Freedom is core.

We have minds that give us the ability to make free choices, minute by minute, day by day.

As far as we can tell, this level of freedom is pretty new, at least in our neck of the cosmos. It seems to be part of the path that life on earth -- call it 'evolution plus' -- is following. Perhaps 80,000 years ago, from what we can tell from archeology, spiritual awareness developed in human beings.

Why? The Darwinian answer would be that humans with dawning spiritual awareness were better able to survive than those who didn't have it. It was an "advance". People who believe there's a God would probably argue that it happened as part of God's plan and influence, from spiritual "dimensions" into the physical world. And... those arguments aren't mutually exclusive.

With spiritual awareness would have come better understandings of right and wrong -- and people faced new levels of choice.

Free will is one quality that distinguishes humans from animals. Animals cannot be either good or evil because they lack an understanding of those concepts. Humans, on the other hand, can understand the difference between good and evil and can therefore choose which they want to do.

The Lord protects this freedom of will even to the extent that He allows evil, because only loves that are freely chosen can be appropriated to (or belong to) an individual. Because we are all free to choose to do what we believe is right in the Lord's eyes, or choose to do what we want, we can be formed into an image of the love we choose. The image may be heavenly or hellish; it's our choice. No animal has such a choice.

The Lord has always given people a choice. In the ancient Garden of Eden story, Adam and Eve faced a choice -- to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil - or not.

To be able to exercise our freedom in a useful way, our freedom is paired with rationality -- the ability to understand, think, and learn. We can learn about the physical world; animals do this, too. What's good to eat? Where is there good water? What shall we do in the winter? What's dangerous? In the case of homo sapiens, our rationality extends to spiritual things, too, so that our spiritual freedom isn't totally uninformed. We can absorb new ideas, new truths.

From our oldest oral traditions, and from our oldest written records, we know that people have received spiritual revelations of one kind or another in many parts of the world, culminating, in the "Christian world", in the Word from Moses, the prophets and the Gospels - what we now call the Bible. The writings for the New Church are a continuation of the Lord's revelation.

Related to "freedom" is the concept of "free will." Our will is what we intend to do or be. It is the core of our life. We have free will to determine what we will do and it is our personal responsibility to decide this. Our free will is so important to God that He was born on earth to overcome the hells, so that our free will is always maintained and is ours to use and act on.

We can't change our loves ourselves. We can't flip back our skull and throw a switch in our brain that makes us love our neighbor - but the Lord can do something like that over time. And without even opening up our skull! But He won't do that unless we want Him to. We show Him that we want it to happen by acting as if He'd already done it. If we force ourselves to act as if we love our neighbor even though we don't feel it yet, we will one day realize that, all unknown to us, He has reached in and changed us a bit. We may have forced ourselves, but free will means that we are free to force ourselves - it's our choice.

Some people may believe that they can't change. Maybe they try for a little while and don't notice anything, so they lose heart. This is a lifelong project. In Exodus 23:28-30, the Lord promises to drive out the enemies in the land "little by little".

All during our life in the natural world the Lord keeps us in a state of equilibrium between the influences of heaven and hell, just so that our will can move us a little bit one way or the other, so that we can remain in control. This is our freedom.

The Lord wants everyone born to come to His heaven. This is what we are born for, but we are all free to decide for ourselves if we will do so or not.

(References: Arcana Coelestia 9591; Divine Providence 43; True Christian Religion 475, 483, 498, 500)

483. V. Without free will in spiritual matters the Word would not be of any use, nor in consequence would the church be.

It is well known throughout the Christian world that the Word is, broadly speaking, the Law, that is, a book of laws in accordance with which a person must live, in order to be granted everlasting life. Is there anything it says more often than that man must do good and not evil, and he must believe in God and not in idols? The Word is also full of commands and exhortations to these actions, with blessings and promises of rewards for those who do so, and curses and threats of punishment for those who do not. Unless man had free will in spiritual matters, that is, in matters concerned with salvation and everlasting life, what would all this be but empty words serving no use? And if anyone were to cling to the idea that he lacked any power or freedom in spiritual matters, so that he was without any will-power in these matters, would not Holy Scripture look to him like a blank piece of paper with no letters on it, or like a piece of paper over which a whole pot of ink had been emptied, or just serifs and dots with no letters, that is to say, a book with nothing in it?

[2] There would hardly be any need to prove this from the Word, but since present-day churches have plunged so deeply into mental inanity in spiritual matters, citing certain passages in support which they have wrongly interpreted, I am obliged to quote some passages which tell men how to act and believe. These are:

The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that produces its fruits, Matthew 21:43.

Produce fruit worthy of repentance; at any moment now the axe is put to the root of the tree. So every tree which does not produce good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire, Luke 3:8-9.

Jesus said, why do you call me, Lord, Lord, and not do what I say? Everyone who comes to me and listens to what I say and does that is like a man building a house upon rock. But one who listens and does not do it, is like a man building his house on soil with no foundation, Luke 6:46-49.

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 possesses my commandments and does them is the one who loves me, and I will love him, John 14:21.

In this is my Father glorified, by your bringing forth much fruit, John 15:8.

You are my friends, if you do whatever I bid you. I have chosen you to bear fruit, and for your fruit to keep, John 15:14, 16.

Make the tree good; by its fruit the tree is known, Matthew 12:33.

Produce fruit worthy of repentance, Matthew 3:8.

The one who sowed seed on good land is the one who hears the Word and bears fruit, Matthew 13:23.

He who reaps receives his wage, and gathers the fruit for everlasting life, John 4:36.

Wash yourselves, cleanse yourselves, put away the wickedness of your deeds; learn to do good, Isaiah 1:16-17.

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

Those who have done good deeds will go forth to be resurrected to life, John 5:29.

Their deeds accompany them, Revelation 14:13.

Behold, I come soon 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, to give to each in accordance with his behaviour; He deals with us according to our deeds, Jeremiah 32:19; Zechariah 1:6.

[3] The Lord teaches the same lesson in the parables, many of which imply that those who do good are accepted and those who do evil are rejected: as in the parable of the workers in the vineyard (Matthew 21:33-44), that of the talents and minas, with which they had to trade (Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 19:13-25). Likewise Jesus said about faith:

He who believes in me shall never die, but live, John 11:25-26.

This is the Father's will, that everyone who believes in the Son should have everlasting life, John 6:40.

He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; he, however, who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him, John 3:36.

God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life, John 3:15-16.

Furthermore:

You are to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. And you are to love the neighbour as yourself. The law and the prophets depend upon these two commandments, Matthew 22:37-40.

These are a minute selection from the Word and like a few pints of water drawn from the sea.