THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE (pt. 85)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE
for the
NEW JERUSALEM
FROM THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Emanuel Swedenborg
— Doctrinal Series —
(pt. 85)
IN PROPORTION AS ANYONE SHUNS THEFTS OF EVERY KIND
AS SINS, IN THE SAME PROPORTION HE LOVES SINCERITY.

... the evil of theft enters more deeply into a man than any other evil because it is conjoined with cunning and deceit, and that cunning and deceit insinuate themselves even into the spiritual mind of man in which is his thought with understanding. Something shall therefore now be said about the mind of man — the mind of man is his understanding and will together.

(LIFE 85)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE (pt. 84)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE
for the
NEW JERUSALEM
FROM THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Emanuel Swedenborg
— Doctrinal Series —
(pt. 84)
IN PROPORTION AS ANYONE SHUNS THEFTS OF EVERY KIND
AS SINS, IN THE SAME PROPORTION HE LOVES SINCERITY.

Sincerity is to be understood as including integrity, justice, fidelity, and rectitude. In these no man can be from himself so as to love them from and for themselves. But he is in them who shuns as sins, fraud, cunning, and deceit, and is therefore in them not from himself but from the Lord (as shown above, n. 18-31) Such is the case with a priest, a magistrate, a judge, a trader, and with everyone in his own office and his own work.

This is taught by the Word in many passages, among which are the following:

• He that walketh in righteousnesses, and speaketh uprightnesses; he that despiseth oppressions for gain, that shaketh his hands from holding bribes, that stoppeth his ears from the hearing of bloods, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell on high (Isa. 33:15-16).

•  Jehovah, who shall abide in Thy tent? who shall dwell in the mountain of Thy holiness? He that walketh uprightly, and doeth righteousness; he that slandereth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his companion (Ps. 15:1-3, etc.).

• Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with Me he that walketh in the way of the upright, he shall minister unto Me. He that worketh deceit shall not dwell in the midst of My house; he that speaketh lies shall not stand before Mine eyes. In the dawning will I cut off all the wicked of the land, to cut off from the city all the workers of iniquity (Ps. 101:6-8).

That unless a man is interiorly sincere, just, faithful, and upright, he is insincere, unjust, unfaithful, and base, is taught by the Lord in these words:

• Except your righteousness shall exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of the heavens (Matt. 5:10).

The "righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees" means the interior righteousness in which is the man who is in the Lord. That he is in the Lord is taught by the Lord Himself in John:

• The glory which Thou hast given Me I have given unto them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected into one; that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them (John 17:22-23, 26).

From this it is evident that they are "perfect" when the Lord is in them. These are they who are called:

• The pure in heart, who shall see God and, Those who are perfect as is their Father in the heavens (Matt. 5:8, 48).

(LIFE 84)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE (pt. 83)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE
for the
NEW JERUSALEM
FROM THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Emanuel Swedenborg
— Doctrinal Series —
(pt. 83)
IN PROPORTION AS ANYONE SHUNS THEFTS OF EVERY KIND
AS SINS, IN THE SAME PROPORTION HE LOVES SINCERITY.

Sincerity is to be understood as including integrity, justice, fidelity, and rectitude. In these no man can be from himself so as to love them from and for themselves. But he is in them who shuns as sins, fraud, cunning, and deceit, and is therefore in them not from himself but from the Lord (as shown above, n. 18-31) Such is the case with a priest, a magistrate, a judge, a trader, and with everyone in his own office and his own work.

(LIFE 83)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE (pt. 82)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE
for the
NEW JERUSALEM
FROM THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Emanuel Swedenborg
— Doctrinal Series —
(pt. 82)
IN PROPORTION AS ANYONE SHUNS THEFTS OF EVERY KIND
AS SINS, IN THE SAME PROPORTION HE LOVES SINCERITY.

In proportion as anyone shuns theft as a sin, in the same proportion he loves sincerity, is because theft is also fraud, and fraud and sincerity are two opposite things, so that in proportion as anyone is not in theft in the same proportion he is in sincerity

(LIFE 82)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE (pt. 81)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE
for the
NEW JERUSALEM
FROM THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Emanuel Swedenborg
— Doctrinal Series —
(pt. 81)
IN PROPORTION AS ANYONE SHUNS THEFTS OF EVERY KIND
AS SINS, IN THE SAME PROPORTION HE LOVES SINCERITY.

The evil of theft enters more deeply into a man than any other evil, because it is conjoined with cunning and deceit; and cunning and deceit insinuate themselves even into the spiritual mind of man in which is his thought with understanding. Man possesses a spiritual mind and a natural mind ... will be seen in the following articles.

(LIFE 81)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE (pt. 80)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE
for the
NEW JERUSALEM
FROM THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Emanuel Swedenborg
— Doctrinal Series —
(pt. 80)
IN PROPORTION AS ANYONE SHUNS THEFTS OF EVERY KIND AS SINS,
IN THE SAME PROPORTION HE LOVES SINCERITY.

To "steal," in the natural sense, means not only to commit theft and robbery, but also to defraud, and under some pretext take from another his goods. But in the spiritual sense to "steal" means to deprive another of his truths of faith and his goods of charity. And in the highest sense to "steal" means to take away from the Lord that which is His, and attribute it to one's self, and thus to claim righteousness and merit for one's self. These are the "thefts of every kind." And they also make a one, as do adulteries of every kind, and murders of every kind, of which we have already treated. The reason why they make a one is that they are one within another.

(LIFE 80)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE (pt. 78-79)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE
for the
NEW JERUSALEM
FROM THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
Emanuel Swedenborg
— Doctrinal Series —
(pt. 78-79)
IN PROPORTION AS ANYONE SHUNS
ADULTERIES OF EVERY KIND AS SINS,
IN THE SAME PROPORTION HE LOVES CHASTITY.

That to "commit adultery" means also to do obscene things, to speak lascivious things, and to think about filthy things, is evident from the Lord's words in Matthew:

Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery but I say unto you that whosoever looketh on the woman of another to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart (5:27, 28).

That to "commit adultery" in the spiritual sense means to adulterate the good of the Word and to falsify its truth, is evident from the following passages:

Babylon hath made all the nations drink of the wine of her fornication (Rev. 14:8).

The angel said, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication (Rev. 17:1, 2).

Babylon hath made all the nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her (Rev. 18:3).

God hath judged the great harlot who did corrupt the earth with her fornication (Rev. 19:2).

"Whoredom" is predicated of Babylon, because "Babylon" means those who arrogate to themselves the Lord's Divine sovereign power, and profane the Word by adulterating and falsifying it; and for this reason Babylon is called:

The mother of the whoredoms and of the abominations of the earth (Rev. 17:5).

The same is signified by "whoredom" in the prophets, as in Jeremiah:

In the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible obstinacy in committing adultery and walking in lying (23:14).

And in Ezekiel:

Two women, the daughters of one mother, committed whoredom in Egypt; they committed whoredom in their youth; the one committed whoredom when she was Mine, and doted on her lovers the Assyrians her neighbors; she bestowed her whoredoms upon them, yet she forsook not her whoredoms in Egypt; the other corrupted her love more than she, and her whoredoms were more than the whoredoms of her sister; she added to her whoredoms, she loved the Chaldeans, the sons of Babel came to her to the bed of loves, and defiled her with their whoredom (23:2-17).

These things are said of the Israelitish and the Jewish Church, here called the "daughters of one mother." Their "whoredoms" mean adulterations and falsifications of the Word, and as in the Word "Egypt" signifies memory-knowledge, "Assyria" reasoning, "Chaldea" the profanation of truth, and "Babel" the profanation of good, it is said that they "committed whoredom" with them.

The same is said of "Jerusalem," by which is signified the church in respect to doctrine:

Thou didst trust in thy beauty, and didst commit whoredom because of thy renown, so that thou pouredst out thy whoredoms on everyone that passed by; thou hast committed whoredom with the sons of Egypt thy neighbors, great of flesh, and hast multiplied thy whoredom; thou hast committed whoredom with the sons of Asshur; and when thou wast not satisfied with those with whom thou didst commit whoredom, thou hast multiplied thy whoredoms unto the land of traffic, to Chaldea. An adulterous woman that receiveth strangers instead of her husband! All give hire to their harlots, but thou hast given hire to all thy lovers that they may come unto thee on every side in thy whoredoms. Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of Jehovah (Ezek. 16:15, 26, 28-29, 32-33, 35).

That "Jerusalem" means the church may be seen in the Doctrine of the Lord (n. 62-63).

(The like is signified by "whoredoms" in Isa. 23:17, 18; 57:3; Jer. 3:2, 6, 8, 9; 5:1, 7; 13:27; 29:23; Micah 1:7; Nahum 3:4; Hos. 4:10, 11; Lev. 20:5; Num. 14:33; 15:39; and elsewhere.)

For the same reason the Lord called the Jewish nation:

An adulterous generation (Matt. 12:39; 16:4; Mark 8:38).

(LIFE 78-79)