305. Verses 4, 5. And I wept much, that no one was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me, weep not; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath overcome to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

4. "And I wept much, that no one was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon," signifies grief of heart on account of the disorder and destruction of all things, if no one could know [scire], cognize [cognoscere], and explore all men, and all things pertaining to men (n. 306).

5. "And one of the elders," signifies a society of heaven superior in wisdom to the rest (n.307); "saith unto me, Weep not," signifies that there need be no grief on that account (n. 308); "behold, the Lion hath overcome," signifies that the Lord from His own power subjugated the hells, and reduced all things in the heavens to order (n. 309); "from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David," signifies by means of Divine good united to Divine truth in His Human (n. 310); "to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof," signifies that He knows and recognizes all and each, and the most secret things of everyone (n. 311).

166. People believe that when our sins are forgiven they are washed away or rinsed off the way dirt is rinsed off with water. However, our sins are not washed away; they are just put aside. That is, we are held back from doing them when we are kept focused by the Lord on doing what is good; and when we are focused on doing good it seems as though our sins are gone and therefore as though they have been washed away. Further, the more we have been reformed, the more capable we are of focusing on doing what is good; how we are reformed will be explained in the treatment of regeneration that follows [§§173-186]. If we think that our sins are forgiven in any other way, we are sadly mistaken.