272. Which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. This symbolically means that from that omniscience and wisdom emanates Divine truth throughout the whole world, wherever religion is found.
The seven spirits of God are the Divine truth emanating from the Lord, as shown in nos. 14 and 155 above. Their being sent out into all the earth clearly means throughout the world, wherever religion is found. For wherever religion is found, the people are taught that God exists and that the devil exists, that God is goodness itself and the source of good, and that the devil is evil itself and the source of evil, and that because these are opposed to each other, evil, being from the devil, must be shunned, and good, being from God, must be practiced. The people are taught accordingly that to the extent someone does evil, to the same extent he loves the devil and acts contrary to God. Such is the Divine truth that exists throughout the whole world, wherever any religion is found.
Therefore one need know only what evil is. This, too, is something all who have any religion know. For the precepts of all religions are like those of the Ten Commandments - that one must not kill, behave licentiously, steal, or bear false witness. These are in general the Divine truths sent out from the Lord into all the earth, as may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 101-118.
Consequently whoever lives according to these, on the ground that they are Divine truths or the commandments of God and so of religion, is saved. But someone who lives according to them only because they are civil and moral truths, is not saved; for one who rejects God may also live in the same way, but not one who believes in God.
