The Bible

 

Deuteronomy 6

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1 Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:

2 That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.

3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.

4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:

7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.

9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

10 And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,

11 And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;

12 Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

13 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.

14 Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;

15 (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.

16 Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.

17 Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee.

18 And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers,

19 To cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the LORD hath spoken.

20 And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD our God hath commanded you?

21 Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand:

22 And the LORD shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes:

23 And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers.

24 And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day.

25 And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

True Christian Religion #369

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369. (i) It is being linked with God, which affords a person salvation and everlasting life.

Man was created to be capable of being linked with God. For he was created a native of heaven and also a native of the world. In so far as he is a native of heaven, he is spiritual, but in so far as he is a native of the world, he is natural. A spiritual person can think about God and grasp ideas relating to God; he can also love God, and be attracted by what comes from God. It follows from this that he can be linked with God.

It is beyond the remotest possibility of doubt that a person can think about God, and grasp ideas relating to God. For he can think about the oneness of God, about the being of God, which is Jehovah, the immensity and eternity of God, Divine love and Divine wisdom, which comprise the essence of God, His omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence; about the Lord the Saviour His Son, and redemption and mediation; also about the Holy Spirit, and finally about the Divine Trinity. All of these are ideas relating to God; in fact, they are God. He can, moreover, think about the activities of God, which are in the first place faith and charity, as well as many other things which come forth from these two.

[2] It is evident that a person can not only think about God, but also love God, from the two commandments of God Himself, which run like this:

You are to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. This is the first and great commandment. The second is similar to it: you are to love your neighbour as yourself, Matthew 22:37-39; Deuteronomy 6:5.

It is evident from the following passage that a person can perform God's commandments, and that this is loving God:

Jesus said, He who has my commandments and does them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I shall love him and show myself to him, John 14:21.

[3] Furthermore, what is faith but a link with God by means of truths, which belong to the understanding and thus to thought; and what is love but being linked with God by means of various kinds of good, which belong to the will and thus to the affection? God's link with man is a spiritual link in the natural; and man's link with God is a natural link derived from the spiritual. It was for the purpose of this linking that man was created a native of heaven and at the same time of the world. As a native of heaven he is spiritual, and as a native of the world he is natural. So if a person becomes spiritually rational and at the same time spiritually moral, he is linked to God, and this link affords him salvation and everlasting life. However, if a person is only naturally rational and also naturally moral, God is certainly linked with him, but he is not linked with God. The result is his spiritual death, which considered in itself is natural life devoid of spiritual life; for the spirituality, in which is God's life, in his case is extinguished.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.