In New Christian thought, “charity” has a significantly different meaning than in the common modern English definition. In Swedenborg's works "charity" is usually the English rendering of the Latin word "caritas", which is also the root of the verb “to care.” If we think of “charity” as “a state of caring,” we can start seeing what Swedenborg was trying to convey.

“Caring” does not necessarily have to be emotional. You can take care of someone you don’t like, you can take care of business or errands or duties that have little or no emotional content. Swedenborg would call these “acts of charity,” things done from a desire to be a good person. But the idea of “caring” can elevate, too: When you care about someone it involves real affection, and to care about an idea or mission implies a deep commitment - it is a feeling, an emotional state. The ultimate state of “caring,” of course, would be caring about all of humanity, wanting what’s best for everyone on the planet. This is what Swedenborg would call “true charity,” and it is marked by love - the love of others. Importantly, though, it can't be left as an abstraction; it needs to be grounded out in action.

Or as Swedenborg puts it in Arcana Coelestia 8033: “Charity is an inward affection consisting in a desire which springs from a person's heart to do good to the neighbour, which is the delight of his life.”

At all these levels, though, charity cannot act on its own. It needs tools.

Imagine, for instance, a young mother falling and breaking her leg. Her four-year-old might love her desperately, but cannot take care of her. A paramedic, meanwhile, might see her as just a case number, but will get her stabilized and delivered to a hospital. The difference, obviously, is knowledge. The paramedic has a bunch of tested, true ideas in her head that give her the capacity to care for the mother; the four-year-old does not.

That knowledge is actually part of what Swedenborg would call “faith,” though he’s referring to spiritual things rather than medical ones. In general, “faith” in Swedenborg’s works refers to not just belief in the Lord but also the things we accept as true because they come to us from the Lord and the Lord’s teachings. If we take them and apply them to life, we can do works of charity - we can use knowledge to take care of people and things, to actually do something good. For this reason, faith and charity are often linked in Swedenborgian theology.

And just like the idea of caring, these items of faith can elevate. “Thou shalt not murder” is a good low-level matter of faith, and should certainly be applied if we want to be charitable people. “Love thy neighbor as thyself” is a bit higher, a bit more internal, and will help us be charitable on a deeper level. The idea that by loving others we are loving the Lord will take us to a deeper place yet.

And perhaps most beautiful of all is what happens when we reach a state of true charity. If we work to be good because we want to serve the Lord, the Lord will eventually change our hearts, transforming us so that we delight in being good and delight in loving and helping others. At that stage the ideas of faith change from being the masters over our evil desires to being the servants of our good desires. From a loving desire to be good and serve others we will seek and use knowledge that lets us fulfill that mission.

(References: Arcana Coelestia 809, 916 [2], 1798 [2-5], 1799 [3-4], 1994, 8120; Charity 11, 40, 56, 90, 199; The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine 121; True Christian Religion 367, 377, 392, 425, 450, 453, 576)

376. Charity and faith are of no use to a person, so long as they remain merely in the bodily hemisphere, that is, in his head, and are not given a firm base in deeds; this is evident from a thousand passages in the Word, of which I shall quote only the following.

Every tree which does not produce good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire, Matthew 7:19-21.

He who sows on good soil is the person who hears the Word and pays attention to it, and bears and produces fruit. When Jesus said this, he cried out saying, He who has ears to hear with, let him hear, Matthew 13:9, 23.

Jesus said, My mother and my brothers are these who hear the Word of God and act upon it, Luke 8:21.

We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone worships God, and does His will, He listens to him, John 9:31.

If you know these things, you are blessed if you act upon them, John 13:17.

He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me, and I shall love him, and show myself to him; and I shall come to him and make my dwelling with him, John 14:15-21, 23.

In this my Father is glorified, in that you bear much fruit, John 15:8, 16.

It is not those who hear the law, but those who keep it, who are made righteous by God, Romans 2:13; James 1:22.

On the day of wrath and righteous judgment, God will render to each in accordance with his deeds, Romans 2:5-6.

We must all be put on show before the tribunal of Christ, so that each may be rewarded for our bodily acts, whether good or ill. 2 Corinthians 5:10.

The Son of Man is to come in the glory of His Father, and then He will reward each man in accordance with his deeds, Matthew 16:27.

I heard a voice from heaven saying, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. So says the Spirit, so that they may rest from their labours; their deeds accompany them, Revelation 14:13.

The book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged according to what was written in the book, everyone according to his deeds, Revelation 20:12-13.

Behold I come quickly, and my reward is with me, so that I may give to each according to what he has done, Revelation 22:12.

Jehovah, whose eyes are open upon all the behaviour of men, to give to each in accordance with his behaviour, and in accordance with the fruit of his deeds, Jeremiah 32:19.

I will punish his behaviour, and his deeds I will repay him, Hosea 4:9.

Jehovah deals with us according to our behaviour and according to our deeds, Zechariah 1:6.

There are a thousand other such passages.

[2] These prove that charity and faith are not charity and faith until they are realised in deeds, and if they merely exist above the level of deeds in space, or in the mind, they are as it were images of a tent or a temple in the air, which are nothing but atmospheric phenomena which vanish of their own accord; or they resemble paintings on paper which are eaten by bookworms; or they are like dwellings on a roof, lacking a bedroom, and not in the house. These comparisons will enable one to see that charity and faith are unstable, so long as they remain mental concepts, unless, when possible, they are realised in deeds and come into existence jointly in deeds.