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.

379. (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. There is only one true faith, because faith is truth. Truth cannot be split or cut in half in such a way that part of it heads left and part of it heads right, and maintain its trueness.

In a general sense, faith consists of countless truths. Faith is a combination of truths. Yet in a way the countless truths make one body. In the body of faith, there are truths that constitute its limbs: some make the limbs that are attached to the chest as its arms and hands; others are attached to the pelvis as its legs and feet. Inner truths constitute the head. The first truths derived from those inner truths constitute the sense organs that are in the face.

Inner truths constitute the head because saying "inner" also means "higher. " In the spiritual world, all things that are deeper within are also higher. This is true of the three heavens that are there.

The soul and life of this body and all its limbs is the Lord God our Savior. This is why Paul calls the church "the body of Christ" and says that people in the church constitute his limbs, depending on the state of their goodwill and faith [; ].

In the following words Paul also teaches that there is only one true faith:

There is one body and one spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God. He gave people the work of the ministry to build the body of Christ until we all come into a unity of faith, the knowledge of the Son of God, and a complete life to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:4-6, 12-13)

[2] As for the one only true faith being a faith in the Lord God our Savior Jesus Christ, this was fully shown above, 337, 338, 339.

The true faith exists in people who believe that the Lord is the Son of God, because they also believe that he is God. Faith is not faith if it is not faith in God.

Among all the truths that initiate faith and form it, the belief that the Lord is the Son of God is the first. This is clear from the Lord's reply to Peter when Peter said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. " Jesus said, "You are blessed, Simon. I say to you, on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:16-18). In this passage and elsewhere in the Word, the "rock" means the Lord in his role as divine truth as well as the divine truth that comes from the Lord. The truth that Peter stated is primary - it is the crown on the head and the scepter in the hand of Christ's body. This is clear from the Lord's saying that he is going to build his church on that rock and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. The following words in John show the nature of this point of faith: "If any confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them, and they live in God" (1 John 4:15).

[3] In addition to this sign that people have the one true faith, there is another: they believe that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth. This second sign follows from the previous one that the Lord is the Son of God. It also follows from the statements that all the fullness of divinity exists in him (Colossians 2:9); that he is the God of heaven and earth (Matthew 28:18); and that all things that belong to the Father are his (John 3:35; 16:15).

A third indication that people who believe in the Lord have an inner faith in him, and therefore have the one true faith, is that they believe the Lord is one with God the Father. The chapter on the Lord and redemption fully demonstrated that the Lord is one with God the Father and is the Father himself in human form. It is also obvious from the words of the Lord himself that he and the Father are one (John 10:30); that the Father is in him and he in the Father (John 10:38; 14:10-11); that he said to his disciples that from then on they had seen and known the Father, and he looked at Philip and said that he was now seeing and knowing the Father (John 14:7 and following).

[4] These are the three definitive indications that people have faith in the Lord and that the faith they have is the one true faith. Not all who turn to the Lord have faith in him. True faith is an inner faith and an outer faith at the same time. People who have these three jewels of faith have both the inner aspects and the outer aspects of the faith. It is not only a treasure in their hearts but also a valuable asset to their lips.

People who do not acknowledge that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, however, or that he is one with the Father, are inwardly looking toward other gods as well who have similar power. They see those other gods as having power that is to be used by the Son either as their representative or as someone who has earned the right through redemption to rule over the people he redeemed. People like this break true faith apart by dividing the unity of God. Once that unity is broken, faith no longer exists. Instead there is only a ghost of faith, which from an earthly perspective looks like an image of faith, but from a spiritual perspective looks like a monster from mythology.

Can anyone deny that true faith is faith in one God who is the God of heaven and earth - therefore a faith in God the Father in human form, a faith in the Lord?

[5] These three identifying signs, pieces of evidence, and indications that a given faith in the Lord is faith itself are like touchstones used for identifying gold and silver. They are like stone markers or signposts along the road that show the way to the church building where the one true God is worshiped. They are like lighthouses on rocks by the sea that let sailors at night know where they are and which direction to steer their ships on the wind.

The first identifying sign of faith, which is the belief that the Lord is the Son of the living God, is like the morning star for all who are coming into his church.

373. 8. Goodwill and Faith Come Together in Good Actions

Every action that we take contains our whole self with the full measure and quality of our mind or our essential nature. Our "mind" means our love and our desire and the thoughts that come from them. These form our nature and our life in general. If we look at a person's actions in this way, they are like mirrors of the person.

This can be illustrated by a comparison with wild and domesticated animals. A wild animal is a wild animal, and a domesticated animal is a domesticated animal, in everything it does. A wolf is a wolf in everything it does. A tiger is a tiger in everything it does. A fox is a fox in everything it does. A lion is a lion in everything it does. The same goes for a sheep or a goat in all its actions. It is the same for us, except that our quality is determined by our inner self. If we are wolves or foxes inside, everything we do is inwardly wolfish or foxlike. The opposite is true if we are inwardly like a sheep or a lamb. Nevertheless, the inner quality that is present in everything we do is not necessarily apparent in our outer self, because our outer self can turn in different directions around our inner self, although our inner self remains nonetheless hidden within it. The Lord says, "Good people bring what is good out of the good treasure in their heart, and evil people bring what is evil out of the evil treasure in their heart" (Luke 6:45). He also says, "Every type of tree is known by its fruit. People do not pick figs from thorn bushes or gather grapes from a bramble bush" (Luke 6:44).

After we die it becomes very obvious to us that everything that comes from us has the nature of our inner self, since we are then living as our inner self and no longer as our outer self.

When the Lord, goodwill, and faith dwell in our inner self, then there is goodness within us, and all the work that comes from us is good. This point will be demonstrated in the following sequence.

a. "Goodwill" is benevolence toward others; "good works" are good actions that result from benevolence.

b. Goodwill and faith are transient and exist only in our minds unless, when an opportunity occurs, they culminate in actions and become embodied in them.

c. Goodwill alone does not produce good actions; even less does faith alone produce them. Good actions are produced by goodwill and faith together.

Now I will take up these points one by one.