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:

7366. EXODUS CHAPTER 8.

TEACHINGS ABOUT CHARITY

It has been stated above that self-love and love of the world residing with a person constitute hell. Now the nature of those loves must be stated, in order that a person may know whether he is ruled by those kinds of love, and consequently whether he has hell within himself or heaven; for a person has within himself either hell or heaven. The Lord teaches in Luke 17:21 that the kingdom of God resides within a person; therefore that is also where hell resides.

6706. The different kinds of neighbour - which a member of the Church ought to be thoroughly acquainted with if he is to know the true nature of charity - are determined by the good present in each individual. And since all good comes from the Lord, the Lord is in the highest sense and a supereminent degree the Neighbour and origin of the neighbour. From this it follows that a person is the neighbour in the measure Lord resides with him, since nobody receives the Lord, that is, the good which comes from Him, in the same way as another, no one person is therefore the neighbour in the same way as another. For all without exception in heaven and all without exception on earth differ from one another in good. Good is never exactly one and the same with any two people; variation is essential, in order that each kind of good may continue to exist by itself. But no one, not even an angel, can know all those variations, thus all the distinctions of the neighbour that are determined by the way the Lord is received, that is, the good coming from Him. One can know them in only an overall way, that is, know the general kinds of variation and some of the specific kinds of these. Nor does the Lord demand anything more of a member of the Church than that he should lead a life in keeping with what he knows.