From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #8911

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

8911. The things that have been stated so far show what the situation is with a person and his life. That is to say, they show that a person is such as his will is, and that he remains such after death since death is not the end to life but the continuation of it. Since therefore a person is such as his will is - because, as has been stated above, the will is the real person - being judged according to one's deeds means being judged according to one's will, since there is no disparity between will and deed. Though external restraints exist - fear of the law, and fear of the loss of position, gain, reputation, or life - to inhibit the deed, the deed is all along in the will, and the will all along in the deed. It is like endeavour and motion. Motion is nothing other than an extension of the endeavour; for as endeavour comes to an end, so does motion. Therefore there is nothing essential within motion apart from endeavour. Learned people know this, for it is a recognized and well-established idea. In the human being endeavour is the will and motion is action; and they are called such in the human being because in him endeavour and motion are living. Being judged according to one's will is the same as being judged according to one's love; it is also the same as being judged according to the ends one has in view in life, as well as being judged according to the way one lives. For a person's will is his love, it is the end he has in view in life, and it is the very life itself within him. The truth of this is clear from the Lord's words which have already been quoted - One who looks at a woman 1 in such a way that he lusts after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 5:27-28. It is clear also from His saying that killing someone is not only performing that deed but also the desire to perform it, which is meant by being angry and reviling him with insults, Matthew 5:21-22. Furthermore a person is indeed judged according to his deeds; yet no further questions are asked than these - How far did those deeds spring from his will? and What nature did his will give them?

Footnotes:

1. Following the version of Sebastian Schmidt Swedenborg adds a word which implies that the woman is another man's wife.

  
/ 10837  
  

Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

The Bible

 

Matthew 5:27-30

Study

      

27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:

28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut if off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

      

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #10337

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

10337. 'And they shall make all the things that I have commanded you' means Divine Truths derived from the Word, which are to be represented within outward objects. This is clear from the meaning of 'making all the things that I have commanded', when it relates to the Lord, as doing so in accordance with Divine Truths, for Divine Truths are called the commandments of the Lord, 9417; and from the representation of 'Moses' as the Word, dealt with in 9372. The reason why it means that they were to be represented within outward objects was that the things they were to make were representative, and representative objects are outward things within which, as types or images, inner realities are presented. The representative objects which they were to make are listed in verses 7-11 that follow. What representatives are, see in the places referred to in 9280, also 9457, 9481, 9576, 9577, 10149, 10252, 10276.

  
/ 10837  
  

Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.