When we are in the midst of temptation, what we really want is to, in a way, "have our cake and eat it too" – we want to be better, want to do the right thing, want to be closer to the Lord... but would like to do it without actually quite giving up our evil desires. So there’s a tendency to want to make peace between the two, make the evil not quite so bad.

That’s what is illustrated here and in the next verse. Lot – representing those in a state of caring for others – goes to the outer door of his house to address the men of Sodom. Doors represent introductory concepts and desires that lead to the loving state represented by the interior of the house, so in going to the outer door he is looking for some good in the men to issue an appeal. But he also knows the danger, so he closes the inner door, protecting the state of love within.

This is akin to us telling ourselves that our desire "are not really all THAT bad," while knowing, deep down, that they are indeed really that bad.

(Odkazy: Arcana Coelestia 2355)

2426. 'In case the evil clings to me and I die' means it would inevitably result in evil existing with him at the same time and that this being so he would be condemned. This is clear without explanation. What these words embody can be recognized from what has been stated and shown already in 301-303, 571, 582, 1001, 1327, 1328 - that the Lord is continually making provision to prevent the mixing together of evil with good. But to the extent a person is immersed in evil, he is further away from good. It is better to be immersed completely in evil than in evil and at the same time in good. For if a person is under the influence of evil and of good simultaneously he inevitably stands condemned for ever. It is the deceitful and the hypocritical within the Church who more than anybody else stand in danger of this. This then is the meaning in the internal sense of 'in case the evil clings to me and I die'.