34. Love and faith cannot possibly be separated for they constitute one and the same thing. This is why, when first the [great] lights are dealt with and they are taken to be one, it is said [using a singular verb with a plural noun], 'Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens'. Let some marvels relating to this be mentioned here. Since celestial angels possess from the Lord that kind of love, they possess by virtue of that love every cognition of faith, and by virtue of that love the kind of life and light of understanding that almost defies description altogether. On the other hand spirits who without love have a knowledge of the doctrinal matters concerning faith live such cold lives and are in such dull light that they cannot approach even the outer gateway to heaven before running off in the opposite direction. Some claim to have believed in the Lord, but they have not lived according to His teaching. The Lord refers to these people in Matthew as follows,

Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does My will. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? and so on. Matthew 7:21-22-end.

[2] From this is clear that those who have love have faith as well, and so heavenly life, whereas those who claim to have faith and yet have none of the life inherent in love do not. The life of faith devoid of love is like sunlight devoid of warmth, as is the case in wintertime when nothing grows and every single thing is inactive and dies off. But faith deriving from love is like the sunlight in springtime when everything grows and blossoms, for it is the warmth of the sun that brings it out. It is similar with spiritual and celestial things, which are normally represented in the Word by the things found in the world and on earth. An absence of faith, and faith devoid of love, are also compared by the Lord to winter where He foretold the close of the age in Mark,

Pray that your flight may not happen in winter, for those will be days of affliction. Mark 13:18-19.

'Flight' means the final period, also the time when a person dies; 'winter' is life which is destitute of love, 'days of affliction' his wretched condition in the next life.

8866. 'Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slaves' means deliverance by Him from hell. This is clear from the meaning of 'bringing out' as deliverance; from the meaning of 'the land of Egypt' as molestations by those from hell, dealt with in 7240, 7278; and from the meaning of 'the house of slaves' as spiritual captivity, dealt with in 8049. The reason why 'the house of slaves' means spiritual captivity and also hell is that being held captive by those in hell and being led by them is slavery, whereas being led by the Lord is freedom, 892, 905, 2870-2875, 2882, 2884, 2892, 2893, 6205, 8209. The fact that those belonging to the spiritual Church, who are represented by the children of Israel, were delivered from hell by the Lord, through His coming into the world and making Divine the Human within Himself, see 6854, 6914, 7035, 7828, 7932, 8018, 8321.

7828. 'The first shall it be for you in the months of the year' means the starting point of all states following for evermore. This is clear from the meaning of 'being the first', when used in reference to months of the year and in the internal sense to states of life, as the starting point; from the meaning of 'the months' as states, dealt with immediately above in 7827; and from the meaning of 'the year' as the period of life from start to finish, dealt with in 2906. Here, since it is speaking about members of the spiritual Church in the next life, whose period of life has a starting point but no finish, 'the year' means the period of life from the start and continuing for evermore (as 'year' can also mean, see end of 2906). The reason why this month became 'the head of months' and the first of all is that it means the starting point in the deliverance of those belonging to the spiritual Church who till then were in a state of captivity, since they were held back on the lower earth, where they were molested by the evil ones represented by Pharaoh and the Egyptians. The reason why their first state when they were delivered is the chief one of all and why it is the starting point of all following for evermore is that those who were there were delivered by the Lord's Coming into the world. They could not possibly have been saved without the Lord's Coming into the world; and their deliverance took place when the Lord rose again. From this it is evident that that state - when they were delivered - was for them the chief of all states. It was to be the same after that for all who belonged to the spiritual Church. They too could not have been saved unless the Lord had come into the world and glorified His Human, that is, made it Divine. With regard to those who belonged to the spiritual Church before the Lord's Coming, that they were held back on the lower earth, and that the Lord delivered and saved them, see 6854, 6914; and in general, that members of the spiritual Church were saved by the Lord's Coming, 2661, 1716, 6372, 7035, 7091 (end). So it is that the words under consideration here mean in the highest sense that the glorification and resurrection of the Lord, of His Human, are the source of all salvation.