123. 7. Het is het voortdurende van de Goddelijke Voorzienigheid van de Heer dat Hij de mens met zich verbindt en Zich met hem, opdat Hij hem de gelukzalige dingen van het eeuwige leven kan geven.

Dit kan niet geschieden tenzij voor zoveel als de boze dingen met de begeerten ervan verwijderd zijn. Dat het voortdurende van de Goddelijke Voorzienigheid van de Heer is de mens te verbinden met Zich en Zich met hem, en dat het die verbinding is die de hervorming en de wederverwekking wordt genoemd en dat de mens daaruit de zaliging heeft, is boven in de n. 27-45 getoond. Wie ziet niet dat de verbinding met God het eeuwige leven en de zaliging is; dit ziet toch eenieder die gelooft dat de mensen uit de schepping beelden en gelijkenissen van God zijn, (Genesis 1:26, 27) en die weet wat het beeld en de gelijkenis van God is. Wie, die gezonde rede heeft, kan, als hij vanuit zijn redelijkheid denkt en vanuit zijn vrijheid wil denken, geloven dat er drie goden zijn, gelijkwaardig van wezen en dat het Goddelijk Zijn of het Goddelijk Wezen verdeeld kan worden. Dat het drievuldige in één God is, kan gedacht en begrepen worden, zoals de ziel en het lichaam in de engel en in de mens begrepen wordt en het daaruit voortgaande van het leven. Omdat dit drievuldige in één er alleen is in de Heer, volgt dat de verbinding zal zijn met Hem. Gebruik uw redelijkheid en tegelijk de vrijheid van denken en u zult deze waarheid in haar licht zien; maar neem eerst aan dat God is en dat de hemel is en dat het eeuwige leven is. Omdat nu God één is en de mens vanuit de schepping Zijn beeld en gelijkenis gemaakt is en omdat hij door de helse liefde en door de begeerten ervan en de verkwikkelijke dingen daarvan, in de liefde van alle boze dingen is gekomen, en hij vandaar het beeld en de gelijkenis van God bij zich verwoest heeft, volgt dat het het aanhoudende van de Goddelijke Voorzienigheid van de Heer is dat Hij de mens met Zich zal verbinden en Zich met de mens en zo te maken dat hij Zijn beeld zal worden. Dit is ook te dien einde dat de Heer de mens de gelukzalige dingen van het eeuwige leven kan geven, dit volgt hieruit, want de Goddelijke Liefde is zodanig. Dat Hij deze echter niet kan geven, noch hem Zijn beeld maken, tenzij de mens zoals uit zich de zonden in de uitwendige mens verwijdert, is omdat de Heer niet slechts de Goddelijke Liefde maar ook de Goddelijke Wijsheid is, en de Goddelijke Liefde niets doet tenzij vanuit haar Goddelijke Wijsheid en volgens die. Dat de mens niet met Hem verbonden en zo hervormd, wederverwekt en gezaligd kan worden, tenzij het hem is geoorloofd vanuit het vrije volgens de rede te handelen, hierdoor is de mens immers werkelijk mens, is volgens Zijn Goddelijke Wijsheid, en al wat is volgens de Goddelijke Wijsheid van de Heer is ook van Zijn Goddelijke Voorzienigheid.

258. 5. Strict materialists justify their rejection of divine providence when they see that there are some professing Christians who place salvation in particular words that they think about and say, and attach no value to the good things that they do. I have explained in Teachings for the New Jerusalem on Faith that this is what people are like who make nothing but faith the basis of salvation, not a caring life, and especially who separate faith from charity. I also noted there [Teachings for the New Jerusalem on Faith 44-68] that these people are meant in the Word by the Philistines, the dragon, and goats.

[2] The reason a teaching like this is permitted under divine providence is to prevent the profanation of the divine nature of the Lord and the holy nature of the Word. The Lord's divine nature is not profaned when salvation is thought to consist of saying, "May God the Father have mercy for the sake of his Son who suffered the cross and made satisfaction for us," because this is addressing not the divine nature of the Lord but his human nature, without believing that it is divine. There is no profanation of the Word, either, because no attention is paid to the passages that speak of love, caring, doing, and works. They say that all of these are included in their statement of faith. People who advocate this belief say to themselves, "Since the law does not condemn me, neither does evil; and since any good that I myself do is not good, that does not save me." So they are like people who do not know anything true from the Word, which means that they cannot profane it.

However, the only people who really advocate this belief are the ones who are caught up in pride in their own intellect because of their self-love. At heart, they are not even Christians, though they want to appear to be.

I need now to explain that the Lord's divine providence is constantly at work to save people for whom faith separated from charity has become a theological principle.

[3] Under the Lord's divine providence, even though this kind of faith has become a theological tenet, everyone knows that this kind of faith does not bring salvation. Salvation requires a caring life in which faith participates. All the churches where this theology is accepted teach that there is no salvation unless we examine ourselves, see our sins, admit them, repent, and refrain from the sins and begin a new life. This is the urgent preface read to all who come to the Holy Supper, together with the statement that unless they do so, they mingle the sacred and the profane and consign themselves to eternal damnation. In England they even say that unless they do so the devil will enter into them as he did into Judas and destroy them, soul and body alike. We can see from this that everyone in churches where faith alone is accepted is still taught that we should abstain from evils as sins.

[4] Not only that, everyone who is born Christian knows that we are to abstain from evils as sins, because the Ten Commandments are placed in the hand of every boy and every girl and taught them by their parents and teachers. Further, all the citizens of the realm, especially commoners, are questioned by priests as to their knowledge of Christian theology solely on the basis of their recitation of the Ten Commandments from memory and warned that they should do what the Commandments say. At such times, the religious authority never tells them that they are not under the yoke of this law or that they cannot obey it because they cannot do anything good on their own.

The Athanasian Creed is accepted throughout Christendom, and people believe what it says at the end, that the Lord is going to come to judge the living and the dead and that then those who have done what is good will enter into eternal life and those who have done what is evil will enter into eternal fire.

[5] In Sweden, where a theology of faith alone is accepted, it is clearly taught that there is no such thing as faith separated from charity or from good actions. We find this in an "Added Reminder" inserted in all Psalters under the title "Obotfertigas foerhinder," or "Obstacles or Obstructions to the Impenitent." It says there, "People who are rich in good actions thereby show that they are rich in faith, because when faith is a saving faith, it works through charity. There is no faith that justifies us by itself, apart from good actions, just as there is no good tree without good fruit, no sun without light and warmth, no water without moisture."

[6] I include these few things to show that even though a theology of faith alone may be accepted, the good effects of our caring are taught everywhere--that is, good actions. This happens under the Lord's divine providence so that the common people will not be led astray by this faith.

I have heard Luther (having talked with him several times in the spiritual world) totally disclaiming faith alone. He has said that when he decreed faith alone, an angel of the Lord warned him not to. However, he thought to himself that if he did not reject works, there could be no separation from Catholic theology, so in spite of the warning he insisted on it.