2228. All the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him. That this signifies that all who are in charity will be saved by Him, is evident from the signification of being “blessed,” as being to be endowed with all goods which are from a heavenly origin (as explained n. 981, 1096, 1420, 1422). They who are endowed with goods from a heavenly origin, that is, with both celestial and spiritual goods (concerning which just above, n. 2177), are also endowed with eternal salvation, that is, are saved. By “all the nations of the earth” are meant in the internal sense those who are in the good of love and of charity, as is evident from the signification of a “nation,” as being good (n. 1159, 1258-1260, 1416, 1849). That all men in the whole globe are not meant by “all the nations of the earth,” is evident to everyone, because there are very many among them who are not saved, but only those who are in charity, that is, who have attained the life of charity.

[2] That none may be unaware how the case is with the salvation of men after their decease, it shall be briefly stated. There are many who say that man is saved by faith, or, in their words, if he only has faith; but for the most part they are those who do not know what faith is. Some suppose that it is mere thought; some that it is an acknowledgment of something to be believed; some that it is the whole doctrine of faith, which is to be believed; and others otherwise. Thus in the bare knowledge of what faith is they wander in error; consequently in the knowledge of what that is by which man is saved. Faith, however, is not mere thought, nor is it an acknowledgment of something to be believed, nor a knowledge of all things which belong to the doctrine of faith. By these no one can be saved; for they can take root no deeper than in the thought, and thought saves no one, but the life which the man has procured for himself in the world by means of the knowledges of faith. This life remains; whereas all thought which does not accord with the life perishes, even so as to become none at all. The heavenly consociations are according to lives, and by no means according to thoughts which are not of the life. Thoughts which are not of the life are counterfeit, and such are altogether rejected.

[3] In general, life is twofold, being on the one hand infernal, on the other heavenly. Infernal life is acquired from all those ends, thoughts, and works which flow from the love of self, consequently from hatred against the neighbor; heavenly life, from all those ends, thoughts, and works which are of love toward the neighbor. The latter is the life to which all things that are called faith have regard, and which is procured by all things of faith. All this shows what faith is, namely, that it is charity, for to charity all things lead which are said to be of the doctrine of faith; in it they are all contained, and from it they are all derived. The soul, after the life of the body, is such as its love is.

981. That “God blessed” signifies the presence and grace of the Lord, is evident from the signification of “to bless.” “To bless” in the Word, in the external sense signifies to enrich with every earthly and corporeal good, according to the explanation of the Word given by those who abide in the external sense—as the ancient and modern Jews, and also Christians, especially at the present day—wherefore they have made the Divine blessing to consist in riches, in an abundance of all things, and in self-glory. But in the internal sense, “to bless” is to enrich with all spiritual and celestial good, which blessing is and never can be given except by the Lord, and on this account it signifies His presence and grace, which necessarily bring with them such spiritual and celestial good. It is said presence, because the Lord is present solely in charity, and the subject treated of here is the regenerate spiritual man, who acts from charity. The Lord is indeed present with every man, but in proportion as a man is distant from charity, in the same proportion the presence of the Lord is-so to speak-more absent, that is, the Lord is more remote. The reason why grace is mentioned, and not mercy, is for the reason—which as I conjecture, has been hitherto unknown—that celestial men do not speak of grace, but of mercy, while spiritual men do not speak of mercy, but of grace. This mode of speaking is grounded in the circumstance that those who are celestial acknowledge the human race to be nothing but filthiness, and as being in itself excrementitious and infernal; wherefore they implore the mercy of the Lord, for mercy is predicated of such a condition. Those, however, who are spiritual, although they know the human race to be of such a nature, yet they do not acknowledge it, because they remain in their Own, which they love, and therefore they speak with difficulty of mercy, but easily of grace. This difference in language results from the difference in the humiliation. In proportion as anyone loves himself, and thinks that he can do good of himself, and thus merit salvation, the less capable is he of imploring the Lord’s mercy. The reason why some can implore grace is that it has become a customary form of speaking, in which there is but little of the Lord and much of self, as anyone may discover in himself while he names the grace of the Lord.