. Wherefore to think and will from the Internal Man is to think and will from heaven, that is, through heaven from the Lord; but to think and will from the External Man is to think and will from the world, that is, through the world from self.

It has been so provided and ordained by the Lord that insofar as a man thinks and wills from heaven, that is, through heaven from the Lord, so far his Internal Man is opened: the opening is unto heaven, even unto the Lord Himself. Therefore, on the other hand, insofar as a man thinks and wills from the world, that is, through the world from self, so far the Internal Man is closed, and the External Man is opened: the opening is unto the world and unto self.

In order that the External Man may be reduced into order, it must be made subordinate to the Internal Man, and it is made subordinate when it obeys. So far as this is effected, so far the External Man also is wise. This is meant by the old man with its evil affections needing to die in order that the man may become a new creature.

Those with whom the Internal Man has been closed, do not know that there is an Internal Man, neither do they believe that there is a heaven and an eternal life. And wonderful to say they nevertheless suppose that they think more wisely than others; for they love themselves and what belongs to them, and these they worship.

It is otherwise in the case of those with whom the Internal Man has been opened toward heaven unto the Lord, for these are in the light of heaven, thus in illumination from the Lord; whereas the former are not in the light of heaven, but in the light of the world, and thus in illumination from self. Those who are illumined from self, and not from the Lord, see falsity as truth and evil as good.

(Arcana Coelestia 9701-9709)
(series to be continued)

Seriatim Remarks on the Doctrine of Charity and Faith (Pt. 25)

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
— Doctrinal Things of Charity —

All that is called Freedom which is of the will, thus which is of the love; whence it is that Freedom manifests itself by means of the delight of willing and thinking, and of the consequent doing and speaking. For all delight is of love, and all love is of the will, and the will is the being of man's life.

To do evil from the delight of love appears like Freedom; but is slavery, because from hell. To do good from the delight of love appears to be Freedom, and also is Freedom, because it is from the Lord. It is therefore slavery to be led by hell, and it is Freedom to be led by the Lord. This the Lord teaches in John:

Everyone that doeth sin is the servant of sin. The servant abideth not in the house forever; the Son abideth forever. If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed (John 8:34-36).

The Lord keeps man in the Freedom of thinking; and insofar as outward bonds, which are the fear of the law and for life, and the fear of the loss of reputation, of honor, and of gain, do not hinder, He keeps him in the Freedom of doing; but, through Freedom, He bends him away from evil; and, through Freedom, He bends him to good; leading him so gently and silently that the man knows no otherwise than that everything proceeds from himself. Thus the Lord, in Freedom, inseminates and inroots good in the very life of the man, which good remains to eternity. This the Lord teaches in Mark:

So is the Kingdom of God, as a man who casteth seed into the earth; the seed germinateth and groweth, while he knoweth not. The earth beareth fruit of its own accord (Mark 4:26-28).

"The kingdom of God" denotes heaven with man, thus the good of love and the truth of faith.

That which is inseminated in Freedom remains, because it is inrooted in the very will of man, which is the being of his life. But that which is inseminated under compulsion does not remain, because what is of compulsion is not from the will of the man, but is from the will of him who compels. For this reason worship from Freedom is pleasing to the Lord, but not worship from compulsion; for worship from Freedom is worship from love, because all Freedom is of love.

There is heavenly Freedom, and there is infernal Freedom. Heavenly Freedom is to be led by the Lord, and this Freedom is the love of what is good and true. But infernal Freedom is to be led by the devil, and this Freedom is the love of what is evil and false; properly speaking, it is concupiscence.

They who are in infernal Freedom believe it to be slavery and compulsion not to be allowed to do what is evil and to think what is false at pleasure. But they who are in heavenly Freedom feel horror in doing what is evil and in thinking what is false, and if they are compelled thereto, they are in torment.

From all this it can be seen what Free Will is, namely, that is to do what is good from choice, or from the will; and that they are in this Freedom who are led by the Lord.

(Arcana Coelestia 9585-9591)
(series to be continued)

Seriatim Remarks on the Doctrine of Charity and Faith (Pt. 24)

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
— Doctrinal Things of Charity —

The Forgiveness of Sins shall now be spoken of.

The sins done by a man are rooted in his very life, and make it; and therefore no one is liberated from them unless he receives new life from the Lord, which is effected by means of regeneration.

That from himself a man cannot do what is good or think what is true; but only from the Lord, is evident in John:

A man can do nothing except it be given him from heaven (John 3:27).

He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit; for without Me ye can do nothing (John 15:5).

From this it is evident that no one can withdraw anyone from sins, thus forgive them, save the Lord alone.

The Lord continually flows into man with the good of love and the truths of faith; but these are variously received; being received in one way by one person, and in a different way by another; by those who have been regenerated they are received well; but by those who do not suffer themselves to be regenerated they are received ill.

Those who have been regenerated are continually kept by the Lord in the good of faith and of love, and are then withheld from evils and falsities. And those who do not suffer themselves to be regenerated by the Lord are also withheld from evil and kept in good, for good and truth continually flow in from the Lord with every man; but the infernal loves in which they are, namely, the loves of self and of the world, stand in the way, and turn the influx of good into evil, and that of truth into falsity.

From all this it is evident what the Forgiveness of Sins is. —

To be able to be kept by the Lord in the good of love, and the truths of faith, and to be withheld from evils and falsities, is the Forgiveness of Sins. And to shun evil and falsity, and to feel aversion for them, is then Repentance. But these are possible only with those who, through regeneration, have received new life from the Lord; because these things belong to the new life.

But the signs that sins have not been forgiven are the following. —

God is not worshiped for the sake of God; and the neighbor is not served for the sake of the neighbor; thus good is not done and truth is not spoken for the sake of good and truth, but for the sake of self and the world. There is a desire to merit by our deeds; others are despised in comparison with ourselves; delight is felt in evils, such as enmities, hatred, revenge, cruelty, adulteries; and the holy things of the church are held in contempt, and are at heart denied.

When sins have been forgiven, they are believed to be wiped off, and washed away as dirt is with water. Nevertheless they remain in the man; and their being said to be "wiped off" is from the appearance when the man is withheld from them.

The Lord regenerates a man from Divine Mercy. This is done from his infancy down to the last of his life in the world, and afterward to eternity. Thus it is from Divine Mercy that the Lord withdraws a man from evils and falsities, and leads him to the truths of faith and goods of love, and afterward keeps him in these. And after this, in Divine Mercy He raises him to Himself in heaven, and makes him happy. All this is what is meant by the Forgiveness of Sins from Mercy. They who believe that sins are forgiven in any other way, are quite mistaken; for it would be the absence of mercy to see a multitude of men in the hells, and not save them, if it could be done in any other way. And yet the Lord is mercy itself, and wills not the death of anyone, but that he may live.

Consequently those who do not suffer themselves to be regenerated, thus who do not suffer themselves to be withheld from evils and falsities, remove and cast away from themselves these mercies of the Lord. Therefore it is the man who is in fault if he cannot be saved.

This is what is meant in John:

As many as received Him, to them gave He 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)

"of bloods" denotes those who are opposed to the goods of faith and of charity; "of the will of the flesh" denotes those who are in evils from the loves of self and of the world; "of the will of man" denotes those who are in falsities thence derived; to be "born of God" denotes to be regenerated. That no one can come into heaven unless he is regenerated, is taught in the same:

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:3, 5)

"to be born of water" denotes through the truth of faith; and "to be born of the spirit" denotes through the good of love. From all this it can now be seen who they are whose sins have been forgiven; and who they are whose sins have not been forgiven.

(Arcana Coelestia 9443-9454)
(series to be continued)