17. [48.] XVII. THE ETERNAL LIFE A MAN HAS, IS IN ACCORDANCE WITH HIS AFFECTION FOR USE

Just as affection is the essential man, and use is its effect and operation, and the field or training-ground as it were for its exercise, and just as there can be no affection unless it has a "subject," so, too, a man's life's affection cannot exist without having its use; and because the affection and the use make a one, so the quality of a man who is an affection, is recognized from his use; only with difficulty and imperfectly in the natural world, but in the spiritual world clearly and fully. This is so because that which is spiritual makes apparent the affection and its every detail, for that which is spiritual is in its essence Divine Love and Divine Wisdom and in its appearing it is heaven's heat and heaven's light. These latter cause the affections for uses to be apparent, just as the heat of the world's sun causes objects on earth to be apparent by their odours and flavours, and its light causes them to be apparent by their various colours and differences of light and shade.

[2] The reason the eternal life that each one has, is in accordance with his affection for use, is that this is the essential man, and consequently such as the affection is, such is he.

[49.] There are, however, two general kinds of affection for use; there is a spiritual affection for use and there is a natural affection for use: they are alike in external form, but in internal form altogether unlike. On this account men in the world do not distinguish between them, but angels in heaven do, very well.

[3] These two kinds of affection for use are entirely opposite to each other, a spiritual affection for use conferring heaven upon a man, whereas a natural affection for use without a spiritual affection for it confers hell. This is because a natural affection for use has regard solely to position and gain, thus it has regard to self and the world as ends; a spiritual affection for use, on the other hand, has regard to the glory of God and to the uses themselves, thus it has regard to the Lord and the neighbour as ends.

[50.] There are, it is true, men in the world who carry out their duties and obligations with much application, toil and ardour: governors, men in authority and officials fulfilling their duties with all diligence and industry: priests, leaders, ministers, preaching with ardour as if from zeal: authors writing books full of piety, doctrine and learning: and others, similarly; and, by their activities, they perform notable uses to the Church, their Country, society and fellow-citizens. Yet many of them, nevertheless, do their work from a natural affection only, that is, either for selfish ends, to be honoured and given high position, or for worldly ends, to get wealth and grow rich. With some, these ends fire their affection for doing uses to such an extent that they sometimes accomplish more outstanding uses than do those who are in a spiritual affection for use.

[4] I have talked with many of those in this kind of affection for use, after their death when they had become spirits and had then demanded heaven on the score of merit, but because the uses they had performed were done from a natural affection only, that is, for selfish and worldly ends, not for the sake of God and the neighbour, they received a similar answer to that in Matthew:

"Many shall say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy Name, and in Thy Name cast out devils, and in Thy Name done many wonderful works? But then will I profess unto them, I know you not; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity" (Matthew 7:22-23).

And in Luke:

"Then shall ye begin to say, We did eat and drink in Thy presence, and Thou hast taught in our streets. But He shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are: depart from Me, all ye workers of iniquity" (Luke 13:26-27).

Furthermore, they were examined regarding their quality in the world, and it was found that their interiors had been filled with lusts and with evils consolidated therefrom. These had the appearance, with some, of being fiery from love of self, with some, of being livid from love of the world, and with some, of being blackish from rejecting spiritual things. And yet their exteriors had the appearance of being snow-white and rosy, from the uses they had done in external form. From all this, it was made clear that, although uses had been done by them, still within themselves they had not thought about anything else but a good name for the sake of securing honours and gains: that these were the things proper to their spirit, both in itself and in its life: and that their good behaviour was either to present the appearance of not being of such a nature, or merely as a means towards honours and gains as ends.

These things are concerning a natural affection for uses.

[51.] [5] A spiritual affection, on the other hand, is internal and at the same time external; and to the extent that it is external and natural, to that extent it is spiritual as well, for the spiritual flows into the natural and disposes it into correspondence, thus into a likeness of itself.

As however people in the world at the present time are quite ignorant as to what a spiritual affection for use is and in what respect it is distinguishable from a natural affection for it, both of them having a similar outward appearance, it shall be explained how a spiritual affection for use is acquired. It is not acquired by faith alone, faith, that is, separated from charity, for such a faith is only a faith to be thought about, without having in it any relation to action; and, being separated from charity, it is also separated from the affection that is the essential man; and therefore after death it is dissipated like a puff of air. A spiritual affection is, on the contrary, acquired by shunning evils because they are sins, and this is done by fighting against them. The evils to be shunned are all those found written in the Decalogue. As far as any one fights against these because they are sins, so far he becomes a spiritual affection, and so, the uses he does are done from spiritual life. By fighting against evils, those things are dissipated that have possession of his interiors, which, as said above, appear with some as fiery, with some as blackish, with some as livid; and so his spiritual mind is opened, and the Lord enters through it into his natural mind and disposes if for doing spiritual uses, these nevertheless having the same appearance as natural uses. It is to these, and to none others, that the Lord can grant to love Him above all things, and their neighbour as themselves. If any one, by fighting against evils because they are sins, acquires for himself in the world something of spiritual life, even though very little, he is saved, and his uses afterwards increase, like a mustard seed growing into a tree, according to the Lord's words in Matthew 13:32; Mark 4:30-32; Luke 13:18-19.