105. Verse 5. Be mindful therefore of whence thou hast fallen, and repent, and do the first works, signifies the remembrance of former things, and the remembrance of having deviated from the truth; and this, in order that the good of life of the church at its beginning may come into mind. This is evident from the signification of "be mindful," as being here the remembrance of former things; from the signification of "whence thou hast fallen," as being deviation therefrom, thus deviation from the truth; from the signification of "repent," as being that it may come into mind; and from the signification of "doing the first works," as being the good of life of the church at its beginning. (That "works" mean all those things of life that proceed from love and faith, see n. 98; and that "first works," which are of charity, are those of the church at its beginning, see just above, n. 104.) That a life in accordance with knowledges is the essential of the church, and not knowledges apart from such a life, can be seen by everyone who thinks about it; for knowledges, so long as there is no life according to them, reside in the memory only; and so long as they reside there only they do not affect man's interiors; for memory is given to man to be a receptacle, from which may be taken what will be serviceable to the life; and things are serviceable to the life when a man wills them and does them.

[2] The whole spirit of man is nothing but his will; when, therefore, man becomes a spirit, he is unable to resist anything that is favored by his will, for the whole man strives after it. That this is so is well known in the spiritual world; and I have occasionally seen the trial made, whether a spirit could do anything contrary to his will, from which he exists, and it was found that he could not. From this it was clear that man's will is what gives form to his spirit, and that man's spirit after it has left the body is his will. Whether you say will or love it is the same, for what a man loves he wills; so whether you say that the spirit of man cannot resist his will, or that it cannot resist his love, it is the same. The knowledges of good and truth, before they enter a man's will or love, contribute nothing whatever to his salvation, because they are not within the man: but out of him. But still knowledges are necessary, for without them man can know nothing of spiritual life, and he who knows nothing of spiritual life cannot become spiritual; for that which a man knows he can think, can will, and can do, but not that which he does not know. But yet if knowledges enter no deeper than into the memory and into thought therefrom, they do not affect him, and consequently do not save him.

[3] It is believed by many in the world at this day, especially by those who make faith alone the essential of the church, that to know doctrinals and from mere knowing to believe that they are true, saves man, however he may live; but I can affirm that no one is saved by these alone. I have seen many, even the most learned, cast into hell; but on the other hand, those who have lived according to the knowledges of truth and good from the Word I have seen raised up into heaven. From this it is clear that knowledges are of no avail, but a life according to them; and that knowledges merely teach how man ought to live. To live according to the knowledges of truth and good is to think that one must do thus and not otherwise because it is commanded by the Lord in the Word. When man thus thinks and thus wills and does, he becomes spiritual. Yet it is necessary for those within the church to believe in the Lord, and when they think of Him to think of His Divine in the Human, since from His Divine Human everything of charity and faith proceed.

5826. 'You know that my wife bore me two sons' means if spiritual good is what the Church possesses, internal good and truth will exist. This is clear from the representation of Israel, who says these things about himself, as spiritual good from the natural, dealt with immediately above in 5825; from the representation of Rachel, to whom the wife who had borne him two sons refers here, as the affection for interior truth, dealt with in 3758, 3782, 3793, 3819; and from the representation of Joseph and Benjamin,' the two sons she had borne, as internal good and truth, 'Joseph' being internal good and 'Benjamin' internal truth.

[2] What is meant by internal good and truth existing if spiritual good is what the Church possesses is this: Spiritual good, which 'Israel' represents, is the good of truth, that is, truth existing in will and action. This truth or good of truth causes a person to be a Church. When truth has been implanted in his will - something he perceives to have happened from the fact that he feels an affection for truth because his intention is to live according to it - internal good and truth are present in him. When that internal good and truth are present in a person he has the Lord's kingdom within him and he is consequently the Church; and together with those who are very similar to him he constitutes the Church at large. From this it may be recognized that for the Church to be the Church spiritual good, which is the good of truth, must exist and not simply truth by itself. At the present day it is by virtue of truth alone that a Church is called the Church, and it is what marks off one Church from another. Let anyone ask himself whether truth is anything unless it has life in view. What are religious teachings without that end in view? What for example are the Ten Commandments if separated from a life led according to them? For if someone knows them and the full extent of their meaning and yet leads a life contrary to them, what use are they? Surely none at all; indeed do they not serve to condemn some people? The same is so with other religious teachings that are derived from the Word. These too, being spiritual laws, are commandments for leading a Christian life; they likewise have no use at all unless they are made a person's guide to life. Let anyone weigh up what resides with himself and discover whether he has anything there which really is anything other than what enters into the life he leads, or whether life which really is his life resides anywhere else in a person than in his will.

[3] This is the reason why the Lord has declared in the Old Testament and confirmed in the New that all the Law and all the Prophets are founded on love to God and love towards the neighbour, thus on life. They are not founded on faith apart from life, nor thus in any way at all on faith alone, nor consequently on confidence; for without charity towards the neighbour such confidence is impossible. If it seems to exist with the wicked at times when their lives are in danger or death is at hand it is a spurious or false confidence; for among such people in the next life not a trace of this confidence can be seen, however ardently they may have appeared when near to death to profess that they possessed it. But faith, no matter whether you call it confidence or else trust, does nothing for the wicked, as the Lord Himself teaches in John,

As many as received Him, to them He gave power to be sons of God, to those believing in His name, who were born, not of blood, ¹ nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12-13.

[4] Those born of blood' stands for those who do violence to charity, 374, 1005, also those who render truth profane, 4735. 'Those born of the will of the flesh' stands for those governed by evils that spring from self-love and love of the world, 3813. 'Those born of the will of man' stands for those governed by utterly false notions; for 'man' (vir) means truth and in the contrary sense falsity. 'Those born of God' stands for those who have been regenerated by the Lord and are consequently governed by good. The latter are the ones who receive the Lord; they are the ones who believe in His name; and they, not the former, are the ones to whom He gives power to be sons of God. From all this it is quite evident what contribution faith alone makes to salvation.

[5] To take the matter further, if a person is to undergo regeneration and become a Church he must be led by means of truth into good, which happens when truth becomes truth existing in will and action. This truth is good and is called the good of truth. It constantly brings forth new truths, since then for the first time it is fruitful. The truth that is brought forth or made fruitful from it is what is called internal truth; and the good from which it springs is called internal good. For nothing becomes internal until it has been implanted in the will, the will being the inmost part of a person. As long as good and truth remain outside the will and solely in the understanding they are outside the person; for the understanding is outside, the will inside.

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