63. Meanwhile the Lord is constantly fighting on his behalf against evils and falsities and by these conflicts is confirming him in truth and good. The hour of conflict is the hour when the Lord is at work, which is why in the Prophets a regenerate person is called 'the work of God's fingers'. Nor does He rest until love is playing the leading part, at which point conflict ceases. When that work has reached the point where faith has been joined to love, it is then called 'very good', for the Lord then moves him to be a likeness of Himself. At the end of the sixth day evil spirits go away and good ones take their place; then the person is led into heaven, or the heavenly paradise, which is the subject of the next chapter.

20. People who are involved in evil and in truth at the same time can be compared to eagles that soar high overhead but plunge down if they lose their wings. Something like this happens to people after death, when they become spirits, if they have understood, discussed, and taught truths but have never turned to God in their lives. Their comprehension lifts them on high; and sometimes they get into heaven and pretend to be angels of light. However, when they are deprived of their truths and dismissed, they plunge into hell. Eagles mean predatory people who have intellectual vision, and wings mean spiritual truths.

I mentioned that these are people who never turn to God in their lives. "Turning to God in our lives" simply means thinking that some particular evil action is a sin against God and therefore not doing it.