1. True Christianity

Containing a Comprehensive Theology of the New Heaven and the New Church

The Faith of the New Heaven and the New Church

THE faith of the new heaven and the new church is stated here in both universal and specific forms to serve as the face of the work that follows, the doorway that allows entry into the temple, and the summary that in one way or another contains all the details to follow. I say "the faith of the new heaven and the new church" because heaven, where there are angels, and the church, in which there are people, act together like the inner and the outer levels in a human being. People in the church who love what is good because they believe what is true and who believe what is true because they love what is good are angels of heaven with regard to the inner levels of their minds. After death they come into heaven, and enjoy happiness there according to the relationship between their love and their faith. It is important to know that the new heaven that the Lord is establishing today has this faith as its face, doorway, and summary.

378. 9. There Is Faith That Is True, Faith That Is Illegitimate, and Faith That Is Hypocritical

From its cradle, the Christian church was attacked and torn apart by schisms and heresies. As time went on, it was lacerated and butchered by them, much like the person we read about who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and was surrounded by robbers; after they stripped him and beat him up, the robbers left him half-dead (Luke 10:30).

The end result was what we read in Daniel about that church: "In the end desolation [will fly in] on a bird of abominations; even to the close and the cutting down, it will drip steadily upon the devastation" (Daniel 9:27); and the Lord's statement: The end will come when you see the abomination of desolation that Daniel the prophet foretold (Matthew 24:14-15).

What happened to the church could be compared to a ship loaded down with merchandise of the highest quality. It was battered by storm winds immediately upon leaving port and a little later was wrecked at sea and sank. Some of its cargo was spoiled by water and some was carried off by fish.

[2] Church history makes it clear that from its infancy the Christian church was assaulted and torn apart. For example, even in the time of the apostles it was assaulted by Simon, who was a Samaritan by birth and a sorcerer by trade (see Acts of the Apostles 8:9 and following). It was also assaulted by Hymenaeus and Philetus, whom Paul mentions in his Epistle to Timothy []; and by Nicolas, whose followers were the so-called Nicolaitans mentioned in Revelation 2:6 and Acts of the Apostles 6:5; not to mention Corinth.

Just after the time of the apostles, many others went into revolt. For example, the Marcionites, the Noetians, the Valentinians, the Encratites, the Cataphrygians, the Quartodecimans, the Alogians, the Catharans, the Origenists or Adamantines, the Sabellians, the Samosatenians, the Manicheans, the Meletians, and finally the Arians.

After that, armies of heretical movements invaded the church - the Donatists, the Photinians, the Acatians or Semi-Arians, the Eunomians, the Macedonians, the Nestorians, the Predestinarians, the Papists, the Zwinglians, the Anabaptists, the Schwenkfeldians, the Synergists, the Socinians, the Antitrinitarians, the Quakers, the Herrnhuters, and many others.

At length Luther, Melanchthon, and Calvin prevailed over them all. Their teachings are dominant today.

[3] There are three main reasons why there were so many disputes and rebellions in the church: (1) the divine Trinity was misunderstood; (2) there was no just concept of the Lord; (3) the suffering on the cross was taken to be redemption itself.

The truth about these three things is essential to the faith the church is based on, the faith from which it is called a church. If people did not know the truth about these three things, it was inevitable that everything about the church would be dragged first off course and finally in the opposite direction. It was also inevitable that when the church arrived at that stage it would still believe that it had a true faith in God and a belief in all God's truths.

This situation among these people in the church is like people who put a blindfold over their eyes and believe they are walking in a straight line, although step after step they are actually veering off course and eventually heading in the opposite direction, where there is a pit into which they fall.

The only way the wandering people of the church can be redirected onto the road of truth is by their knowing what true faith is, what illegitimate faith is, and what hypocritical faith is. Therefore this will be demonstrated.

a. There is only one true faith; it is faith in the Lord God our Savior Jesus Christ. It exists in people who believe that he is the Son of God, that he is the God of heaven and earth, and that he is one with the Father.

b. Illegitimate faith is all faith that departs from the one and only true faith. Illegitimate faith exists in people who climb up some other way and view the Lord not as God but only as a human being.

c. Hypocritical faith is no faith at all.

336. Chapter 6: Faith

FROM the wisdom of the ancients came the following teaching: the universe, and each and every thing in it, relates to goodness and truth. Therefore all aspects of the church relate to love or goodwill and faith, since everything that is called good flows from love or goodwill and everything called truth flows from faith.

Now, goodwill and faith are two distinct things, yet they become one in us and make us people of the church - they cause the church to exist within us. For this reason, among the ancients it was a matter of contention and dispute which of the two should be primary and rightly be called the firstborn. Some of them said it was truth and therefore faith. Others said it was goodness and therefore goodwill. Some people observed that soon after we are born we learn to talk and think; then talking and thinking lead to the development of our intellect through study, that is, through learning and understanding what is true. Then we use these means to learn and understand what is good. First, therefore, we learn what faith is, and afterward what goodwill is. The people who adopted this point of view considered true faith to be the firstborn and goodwill to be born later. For this reason they accorded faith the rights and privileges of the firstborn.

They overwhelmed their own intellect, however, with an abundance of arguments in favor of faith to the point where they did not see that faith is not truly faith unless it is connected to goodwill, and neither is goodwill truly goodwill unless it is connected to faith. The two unite. If the two do not unite, neither of them amounts to anything in the church. Below I will show that they are completely united.

[2] Now, in this introduction to the chapter I will just take a few words to disclose how the two unite or in what way, since this will help shed light on what follows.

From the standpoint of time, faith (meaning truth as well) is primary, but from the standpoint of purpose, goodwill (meaning goodness as well) is primary. Whatever the primary purpose is, that is the element that is truly primary because it is of prime importance and is the real firstborn. Whatever is primary in time is only apparently primary, not truly primary.

So that this may be clearly understood I will illustrate it with analogous situations that occur in constructing a church building or a house, developing a fruit garden, and preparing a field. Constructing a church building: From the standpoint of time, the primary thing is to lay the foundation, raise the walls, put on the roof, and then put in an altar and build the pulpit. From the standpoint of purpose, however, the primary thing is to worship God in the building, which is why these other steps were taken. Constructing a house: From the standpoint of time, the primary thing is to build the outside of our house and then build inside it the various things that we need. From the standpoint of purpose, however, the primary thing is to have a comfortable place for us and the others in our household to live. Developing a fruit garden: From the standpoint of time, the primary thing is to level the ground, prepare the soil, plant the trees, and sow other plants that will be beneficial. From the standpoint of purpose, however, the primary thing is to use the fruit from the trees. Preparing a field: From the standpoint of time, the primary thing is to level the earth, plow it, harrow it, and then plant the seeds. From the standpoint of purpose, however, the primary thing is the harvest and the use of the crops.

On the basis of these analogies, anyone can conclude what is truly primary. Whether we are building a church or a house or developing a fruit garden or working to prepare a field, our primary intention is always the use of it. This is what we continually keep uppermost in our minds as we acquire the means of achieving our goal. We can conclude therefore that from the standpoint of time the primary thing is true understanding that comes from faith, but from the standpoint of purpose the primary thing is good action that comes from goodwill. Since the latter is truly primary, it is actually the firstborn in our mind.

[3] It is important, however, to know what faith and goodwill are, each in its own essence, and this cannot be known unless each is divided up point by point - into points about faith and points about goodwill.

The points about faith are the following:

1. The faith that saves us is faith in the Lord God our Savior Jesus Christ.

2. Briefly put, faith is believing that people who live good lives and believe the right things are saved by the Lord.

3. The way we receive faith is by turning to the Lord, learning truths from the Word, and living by those truths.

4. Having a quantity of truths that are bound together like strands in a cable elevates and improves our faith.

5. Faith without goodwill is not faith. Goodwill without faith is not goodwill. Neither of them is living unless it comes from the Lord.

6. The Lord, goodwill, and faith form a unity in the same way our life, our will, and our intellect form a unity. If we separate them, each one crumbles like a pearl that is crushed to powder.

7. The Lord is goodwill and faith within us. We are goodwill and faith within the Lord.

8. Goodwill and faith come together in good actions.

9. There is faith that is true, faith that is illegitimate, and faith that is hypocritical.

10. Evil people have no faith.

Now these points need to be explained one by one.