Capítulo 1 (EL CIELO): El Dios del Cielo es el Señor

2. Lo primero será saber quien es el Dios del cielo, puesto que de ello dependen las demás cosas. En el cielo entero sólo el Señor es reconocido por Dios del cielo y ningún otro. Allí dicen, como Él mismo enseñó:

Que Él es uno con el Padre; que el Padre es en Él y Él en el Padre; que quien ve a Él, ve al Padre y que todo lo Santo procede de Él (Juan 10:30, 38; 14:9-11; 16:13-15).

He hablado varias veces con los ángeles sobre este particular, y siempre han dicho, que en el cielo no se puede partir lo Divino en tres, porque saben y sienten que la Divinidad es única, y que es única en el Señor. También han dicho, que los de la iglesia que llegan del mundo, teniendo la idea de tres Divinidades (Divinas Personas), no pueden ser admitidos en el cielo, puesto que su pensamiento pasa continuamente de uno a otro, y allí no es permitido pensar tres y decir uno; porque cada uno en el cielo habla por el pensamiento, siendo así que allí el hablar es pensar, o sea el pensar es hablar, por lo cual los que en el mundo han dividido la Divinidad en tres, formándose separada idea de cada uno, y no habiéndolos reunido y concentrado en el Señor, no pueden ser recibidos, porque en el cielo tiene lugar una comunicación de todo pensamiento; por lo cual si allí entrase alguien que pensara tres y dijera uno, sería en seguida descubierto y rechazado. Pero hay que saber que todos aquellos que no han separado la verdad del bien, o sea la fe del amor, al ser instruidos en la otra vida, reciben el celestial concepto del Señor de que Él es el Dios del universo. Otra cosa sucede con los que han separado la fe de la vida, es decir, los que no han vivido conforme a los preceptos de la verdadera fe.

8762. 'Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel' means the salvation of those belonging to the spiritual Church, external and internal. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying' and 'telling' here as salvation, for what Jehovah now says and tells them through Moses is all about salvation; and from the meaning of 'the house of Jacob' and 'the children of Israel' as the external Church and the internal Church, dealt with in 3305, 4286. What the external Church and the internal Church are has been stated before in several places, where it was shown that the external aspect of the Ancient Church involved everything representing the internal, while the internal aspect of the Church was that which external things represented. People for example who considered Divine worship to consist in sacrifices, and in religious ceremonies and rules, which represented the spiritual and celestial realities of the Lord's kingdom, were concerned with external things, whereas those who considered Divine worship to consist at the same time in the celestial and spiritual realities that were represented were concerned with internal things. It is similar at the present day. Some people consider Divine worship to consist in going to church, listening to sermons, attending the Holy Supper, and doing these things in a devout manner, yet do not think of them except as duties to be done regularly because they have been instituted and commanded. Those people belong to the external Church. Others however likewise believe that such duties should be attended to, but that nevertheless the essential element of worship is the life of faith, which is charity towards the neighbour and love to the Lord. These people belong to the internal Church. Consequently those also belong to the external Church who do good to the neighbour and worship the Lord, but solely in a spirit of obedience born of faith, whereas those belong to the internal Church who do good to the neighbour and worship the Lord out of love. And so on with all else exemplifying those two aspects of the Church.

[2] But with every member of the Church both aspects must be present, the external and the internal. Unless both are present spiritual life does not exist with him; for the internal is so to speak the soul, and the external so to speak the body housing the soul. Those however who belong to the external Church are plainly concerned with external things of the Church and only vaguely with internal ones, whereas those belonging to the internal Church are plainly concerned with internal things and vaguely with external ones. But those concerned only with external things and not at the same time with internal do not belong to the Church. A concern for both exists with all who lead a good life in accordance with the teachings of their Church. But a concern for external things alone without internal exists with those who engage in acts of worship yet do not at the same time lead a good life in accordance with the teachings of their Church. There are few who know this; and the reason why few know it is that people consider worship and therefore salvation to consist wholly in faith, and not at all in charity. So it is also that those who think about eternal salvation consider it to consist in the religious life and not at all in the life of charity, regarding which kinds of life see 8252-8257.