3200. In deze beide verzen wordt de staat van het redelijk goede beschreven, wanneer het in de verwachting van het ware is, dat daarmee verbonden moet worden als een bruid met een echtgenoot. In de twee onmiddellijk erna volgende verzen, wordt de staat van het ware beschreven, wanneer het nabij is en het goede waarneemt, waarmee het verbonden moet worden. Maar men moet weten, dat deze staten niet in één keer ontstonden, maar voortdurend, het gehele leven van de Heer in de wereld door, totdat Hij verheerlijkt was.

Bij de wederverwekten is het evenzo gesteld, want zij worden niet opeens, in één keer wederverwekt, maar voortdurend, het gehele leven door, ook in het andere leven; want de mens kan nooit volmaakt worden.

25. All good and truth is from the Lord. The Lord is good itself and truth itself (n. 2011, 4151, 10336, 10619).

The Lord, as to both the Divine and the Human, is the Divine good of the Divine love; and from Him proceeds Divine truth (n. 3704, 3712, 4180, 4577). The Divine truth proceeds from the Divine good of the Lord, comparatively as light from the sun (n. 3704, 3712, 4180, 4577). The Divine truth proceeding from the Lord appears in the heavens as light, and forms all the light of heaven (n. 3195, 3223, 5400, 8694, 9399,9548, 9684). The light of heaven, which is the Divine truth united to the Divine good, enlightens both the sight and the understanding of angels and spirits (n. 2776, 3138). Heaven is in light and heat, because it is in truth and good, for the Divine truth is light there, and the Divine good is heat there (n. 3643, 9399-9400); and in the work on Heaven and Hell (n. 126-140). The Divine truth proceeding from the Divine good of the Lord, forms the angelic heaven and arranges it in order (n. 3038, 9408, 9613, 10716-10717). The Divine good united to the Divine truth, which is in the heavens, is called the Divine truth (n. 10196).

The Divine truth proceeding from the Lord is the only reality (n. 6880, 7004, 8200). By Divine truth all things were made and created (n. 2803, 2894, 5272, 7678). All power belongs to the Divine truth (n. 8200[1-2]).

Man from himself can do nothing of good, and think nothing of truth (n. 874-876). The rational of man cannot perceive Divine truth from itself (n. 2196, 2203, 2209). Truths which are not from the Lord, are from the proprium of man, and they are not truths, but only appear as truths (n. 8868).

All good and truth is from the Lord, and nothing from man (n. 1614, 2016, 2904, 4151, 9981). Goods and truths are so far goods and truths, as they have the Lord in them (n. 2904, 3061, 8480). Of the Divine truth proceeding immediately from the Lord, and of the Divine truth proceeding mediately through the angels, and of their influx with man (n. 7055-7056, 7058). The Lord flows into good with man, and by good into truths (n. 10153). He flows in by good into truths of every kind, and particularly into genuine truths (n. 2531, 2554). The Lord does not flow into truths separate from good, and no parallelism exists between the Lord and man, with respect to them, but with respect to good (n. 1831-1832, 3514, 3564).

To do good and truth for the sake of good and truth is to love the Lord, and to love the neighbor (n. 10336). They who are in the internal of the Word, of the church, and of worship, love to do good and truth for the sake of good and truth; but they who are in the external of these, without the internal, love to do good and truth for the sake of themselves and the world (n. 10683). What it is to do good and truth for the sake of good and truth, illustrated by examples (n. 10683).

4736. 'Throw him into [this] pit in the wilderness' means that for the time being they should conceal it among their falsities, that is, that they should consider it a falsehood but nevertheless keep it because it is of importance to the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'the pit' as falsities, dealt with above in 4728, and from the meaning of 'the wilderness' as a place where there is no truth; for 'wilderness' has a wide range of meanings. It is a place that is uninhabited and so uncultivated, and when used to refer to the Church means a place where there is no good and consequently no truth, 2708, 3900. Thus 'the pit in the wilderness' is used here to mean falsities among which no truth is present because no good is there.

[2] The expression 'no truth is present because no good is there' is used for the reason that if a person believes that faith saves without works, truth may indeed exist. Even so, it is not truth residing with him, because it does not look to good nor is it rooted in good. This truth is not a living one because it contains a false premise, and therefore when a truth of this kind exists with that person it is nothing but a falsehood based on the false premise that reigns within it. That premise may be likened to the soul from which all else has its life. On the other hand falsities can exist which are accepted as truths if good lies within them, especially if it is the good of innocence, as with gentiles and even with many within the Church.