Commentary

 

249 - Newness of Life

By Jonathan S. Rose

Title: Newness of Life

Topic: Salvation

Summary: What the Bible calls newness of life is not just a matter of changing our behaviors but of gaining a new heart and a new spirit.

Use the reference links below to follow along in the Bible as you watch.

References:
Romans 6:1, 4
Isaiah 65:17; 66:22
Jeremiah 31:31
Leviticus 3:1, 14, 17, Leviticus 3:23, Leviticus 3:26, Leviticus 3:33, Leviticus 3:40-41
Ezekiel 11:16; 18:30; 36:25
John 3:3
Romans 12:1-2
2 Corinthians 4:16; 5:17, 10
Galatians 6:12
Ephesians 4:17, 24
Colossians 3:5, 9-11
Titus 3:1-5
Revelation 21:1-5
Isaiah 62:1-2

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Spirit and Life Bible Study broadcast from 12/30/2015. The complete series is available at: www.spiritandlifebiblestudy.com

The Bible

 

Revelation 21:1-5

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1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

      

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Last Judgment (Posthumous) #139

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139. [140.] 7. After numerous destructions and quasi-judgments had been accomplished, which were forerunners of the general destruction and judgment, and companies of spirits who were impure had been cast into pools, lakes, swamps and gulfs, that is, into hells, others then came there who were skilled in the art of inspiring and inciting others to evils in their inner thought. These stirred up their hearts against the Lord, and against the Divine truth issuing from Him, causing a multitude to begin to rise as one whole mass in ferment. The tumult then spread from there in every direction, as when a rebellion is begun by a few and yet at last incites a mob - in this case spreading onto a number of rocks and mountains, extending to their peaks and from there to the sides, and descending even to their foundations. I saw the mob stretching far and wide. Their intent was to destroy those who acknowledged the Lord and also worshiped Him, and who were in possession of Divine truths from Him.

When it was noticed how broadly the contagion had spread, then the Lord's advent took place for the general judgment. This advent was a flowing in of the Lord through the heavens into those people, an influx which looked like a misty atmosphere enveloping those mountains and rocks, and it carried off the inhabitants there - not casting them down but bearing them away. That Divine atmosphere entered into their interior elements and laid them open. Thus what lay hidden in their will and heart became apparent, and this carried them away and bore them down into hells in accordance with the evils of their life. I saw that Divine atmosphere swirling around in circles, sometimes reversing course, and it also drew those people from places where they had hidden themselves. This was accomplished with tens of thousands within an hour's time.

At the conclusion of these events, the tops of the mountains began to subside, and the mountains themselves sank down all the way to level ground, and a solitude appeared.

Such phenomena are meant in the book of Revelation by the first heaven and the first earth which John saw pass away, 1 for mountains in the spiritual world, with their rocks and valleys, look there like our earth in the world, and they call their habitations on mountains there heavens. The people who were thus carried off and cast down are those meant in the book of Revelation by the dragon and its two beasts (chapters 12, 13), and by the false prophet, who were cast into the lake of brimstone and fire (chapters [19, 20]). 2

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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.