1. THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION

Containing THE UNIVERSAL THEOLOGY OF THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW CHURCH

THE FAITH OF THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW CHURCH

This faith is presented at the outset in its general and in its particular form. It is so presented that it may serve as a preface to the whole work which follows, as a gateway, as it were, by which entrance is made to a temple, and as an epitome in which the subsequent details are duly summarized. It is said to be "The Faith of the New Heaven and the New Church" because heaven, where angels are, and the Church, in which men are, act as one like the internal and the external with man. Hence it is that the member of the Church, who is in the good of love from the truths of faith, and in the truths of faith from the good of love, is an angel of heaven as to the interiors of his mind. Thus he enters into heaven after death, and there enjoys happiness according to the degree in which those principles are united in him. It should therefore be known that this faith in its summary form is the index and gateway of the new heaven now being formed by the Lord.

528. VI. ACTUAL REPENTANCE CONSISTS IN A MAN'S EXAMINING HIMSELF, RECOGNIZING AND ACKNOWLEDGING HIS SINS, PRAYING TO THE LORD, AND BEGINNING A NEW LIFE.

That repentance is absolutely necessary, and that man's salvation depends on it, may be clearly seen from many passages and plain declarations of the Lord in the Word, of which the following will be here adduced:

John preached the baptism of repentance and said, "Bring forth... fruits worthy of repentance," Luke 3:3, 8; Mark 1:4.

"Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent" Matthew 4:17. And he said, because the kingdom of God is at hand: "Repent ye" Mark 1:14-15;

again,

"Except ye repent, ye shall all... perish" Luke 13:5.

Jesus instructed His disciples "that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations" Luke 24:47; Mark 6:12.

Then Peter preached repentance and baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, Acts 2:38; and he also said, "Repent ye... and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out" Acts 3:19.

Paul preached to all men everywhere that they should repent, Acts 17:30.

Paul also "Showed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance" Acts 26:20; and testified "both to the Jews, and also to the Gentiles, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" Acts 20:21.

The Lord also said to the Church at Ephesus,

"I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love... repent... or else I... will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent" Revelation 2:4-5;

and to the Church in Pergamos,

"I know thy works... Repent" Revelation 2:13, 16;

and to the Church in Thyatira,

I will cast her into great tribulation, except she repent of her deeds, Revelation 2:22;

and to the Church of the Laodiceans,

"I know thy works... be zealous therefore, and repent," Revelation 3:15, 19;

and in another place,

"There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth," Luke 15:7.

There are other passages to the same purpose; and from all these it is evident that repentance is absolutely necessary; but the nature and the manner of repentance will be explained in what follows.

221. (5) THE SAME WERE REPRESENTED BY THE EXTERNALS OF THE TEMPLE AT JERUSALEM.

This is because the temple, as well as the tabernacle, represented heaven and the Church; but the temple represented the heaven in which are spiritual angels, whereas the tabernacle represented the heaven where celestial angels are. Spiritual angels are they who are in wisdom from the Word, while celestial angels are they who are in love from the Word. That the temple at Jerusalem, in the highest sense, signified the Divine Human of the Lord, He Himself teaches in John:

"Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up... But He spake of the temple of His body" 2:19, 21;

and where the Lord is meant, the Word also is meant, because He is the Word. Now, since the interior things of the temple represented the interior things of heaven and the Church, thus also of the Word, therefore its exterior things represented and signified the exterior things of heaven and the Church, thus also the exterior things of the Word, which are the sense of its Letter. Concerning the exterior things of the temple it is written:

they were built of stone, whole and unhewn, and of cedar within; and that all its walls were carved with cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers; and that the floor was overlaid with gold. 1 Kings 6:7, 29-30.

By all these things are also signified the externals of the Word, which are the holy things of the sense of its Letter.