From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #8911

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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.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #4931

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4931. CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE GRAND MAN - continued

IN THIS SECTION THE CORRESPONDENCE OF THE HANDS, THE ARMS, THE FEET, AND THE LOINS WITH IT

It has been shown already that the whole of heaven bears resemblance to a human being, together with each of his organs, members, and viscera. It has been shown too that this is so because heaven bears resemblance to the Lord; for the Lord is the All in all of heaven, so much its All that, properly speaking, heaven is essentially Divine Good and Divine Truth received from the Lord. For this reason heaven is distinguished into many so to speak separate provinces, as many as there are in a person's viscera, organs, and members, with which also there is a correspondence. Unless such a correspondence existed of the human being with heaven, and through heaven with the Lord, he could not remain in existence for even a single moment, all things being held in connection with one another by means of influx.

[2] But all those provinces are linked to two kingdoms - the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom. The first of these - the celestial kingdom - is the kingdom of the heart within the Grand Man; the second - the spiritual kingdom - is the kingdom of the lungs there. And in the same way as in the human being, the heart reigns, and so do the lungs, in every single part of the Grand Man. These two kingdoms combine in a marvellous way. Their combination likewise is represented in the combination of the heart and lungs in the human being, and in the combined workings of the two within each member and interior organ.

[3] While a person is an embryo, that is, while still in the womb, he is in the kingdom of the heart. But once he has struggled out of the womb he enters the kingdom of the lungs. Then, if he allows the truths of faith to lead him into the good of love, he returns from the kingdom of the lungs within the Grand Man to the kingdom of the heart. For thereby he enters the womb a second time and is born again. Once again those two kingdoms become combined in him, but the order has been turned around. Previously the kingdom of the heart in him was under the control of the lungs, but now the kingdom of the lungs comes under the control of the heart. That is, first of all the truth of faith has dominion in him, but afterwards the good of charity does so. For the correspondence of the heart with the good of love and that of the lungs with the truth of faith, see 3635, 3883-3896.

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

The Bible

 

Matthew 5:27-30

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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.