207. (Verse 8) I know thy works. That this signifies the life of charity, is evident from the signification of works, as being those things which belong to man's love, and thus to his life (concerning which see above, n. 98, 116, 185). Here, therefore, they denote the things of charity, because these are treated of in what is written to this church.

141. Freedom

ALL freedom is a function of love, because what we love we do with a sense of freedom. Therefore all of our freedom is connected with our will, because whatever we love we also will to do; and since our love and our will constitute our life, freedom too constitutes our life. This can show us what freedom is, namely, that it is a reflection of our love and our will and therefore our life. That is why anything we do freely seems to us to have come from ourselves.