717. The fact that the Lord's redemption is also fully present in the Holy Supper is a direct consequence of what was just stated. Where the Lord is fully present, his redemption is also fully present. In his humanity he is the Redeemer; therefore he is redemption itself. Where he is fully present, no part of redemption can be absent. Therefore all who approach the Holy Supper worthily become his redeemed.

Being redeemed means being liberated from hell, forming a partnership with the Lord, and being saved (see below in this chapter [719-730] and the more extended treatment in the chapter on redemption [114-133]). These then are the fruits that are given to us in the Holy Supper. They are not given us to the full extent that the Lord would like, however. Moved as he is by his divine love, he would prefer to give us all of these gifts [at once]. Instead we are given them in accordance with our own receptivity; however receptive we are, that is how far the process of redemption takes us. This makes it clear that those who go to the Holy Supper worthily come away with effects and fruits of the Lord's redemption.

615. Regeneration Would Be Impossible without Free Choice in Spiritual Matters

Without free choice in spiritual matters we could not be regenerated - surely no one is so stupid as to be unable to see that. Without free choice, would we be able to turn to the Lord and acknowledge him as the Redeemer and the Savior and as the God of heaven and earth, as he himself teaches in Matthew 28:18? Without that kind of free choice, how could we believe in him, that is, turn to him in faith, and worship him? How could we work on receiving the means and the benefits of salvation from him? How could we cooperate in receiving those things from him? Without free choice, how could we do anything good for our neighbors or practice goodwill toward them? How could we introduce teachings related to faith and goodwill into our thinking and willing, and bring them forth and put them into action?

Without free choice, regeneration would be nothing but a word the Lord once used (John 3), which either sticks in our ear or moves down from our thought that is closest to speech into our mouth as the sound of a twelve-letter word - a sound that no meaning can lift into any higher region of the mind, so it falls into the air and is gone.