8080. 'And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem, means that the truths of faith are not to be ascribed to the Lord, but forms of the good of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'the firstborn' as faith, dealt with in 352, 2435, 6344, 7035, 8042; from the meaning of 'sons' as truths, dealt with in 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 3373; and from the meaning of 'redeeming' as giving something else instead, as above in 8078, 8079. The fact that those truths of faith are not to be ascribed follows from the full message that is implied by these words, And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall not make over, that is, you shall not sacrifice, but you shall redeem', 'not making over' being not ascribing, as above in 8074, 8078. From this it is evident that 'all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem' means that the truths of faith are not to be ascribed to the Lord, but something else instead. Proof that this something else is the good of faith is provided by the consideration that generally 'the firstborn' means the good of faith, as above in 8042, 8043. But since it speaks here about 'the firstborn of man among his sons', the truth of faith is meant; for there is the truth of faith and there is the good of faith.

[2] Further proof that the good of faith, which is charity, is this something else which is to be ascribed to the Lord instead of the truths of faith is provided by the fact that the firstborn of the children of Israel were not accepted but the Levites instead; and the reason for this was that 'Levi' represented the good of faith, or charity, 3875, 4497, 4502, 4503. With regard to the acceptance of the tribe of Levi instead of all the firstborn, see Numbers 3:12-13, 40-end; 8:16-18. Even more proof that the good of faith is the something else to be ascribed to the Lord is provided by the consideration that faith without charity is not faith, 654, 724, 1162, 1176, 2231, 2343, 2349, 2429, 2839, 2982, 3146, 3325, 3849, 3865, 4368, 5351, 7039, 7082-7084, 7342 (end), 7950, and also by the consideration that the good of faith in actual fact occupies first place, while the truth of faith merely appears to do so, 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 3570, 3576, 3603, 3701, 4925, 4926, 4928, 4930, 4977, 5351, 6256, 6269, 6272, 6273, so that charity is the firstborn, 3325, 3494, 4925, 4926, 4928, 4930.

[3] The reason why the truth of faith regarded in itself without the good of faith is not to be ascribed to the Lord, that is, not to be given to Him or acknowledged to come from Him, is that no truth of faith has any life within it until it becomes the good of faith; and the truth of faith becomes the good of faith through the willing and doing of it, 7835. When therefore it becomes the good of faith it is acknowledged by the Lord as being His, for the Lord imparts faith indirectly through the good of faith. Every truth of faith too that a member of the spiritual Church possesses becomes the good of faith when he is regenerated. Not till then does it become the Lord's.

[4] The law regarding the redemption of the firstborn of man was laid down to prevent them from sacrificing their sons, a practice that had come into use among gentiles with whom statutes of the Ancient Church - which was a representative Church - remained in force, but in a form that had been completely adulterated in the course of time. The consecration of the firstborn to God was one of those statutes of the Ancient Church; but by consecration they began to understand sacrifice. The descendants of Jacob leaned likewise towards the same practice, and therefore that law of redemption was marked out for them. And to prevent them from following that practice the Levites were adopted instead of the firstborn, as has been stated. The law was marked out in keeping with its corresponding meaning in the spiritual world, which is that the truths of faith are not holy, thus that these are not to be consecrated or ascribed to the Lord but forms of the good of faith. Later on that consecration to Him was taken to mean that they were to give or present the firstborn to Jehovah, and to offer a sacrifice for him, as the following stated in Luke shows,

When the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Jesus to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it has been written in the Law of the Lord, that every male opening the womb should be called holy to the Lord) and to offer a sacrifice. Luke 2:22-24.

8078. 'And all that open it among the asses you shall redeem with a member of the flock' means that merely natural faith must not be ascribed to the Lord, only the truth of innocence present within it. This is clear from the meaning of 'that which opens' as that which is born first in a regenerate person or is the firstborn, namely faith (it has been shown already that 'the firstborn' means faith); from the meaning of 'ass' as the natural, for 'ass' means factual knowledge, 5492, 5741, also subservience, 5958, 6389, and the natural as well (since factual knowledge belongs to the natural, and the natural in relation to the spiritual is subservient), so that '[all] that open it among the asses' here means merely natural faith, dealt with below; from the meaning of 'redeeming' as giving something else instead (the fact that 'redeeming' has this meaning is evident from the full message implied by these words, which is that 'you shall not make over to Jehovah one that opens it among the asses, but you shall redeem it with a member of the flock',

[2] and 'making over to Jehovah' means ascribing to the Lord, just as 'sanctifying' and 'sacrificing' do, see just above in 8074, so that 'not making it over but redeeming it' means not ascribing it but giving something else instead); and from the meaning of 'a member of the flock' as the truth of innocence. 'A member of the flock' means the truth of innocence because the expression is used to mean lamb or kid, and innocence is meant by these, 3519, 3994, 7840, at this point the truth of innocence since neither the word 'lamb' nor the word 'kid' is used, but 'a member of the flock'. From all this it is evident that 'all that open it among the asses you shall redeem with a member of the flock' means that merely natural faith is not to be ascribed to the Lord, but the truth of innocence present within it.

[3] Merely natural faith is faith that is instilled along the outward but not the inward path. One type of it is faith that depends entirely on the senses, which exists when a person believes something to be so because he has seen it with his eye or touched it with his hand. The Lord referred to this kind of faith when He said to Thomas,

Because you have seen, Thomas, you have believed; blessed are those who do not see yet believe. John 20:29

Another type is faith induced by miracles, which exists when a person believes something to be so solely as a result of miracles; regarding this kind of faith see 7290. And another type is authoritarian faith, which exists when a person believes something to be so because another in whom he trusts has declared it.

[4] But spiritual faith is that which is instilled along the inward path at the same time as the outward one. The instilling along the inward path gives rise to belief, and what is instilled at the same time along the outward path serves to corroborate it. The spiritual element of faith is charitable affection, and consequently an affection for truth for the sake of true service and for life's sake. These cause faith to be spiritual. Faith is instilled along the inward path when a person reads the Word and at the same time receives enlightenment from the Lord. This enlightenment is given to him in accordance with his affection, that is, in accordance with the reason he has for wishing to know the truth.

[5] These considerations now show what merely natural faith is, and that because such faith is not spiritual it cannot be ascribed to the Lord, that is, there can be no acknowledgement or belief that comes from the Lord. For the Lord flows in through the affection for truth and good; and faith is an inward affection, see 8034. The truth of innocence which can be present within that merely natural faith and can be accredited to the Lord is anything that a person believes in innocence to be true. From all this one may now see how to understand the explanation that merely natural faith must not be ascribed to the Lord, but the truth of innocence present within it.