123. 7. It is the unceasing effort of the Lord's divine providence to unite us to himself and himself to us in order to give us the joys of eternal life; and this can happen only to the extent that our evils and their compulsions are banished. I explained in 27-45 that it is the constant effort of the Lord's divine providence to unite us to himself and himself to us, and that this union is what we call reformation and regeneration. I explained also that this is the source of our salvation. Can anyone fail to see that union with the Lord is eternal life and salvation? Everyone can see this who believes that we were originally created in the image and likeness of God (see Genesis 1:26-27) and who knows what the image and likeness of God are.

[2] If we are truly rational and use our rationality when we think and use our freedom when we try to think, can any of us believe that there are three gods equal in essence and that the divine Being or divine Essence can be divided? As for a threefold nature in one God, that is something we can conceive and understand, just as we understand the soul and the body of an angel or a person and the life that they bring forth. Further, since this threefold nature in a single Being exists only in the Lord, it follows that any union must be a union with him.

Use your rationality and think freely, and you will see this truth in its own light. First, though, admit that the Lord, heaven, and eternal life are real.

[3] Now, since God is one and since by creation we have been made in his image and likeness, and since we have come into a love for all our evils through our hellish love, its compulsions, and their pleasures, thereby destroying the image and likeness of God within us, it follows that it is the constant effort of the Lord's divine providence to unite us with himself and himself with us and thereby to make us his images. It also follows that the Lord is doing this so that he may give us the bliss of eternal life, since this is the nature of divine love.

[4] The reason he cannot make this gift, cannot make us images of himself, unless we banish sins from our outer self in apparent autonomy is that the Lord is not just divine love but divine wisdom as well; and divine love does nothing unless it stems from divine wisdom and is in accord with it. It is in accord with divine wisdom that we cannot be united to the Lord and thus reformed, regenerated, and saved unless we are allowed to act freely and rationally. This is what makes us human. Anything that is in accord with the Lord's divine wisdom is also in accord with his divine providence.

2839. 'On the mountain Jehovah will see [to it]' means charity by means of which provision was made by the Lord for them, that is, for those who are spiritual, to be saved. This is clear from the meaning of 'the mountain' as love and charity, dealt with in 795, 796, 1430. The expression 'Jehovah will see [to it]' is the Lord's Providence, or provision made by the Lord, as has been stated just above in 2837. Here charity is referred to, not love, on account of the difference that exists between charity and love, dealt with in 2023. As regards spiritual people being saved by means of charity, not by means of faith separated from charity, this is clear from many places in the Word. The situation with regard to charity and to faith is this: Charity devoid of faith is not genuine charity, and faith devoid of charity is not faith. For charity to be real, faith must be present; and for faith to be real, charity must be present. The absolute essential however is charity, for that seed which is faith cannot be implanted in any other ground. From their being joined together through each reaching out and responding to the other, the heavenly marriage, that is, the Lord's kingdom, has its being. Unless faith exists implanted in charity it is merely knowledge, for it does not go beyond the memory, there being no affection in the heart to receive it. But when implanted in charity, that is, in life, faith becomes intelligence and wisdom. Charity devoid of faith, like that existing with young children and with gentiles who are upright, is simply the ground in which faith is implanted, if not in this life then in the next life, see 802, 2280, 2289-2309, 2417, 2589-2604.