3623. 'What would life hold for me?' means, and so there would not be any conjunction. This is clear from the meaning of 'life' as conjunction by means of truths and goods. For when it was not possible for any truth from a common stem or genuine source to be joined to natural truth, there could not be any alliance of the natural to the truth of the rational, in which case it seemed to the rational as though its own life were no life, 3493, 3620. This is why here 'what would life hold for me?' means, and so there would not be any conjunction. Here and in other places the word 'life' in the original language is plural, and the reason for this is that in man there are two powers of life. The first is called the understanding and is the receptacle of truth, the second is called the will and is the receptacle of good. These two forms or powers of life make one when the understanding is rooted in the will, or what amounts to the same, when truth is grounded in good. This explains why in Hebrew the noun 'life' is sometimes singular, sometimes plural. The plural form of that noun is used in all the following places, Jehovah God formed the man, dust from the ground; and He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:7. Jehovah God caused to spring up out of the ground every tree desirable to the sight and good for food, and the tree of life in the middle of the garden. Genesis 2:9. Behold, I am bringing a flood of waters over the earth, to destroy all flesh in which there is the spirit of life. Genesis 6:17.

They went in to Noah into the ark, two by two from all flesh in which there is the spirit of life. Genesis 7:15 (in 780).

Everything which had the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils breathed its last. Genesis 7:12.

In David,

I believe [I am going] to see the goodness of Jehovah in the land of the living. Psalms 27:13.

In the same author,

Who is the man who desires life, who loves [many] days, that he may see good? Psalms 34:12

In the same author,

With You, O Jehovah, is the fountain of life; in Your light do we see light. Psalms 36:9.

In Malachi,

My covenant with Levi was [a covenant] of life and peace. Malachi 2:5.

In Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah, Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. Jeremiah 21:8.

In Moses,

To love Jehovah your God, to obey His voice, and to cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days, so that you may dwell in the land. Deuteronomy 30:20.

In the same author,

It is not an empty word from you; for it is your life, and through this word you will prolong your days in the land. Deuteronomy 32:47.

And in other places too the plural form of the noun 'life' is used in the original language because, as has been stated, there are two kinds of life which yet make one. It is similar with the word 'heavens' in the Hebrew language, in that the heavens are many and yet make one, or like the expression 'waters' above and below, in Genesis 1:7-9 , by which spiritual things in the rational and in the natural are meant which ought to be one through being joined together. As for the plural form of 'life', when this is used both the life of the will and that of the understanding are meant, and therefore both the life of good and that of truth are meant. For man's life consists in nothing else than good and truth which hold life from the Lord within them. Devoid of good and truth, and of the life which these hold within them, no one is human. For devoid of these no one would ever have been able to will or to think anything. Everything that a person wills originates in good or in that which is not good, and everything he thinks originates in truth or in that which is not truth. Consequently man possesses two kinds of life and these make one when his thinking flows from his willing, that is, when truth which is the truth of faith flows from good which is the good of love.

10367. 'And on the seventh day there is the sabbath of rest' means the state of good that has been the end in view, thus the state when a person becomes an embodiment of the Church and enters heaven. This is clear from the meaning of 'the seventh day' as the state of good that has been the end in view; for since the six days which come before mean the person's state which comes before and is preparatory to the heavenly marriage, the seventh day means when that marriage actually exists within the person. That marriage is the joining together of the truth and good residing with the person, thus when the person becomes an embodiment of the Church and enters heaven. The reason why a person enters heaven and becomes an embodiment of the Church when governed by good is that the Lord flows into the good residing with a person, and through the good into his truth. He flows into the internal man, where heaven within that person exists, and through the internal into the external, where the world within that person exists. Therefore unless the person is governed by good his internal man is not opened but remains closed, no matter how many truths he knows on a doctrinal level. And since heaven exists within his internal man the person is in heaven when that internal man is opened; for heaven does not exist in some place but within a person's interiors. The human being has been created to conform to an image of heaven and of the world, his internal man to conform to the image of heaven and the external man to conform to the image of the world, see in the places referred to in 9279, [and what has been stated in] 9706.

[2] Anyone who stops to reflect on the matter may see that the essential nature of a person's good, not his truth without that good, makes him altogether what he is. For it is by means of his good and in accord with it that he collaborates with another, is in sympathy with another, links himself to another, and lets himself be led by another, and not by means of and in accord with his truth unless this is in agreement with his good. When the word 'good' is used here the person's delight, pleasure, or love should be understood, for everything that forms part of these constitutes his good; and so far as he is left to think for himself ideas favourable to that good are thought by him to be truths. From all this it becomes clear that a person is joined to the Lord by means of good, and not at all by means of truth without good.

[3] Being joined to the Lord by means of good has, it is true, been dealt with often before, wherever a person's regeneration has been the subject. But since people in the Church at the present day concentrate much on the truths belonging to faith and little on the good belonging to love, and are consequently ignorant of what good is, let a further statement be made about the joining together of goodness and truth, which is called the heavenly marriage. A person is born into evils of every kind and consequently into falsities of every kind, so that left to himself he is condemned to hell. Therefore to be delivered from hell he must be entirely born again, born of the Lord; and that rebirth is what is called regeneration. In order that he may therefore be reborn he must first learn truths; those who belong to the Church must learn them from the Word, or from teachings drawn from the Word. The Word and teachings drawn from the Word show what truth and good are, and truth and good show what evil and falsity are. Unless a person knows these things he cannot possibly be regenerated; for he remains immersed in his evils and consequent falsities, calling those evils forms of good and these falsities truths.

[4] This explains why cognitions or knowledge of truth and good must come first and enlighten a person's understanding. A person's understanding has been given to him in order that it may be enlightened with cognitions of goodness and truth, the end in view being that they may be received by his will and converted into good. For truths are converted into good when the person wills them, and in willing them does them. From this it is evident how the good present with a person is formed, and that unless good is present in a person he is not born anew or regenerated. When therefore a person's will consists of good his understanding consists of truths wedded to that good. The person's understanding truly acts in unison with his will; for what the person wills, that he thinks when left to himself. So this is what is called the joining together of truth and good or the heavenly marriage. Whether you say willing good or loving good it amounts to the same thing; for what a person loves, that he wills. At the same time, whether you say understanding truth wedded to good or believing it, this likewise amounts to the same thing. From this it follows that in the case of a person who has been regenerated love and faith act in unison. This joining together or marriage of them is what is called the Church and heaven, also the Lord's kingdom, and in the highest sense the Lord as He exists with a person.

[5] But people who love their evils, whether those which they have acquired by heredity and since early childhood made stronger within themselves, or those which they have added for themselves and become the first to steep themselves in, can indeed grasp and have some understanding of truths obtained from the Word or from teachings drawn from the Word; nevertheless they cannot be regenerated. For every person's power of understanding is maintained by the Lord in a condition such as this, to the end that he may be regenerated. But when someone loves his evils the power of understanding in his internal man is not endowed with those truths, only the power of understanding in his external man; and this is no more than a knowledge of them. Such people do not know what good is; nor are they concerned to know what it is, only what truth is. As a result they think that the Church and heaven consist in truths, which are called matters of faith, and not in good deeds, which are matters of life. They also explain the Word in various ways in support of their own basic assumptions. Consequently with people such as these whose lives are not at the same time governed by the truths they know, no joining together of truth and good exists, nor therefore the Church and heaven. In the next life furthermore the truths which they have called matters of faith are separated from them; for evil in the will casts them out, and their place is taken by falsities in keeping with the evils they are steeped in.

[6] From all this it may now be recognized what the joining together of goodness and truth, meant by 'the sabbath', is. This joining together is called the sabbath on account of the rest it brings, for the sabbath consists in rest. During the first state, that is, while being led by truths towards good, a person is engaged in conflicts against the evils and falsities present with him. By means of these conflicts, which are temptations, evils and accompanying falsities are dispelled and separated, from which there is no rest until goodness and truth have been joined together. At this point the person has rest, and so does the Lord, for the person does not fight against the evils and falsities, but the Lord residing with Him.

[7] The reason why in the highest sense 'the sabbath' means the Lord's Divine Human is that when the Lord was in the world, from His Human He fought against and overcame all the hells, and at the same time restored the heavens to order, after which labours He united His Human to the Divine, making it Divine Good as well. Consequently at this point He had rest, for the hells cannot lift a finger against Divine Good. This now explains why in the highest sense 'the sabbath' serves to mean the Lord's Divine Human.

[8] But see what has been shown already on these matters,

When the Lord was in the world His Human was first made Divine Truth by Him, to the end that He might go into battle against the hells and overcome them; and afterwards His Human was glorified and made the Divine Good of Divine Love by Him, in the places referred to in 9199, 9315, and also what is stated in 9715, 9809. When in the world the Lord underwent the severest temptations, in the places referred to in 9528(end).

As a result He possesses the Divine Power to save a person, by removing the hells from him and in that way regenerating him, 10019, 10152.

Regarding the two states of a person who is being regenerated by the Lord, in the places referred to in 9274.

A person does not go into heaven until the joining together of truth and good has been accomplished with him, 8516, 8539, 8722, 8772, 9139, 9832.

A person's regeneration is an image of the Lord's glorification, 3138, 3212, 3296, 3490, 4402, 5688.