839. It has been shown previously that every man is his own love; and also that the love and life of man make one and are one. It shall now be shown that a man's faith is according to the quality of his love or life, also according to his works. It was shown above that works contain in themselves all things of the love and life of man, because works are their results and effects, and the ultimates in which all things prior co-exist. This is why the angels of the third heaven know a man's quality from the sound of his speech; also from his step, a touch of the hand, a movement of the body, or his joy, and several other things which are actions. That a man is known in the third heaven from such things is not known in the world, because it is believed that they are nothing but motion; when nevertheless the life of his mind causes them, by means of the life of his body. Each life, with all that pertains to it, concurs in the production of these things; it consequently follows that the life manifests itself in them.

When, therefore, a man's life goes forth into works, and manifests itself in them, it follows that his faith also does the same; for faith is an acknowledgment that a thing is so, and acknowledgment pertains to the thought, and also to the will. And whereas will and thought by means of the life of the body produce action, therefore faith also shows its quality in works. But still nothing is acknowledged to be contained in this way, in thought, will, and work, unless it also pertains to a man's love and life; for acknowledgment is of love and life. It is therefore evident, that because faith is like a man's love and life, it is also like his works.

By works are meant everything that a man does, speaks, and writes, whether much, or little; as, for example, whatever a deputy, or a priest, or a merchant, or a servant does in the discharge of their duties. All those works, moreover, both small and great, are good, when they are done from the Lord in him, but evil when done by the man himself. Thus they are good in the measure that he shuns evils because they are sins against God, and they are evil in the measure that he does not shun them. The case is the same with faith, the quality of which is according to the quality of the works; for they make one, like thought and speech, or will and action.

A man supposes that although he lives wickedly he can still have faith, at least to believe that there is a God, that the Lord is the Saviour of the world, that there are a heaven and a hell, and that the Word is holy. I can, however, confidently say that if he does not shun evils because they are sins, and consequently look to the Lord, he does not believe in these things at all. For they are not part of his life and love, but only of his memory and knowledge; and they do not become part of his life and love before he fights against evils and overcomes them. This has been made evident to me from the case of many after death who supposed that they had believed, at least, in the existence of God, and that the Lord is the Saviour of the world, and other things of a similar kind; but still those who lived wickedly had in reality no belief at all.

The Hebrew of the Old Testament has six different common words which are generally translated as "wife," which largely overlap but have different nuances. Swedenborg uses two different Latin words, which largely overlap but have different nuances. Meanwhile, "wife" is often paired with "man" or "husband," which are also catch-all translations for a basket of Hebrew and Latin terms. So it's hard to pin down one universal meaning for "wife"; context and subject matter have a large effect.

In general, though, marriage in the Bible represents the union we all seek between our hearts and our minds. If we know what is right and pursue it faithfully, the Lord will ultimately help us love doing what is good, and the two aspects of ourselves will be unified. On a higher level, marriage represents the union we can have with the Lord, both individually and collectively as a church. As an intrinsic part of the marriage, the wife plays a key role in that meaning. But that meaning is different depending on what is being described.

If the marriage is describing a person who is spiritual in nature – "spiritual" being the second degree of heavenly life, in which people are led by intellect and knowledge with the desire for good following – the wife represents the desire for good, the affections that drive the person. If the marriage is describing someone who is celestial in nature – "celestial" being the highest degree of heavenly life, in which people are led from love, with the intellect and ideas following – the wife represents the true ideas held by the person or church. If the marriage is describing the union between the Lord and the church, the wife represents the church.

In a way, these are symbolic meanings that actually have little to do with gender. When "wife" describes a church, obviously that church can include both male and female people. When "wife" describes an aspect of a person, that person can obviously be either male or female.

(Referencias: Arcana Coelestia 915, 1468, 1904 [1-2], 3246 [3-4], 3398, 4823 [2])