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.

366. (c) The qualities that flow in from the Lord are received by us according to our form. "Form" here means our state in regard to love and wisdom. Therefore it includes the state of our desires to do good out of goodwill and the state of our insights about the truths of faith.

God is one indivisible entity that is the same from eternity to eternity. He is not the same simple thing; he is the same infinite thing. All variation is supplied by the object in which it occurs, as I showed above [364]. It is the receiving form or state that causes variations, as we can see from the life that is in little children, teenagers, young adults, middle-aged adults, and the elderly. Because we keep the same soul, we have the same life inside from infancy to old age; but as our state goes through life stages and different circumstances, we perceive the life inside us differently.

[2] God's life is present in all its fullness not only in people who are good and religious but also in people who are evil and ungodly. That life is the same in angels of heaven as it is in spirits of hell. The difference is that evil people block the road and shut the door to prevent God from coming down into the lower areas of their mind. Good people, on the other hand, smooth the road and open the door. They invite God to enter the lower areas of their mind since he already inhabits the highest areas of it. They change the state of their will so that love and goodwill may flow in, and change the state of their intellect so that wisdom and faith may flow in - they open themselves to God.

Evil people block that inflow with various bodily cravings and spiritual garbage that they spread around to prevent access. Nevertheless, God with all his divine essence still dwells in the highest parts of evil people and gives them the ability to will what is good and understand what is true. This ability is something that all human beings have, although it would not be theirs at all if life from God were not present in their soul. Many experiences have taught me that even the evil have this ability.

[3] The way we individually receive life from God depends on our form. This can be illustrated with comparisons to every kind of plant. Every species of tree, every species of bush, every type of shrub, and every type of grass receives the inflowing heat and light according to its own form. This is true not only for plants that serve a good purpose but also for those that serve an evil purpose. The sun and its heat do not alter the form of the plants. Instead the forms themselves alter the effects of the sun.

The same is true for substances in the mineral kingdom. Every different substance, whether it has high quality or little value, receives what flows in according to the form of the structure of its component parts. No two types of stone, no two minerals, no two metals receive the inflowing heat and light in the same way. Some of them dapple themselves with exquisitely beautiful colors; some transmit light without altering it; some scramble the light inside themselves or suffocate it.

As you can see on the basis of these few examples, the sun in our world, along with its heat and light, is just as present in one object as it is in another, but the forms that receive it vary its effects; likewise the Lord is equally present to all, shining down from the sun in heaven, in whose midst he is, along with his heat (which is essentially love) and his light (which is essentially wisdom). It is our form as shaped by the state of our life that varies his effects. Therefore the Lord is not responsible for our failure to be reborn and saved; we ourselves are.

107. 9. From now on, no Christians will go to heaven unless they believe in the Lord God the Savior and turn to him alone. We read in Isaiah, "Behold, I am creating a new heaven and a new earth, and the earlier heaven and earth will not be remembered or overwhelm the heart. Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a rejoicing and its people a joy" (Isaiah 65:17). In the Book of Revelation we read, I saw a new heaven and a new earth, and I saw the holy Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared like a bride for her husband. And the One sitting on the throne said, "Behold, I will make all things new" (Revelation 21:1-2, 5). A number of times we read that no one can come into heaven except the people who have been written in the Lamb's book of life (Revelation 13:8; 17:8; 20:12, 15; 21:27). "Heaven" in these passages does not mean the visible heaven or sky that is before our eyes; it means the angelic heaven. "Jerusalem" does not mean some city from the sky; it means the church that will descend out of the angelic heaven from the Lord. "The Lamb's book of life" does not mean a book written in heaven that will be opened; it means the Word, which is from the Lord and is about him.

In fact, the reason why Jehovah God, who is called "the Creator" and "the Father," came down and took on a human manifestation was so that we could turn to him and form a partnership with him, a point I have supported, proven, and established with the previous statements in this chapter.

When we go to see someone, we do not go to the person's soul. Who would be able to go to someone's soul? No, we go to the actual person. We see the person eye to eye and talk with the person face to face. It is the same with God the Father and the Son because God the Father is present in the Son the way a soul is present in its body.

[2] The following passages in the Word teach that we have to believe in the Lord God the Savior:

God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son so that everyone who believes in him would not perish but would have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Those who believe in the Son are not judged; but those who do not believe have already been judged because they have not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:18)

Those who believe in the Son have eternal life. Those who do not believe in the Son will not see life; instead God's anger will remain upon them. (John 3:36)

The bread of God is the One who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Those who come to me will never hunger and those who believe in me will never thirst. (John 6:33, 35)

This is the will of the One who sent me, that all who see the Son and believe in him should have eternal life, and I will revive them on the last day. (John 6:40)

They said to Jesus, "What shall we do to perform the works of God?" Jesus answered, "This is God's work, to believe in the One whom the Father sent. " (John 6:28-29)

Truly I say to you, those who believe in me have eternal life. (John 6:47)

Jesus cried out, saying, "If any are thirsty, they must come to me and drink. If any believe in me, rivers of living water will flow out of their bellies. " (John 7:37-38)

Unless you have believed that I am [he], you will die in your sins. (John 8:24)

Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even if they die they will live. And everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. (John 11:25-26)

Jesus said, "I have come into the world as a light so that all who believe in me will not remain in darkness. " (John 12:46; 8:12)

As long as you have the light, believe in the light so that you may be children of the light. (John 12:36)

People will live in the Lord and the Lord in them (John 14:20; 15:15; 17:23), a situation that is brought about by faith.

To both Jews and Greeks Paul proclaimed repentance before God and belief in our Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts of the Apostles 20:21)

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

[3] Those who believe in the Son believe in the Father, since as we said above, the Father is in the Son like a soul in a body. The following passages make this clear:

If you had known me you would have known my Father also. (John 8:19; 14:7)

Those who see me see the One who sent me. (John 12:45)

Those who receive me receive the One who sent me. (John 13:20)

This is because no one can see the Father and live (Exodus 33:20), which is why the Lord says,

No one has ever seen God. The only begotten Son, who is close to the Father's heart, has made him visible. (John 1:18)

No one has seen the Father except the One who is with the Father. He has seen the Father. (John 6:46)

You have never heard the voice of the Father or seen what he looks like. (John 5:37)

There are those of course who know nothing about the Lord, such as most people who are in those two great parts of the world called Asia and Africa, as well as in the Indies, for example. If they believe in one God and follow the principles of their religion in their lives they are saved by their faith and by their life. Spiritual credit or blame applies only to those who know; it does not apply to those who do not. We do not blame the blind for tripping. As the Lord says, "If you had been blind you would have had no sin; but now that you say you see, your sin remains" (John 9:41).