745. Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ.- That this signifies that now the Lord has power, by means of His Divine Truth, to save those who are of His church, who receive it in heart and soul, is evident from the signification of salvation, as denoting deliverance; from the signification of "the power" (potentia), as denoting to have ability, thus possibility (of which we shall speak presently); and from the signification of kingdom, as denoting heaven and the church (concerning which see above, n. 48, 685); from the signification of our God, as denoting the Lord as to His Divine; and from the signification of the authority (potestas) of His Christ, as denoting the efficacy of Divine Truth, that is, by means of Divine Truth. That Christ means the Lord as to Divine Truth may be seen above (n. 684, 685); that authority (or power), when said of the Lord, signifies the salvation of the human race, may be seen above (n. 293); and that the Lord has the power of saving by means of His Divine Truth, may also be seen above (n. 333, 726). And because the Lord can save only those who receive Divine Truth from Him in heart and soul, this also is signified. It is therefore evident that Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority (or power) of His Christ, signifies that now the Lord has, by means of His Divine Truth, the power of saving those who are of His church, who receive it in heart and soul.

[2] It is said "who receive it in heart and soul," and this means in love and faith, also in will and understanding; for when in the Word it is said "heart and soul," then soul signifies faith, and also understanding, while heart signifies love, and also will. For soul (anima), in the Word in the ultimate sense, means the respiration of man, which is also called his breath (spiritus), therefore the expression "to animate" (animare) is used for "to respire" (respirare); also a man is said to give up the ghost, or it is said that the breath has gone out of him, when he dies. That soul (anima), moreover, signifies faith and also understanding, and the heart love, and also the will, is from correspondence. For faith and understanding correspond to the animation or respiration of the lungs, and the love and will correspond to the motion and pulsation of the heart; concerning this correspondence see above (n. 167); and the Arcana Coelestia 2930, 3883-3896, 9050).

[3] The reason why these words, "Now is come the salvation and the power of our God," signify that the Lord can now save, thus why power there signifies to have ability, thus possibility, is that the Lord could not save those who were of His church until the dragon with his angels had been driven out, that is, separated from heaven. He who is ignorant of the laws of Divine order may suppose that the Lord can save whomsoever He pleases, thus the evil as well as the good; and for this reason some are of opinion that in the end all who are in hell will also be saved. But that no one can be saved by immediate, but only by mediate mercy, and that still it is from pure mercy that those are saved who receive Divine Truth from the Lord in soul and heart, may be seen in Heaven and Hell 521-527).

[4] This also is meant by these words in John:

"His own received him not; but as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not of bloods, neither of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (1:11-13).

His own who received Him not, mean those who are of the church where the Word is, and to whom the Lord could therefore be known; therefore those who were of the Jewish church are there meant by His own. That the Lord would give to those who believe in His name power to become the sons of God, signifies to give heaven to those who receive Divine truths from Him in soul and heart, or in faith and life; to believe in His name signifying to receive the Lord in faith and life, for the name of the Lord signifies everything by which He is worshipped. The sons of God, mean those who are regenerated by the Lord; who are born not of bloods, signifies those who have not falsified and adulterated the Word; nor of the will of the flesh, signifies those who are not in evils from their proprium; nor of the will of man, signifies those who are not in falsities from their proprium, for the will signifies man's proprium, flesh signifies evil, and man falsity; but born of God, signifies those who are regenerated by means of truths from the Word and by a life according to them. From these things also it is evident that those who are not willing to be reformed and regenerated by the Lord cannot be saved, this being effected by the reception of Divine Truth in faith and life.

9049. 'You shall pay soul for soul' means the law of order that you shall do to your neighbour as you wish him to do to you, and therefore that it shall be done to you as you do to another. This is clear from the fact that paying soul for soul, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, and so on, means having done to you what you would do to another. The reason why this law was given to the children of Israel was that a similar law exists in the spiritual world. Anyone there who does good to another with all his heart receives good in like measure; and therefore one who does evil to another with all his heart receives evil in like measure. For good done with all one's heart carries its own reward together with it, and evil done with all one's heart carries its own punishment together with it. So it is that heaven is the reward for good people, and hell the punishment for evil ones. Considerable experience has allowed me to know that this is so. The situation with both groups is as follows. With someone who does good with all his heart good is flowing in from heaven on every side into his heart and soul and inspiring him greatly to act as he does. At the same time love and affection for the neighbour to whom he does the good is increasing, and with this love and affection a delight that is heavenly delight, beyond description. The reason why all this happens is that the good of love from the Lord reigns everywhere in heaven, flowing in unceasingly in the same measure as it is being given out to another. Similarly with someone evil who does evil to another with all his heart. Evil on every side is flowing in from hell into his heart and spurring him on greatly to act as he does. At the same time selfish love and affection is increasing, and with them the delight born of hatred and vengeance against those unsubmissive to him. The reason why all this happens is that the evil of self-love reigns everywhere in hell, flowing in unceasingly in the same measure as it is given out to another. When this happens those who punish are immediately present, and they deal roughly with the evil-doer. In this way evil along with its delight is kept in check.

[2] These things are so because the laws of order in the next life are not learned from books and then stored away in the memory, as they are with people in the world. Rather they are laws written on the heart, laws of evil on the heart of those who are evil, and laws of good on the heart of those who are good. For everyone takes with him into the next life that which has been fixed in his heart by his life in the world, that is to say evil in the case of evil people and good in the case of good ones.

[3] The law of order from which these things follow is that which the Lord has taught in Matthew,

All things whatever you wish people to do to you, do also to them; this is the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12; Luke 6:31.

Order arises out of Divine Truth which comes from the Lord. In heaven the laws of order are truths springing from good, but in hell they are truths separated from good. They are said to be separated not on account of what the Lord does but of what man does. Good is separated when it is unreceived.

[4] The law called the law of retaliation is set out in Leviticus as follows,

Whoever strikes the soul of a beast shall make restitution, soul for soul. If a man has caused disfigurement in his neighbour as he has done, so shall it be done to him - fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. As he has caused disfigurement in a person, so shall it be paid out to him. One striking a beast shall make restitution, and one striking a human being shall be killed. Leviticus 24:17-21.

Since evil carries its own punishment with it the Lord says that one should not resist evil. At the same time He explains what this law means for those in the spiritual world who are governed by good, in their relations with those ruled by evil, in the following words in Matthew,

You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. But I say, Evil is not to be resisted. But whoever smacks you on your right jaw, turn the other to him also. And if anyone wishes to drag you to court and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to everyone asking from you, and from him desiring to receive a loan from you, do not turn away. Matthew 5:38-42.

[5] Who can fail to see that these words should not be taken literally? Who is going to turn his left jaw to one who has smacked him on the right jaw? Who is going to give his cloak to one who wishes to take away his tunic? Who is going to give what he has to all who ask for it? And who will not resist evil? But these words cannot be understood by anyone who does not know what the right jaw and the left, tunic and cloak, a mile, a loan, and all the rest are being used to mean. The subject in these verses is spiritual life or the life of faith, not natural life, which is the life of the world. In this chapter and the next the Lord reveals things of a more internal nature that belong to heaven; but He has done so by means of the kinds of things that exist in the world. He used such things in order that worldly-minded people might not understand them, only heavenly-minded people. And the reason why the worldly-minded people should be prevented from understanding was so that they would not profane the more internal truths of the Word; for by profaning these truths those people would cast themselves into the most horrible hell of all, which is the hell of profaners of the Word. This explains why the Lord has said in Luke,

To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to everyone else in parables, that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not hear. Luke 8:10.

And in John,

Isaiah said, He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they should see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and should be converted and I should heal them. John 12:40.

It says 'lest I heal them' because those who are healed but then go back to falsities and evils commit profanation. These are the ones who are meant in Matthew 12:43-45.

[6] But what the Lord's words quoted above are used to mean in the internal sense must be stated now. They refer in the internal sense to those who wish to use falsities to destroy the truths of faith, that is, to destroy the spiritual life with a person when he is undergoing temptation, or suffering persecution, and with good spirits when they are subject to molestations from evil spirits. 'The jaw' means an affection for interior truth, 'the right jaw' being an affection for truth derived from good; 'smacking' means the act of injuring that affection; 'tunic' and 'cloak' mean truth in an outward form, 4677, 4741, 4742; 'dragging to court' means trying to destroy; 'mile' means that which leads to truth, for 'mire' is similar in meaning to 'way', which means that which leads to truth, see 627, 2333, 3477; and 'giving a loan' means informing, which shows what 'giving to all who ask' means, namely declaring everything composing one's belief in the Lord. The reason therefore why 'evil should not be resisted' is that evil can have no harmful effect at all on those governed by truth and good, for they are protected by the Lord.

[7] These are the things that lie concealed beneath those words spoken by the Lord, which being so, the Lord says simply, 'You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth', quoting no further than this. He goes no further because 'an eye' means more internal truth of faith, and 'a tooth' more external truth of faith, as will be seen below. This shows in what way the Lord used words when He was in the world, that is to say, in the same way as they were used everywhere in the Old Testament Word - at the same time both for angels in heaven and for people in the world. For in itself His speech was Divine and heavenly, since it sprang from the Divine and came by way of heaven. But to present the truths He spoke He used such things as corresponded to them in the world. What such things correspond to is taught by the internal sense.

[8] The fact that 'smacking the jaw' or striking it means destroying truths is evident from places in the Word in which the expression 'striking the jaw' is used. And since in the genuine sense it means the destruction of truth, in the contrary sense it means the destruction of falsity, in which sense it occurs in David,

You will strike all my enemies on the jaw, You will break the teeth of the wicked. Psalms 3:7.

In Micah,

With a rod they will strike the judge of Israel on the jaw. Micah 5:1.

And in Isaiah,

The bridle of one that leads astray will be on the jaws of peoples. Isaiah 30:28.

'The face' means the affections, 4796, 4797, 4799, 5102, 5695, 6604. Consequently parts of the face mean such things as belong to the affections and correspond to the functions and uses they perform. The eye for example corresponds to the understanding of truth, the nostrils to the perception of truth, and parts of the mouth - the jaws, lips, throat, or tongue - to such things as belong to the utterance of truth, 4796 4805.