9337. 'Until you become fruitful' means in keeping with the increase of good. This is clear from the meaning of 'becoming fruitful' as the increase of good, dealt with in 43, 55, 913, 983, 2846, 2847. The fact that a removal from evils and falsities is accomplished in keeping with the increase of good is evident from things that have often been shown before. The Lord flows in with a person through good, and arranges truths into order through it, but not vice versa; and to the extent that truths are arranged into order through good, evils and falsities are removed. Various places in the Word liken a person to a tree; and in those places his truths of faith are meant by 'the leaves', 885, and forms of the good of love by 'the fruit', 3146, 7690. From this it is evident not only that 'becoming fruitful' means the increase of good but also that the most important feature of a person is good, just as the most important feature of a tree is the fruit. The leaves, it is true, grow first, but they do so for the sake of the fruit as the end in view. That which is the end is not only last but also first since it is the one and only thing in view within the means, making it the be-all. The situation is similar with the relationship of the good of love to the truths of faith.

[2] Such was meant by 'the fig tree' referred to in Matthew,

Jesus returning to the city was hungry, and seeing a fig tree by the wayside went to it but found nothing on it but leaves only; therefore He said to it, Let no fruit from now on ever be born from you! Therefore the fig tree withered at once. Matthew 21:18-19.

And in Luke,

A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; therefore he came seeking fruit on it, but did not find [any]. Consequently he said to the vine-dresser, Behold, for three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, but do not find [any]. Cut it down; why must it make the land unfruitful? ¹ Luke 13:6-7.

Again in the same gospel,

Every tree is known by its own fruit; people do not collect figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble-bush. A good person out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good, but a bad person out of the bad treasure of his heart brings forth bad. Why do you call Me, Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say? Luke 6:44-46.

From these quotations it is evident that the fruit of faith, as it is termed, is the most important aspect of faith, and that faith devoid of fruit, that is, of the good of life, is mere foliage, and that therefore when a person, who is a tree, is covered with leaves but devoid of fruit, he is the fig tree that withers and is cut down.

Fotnoter:

2363. 'Let me now bring them out to you' means blessedness from these, that is to say, from the affections for good and for truth. This is clear from the meaning of these words when they have reference to the affections meant here by 'daughters'. As regards what is actually involved in all this - that is to say, in the reality that blessedness and happiness lie solely within the affection for good and for truth - all are completely ignorant who are immersed in and take delight in evil. The blessedness lying within the affection for good and for truth is seen by them either as something that does not exist, or as something dreary. By some it is seen to be something painful, or even deadly. This is so with the genii and spirits in hell. They imagine and believe that if the joy belonging to self-love and love of the world were withdrawn from them, and consequently the joy belonging to evils resulting from those loves, no life would be left to them. But when they are shown that such a withdrawal is the starting-point to life itself, bringing blessedness and happiness within, they experience a certain sadness at the loss of their own joy. And when they are brought into the company of others whose lives are such, pain and torment take hold of them. In addition they also start to feel at the same time within themselves something death-like and dreadfully hellish. For this reason they refer to heaven, where that blessedness and happiness reside, as their hell, and insofar as they are able to remove and hide themselves from the Lord's face they go as far away as they can.

[2] Nevertheless everything that is blessed and happy lies in the affection for the good which flows from love and charity, and in the affection for truth that constitutes faith, insofar as such truth leads on to that good. This becomes clear from the fact that heaven, that is, angelic life, lies in everything blessed and happy and also from the fact that its influence is felt from things that are inmost, since it flows in from the Lord by way of inmost things, see 540, 541, 545. At the same time wisdom and intelligence enter in and fill the inner recesses of the mind itself, kindling good with heavenly flame and truth with heavenly light. And this is accompanied by a perception of blessing and happiness which can only be called indescribable. People who have entered this state perceive how empty, how dreary, and how deplorable the life is of those who are subject to evils resulting from self-love and love of the world.

[3] So that anyone may recognize the nature of this life, that is to say, the life of self-love and love of the world, or what amounts to the same, the life that goes with arrogance, greed, envy, hatred, revenge, ruthlessness, and adultery, let him who has the ability to do so caricature for himself some of these evils. Or if he is able, let him paint a picture that accords with the ideas he can get of it from experience, knowledge, and reason. He will in that case see, insofar as his drawing or painting of it is accurate, how shocking those evils are and that they are devilish forms with nothing human in them. After death all who perceive joy in such evils become devilish forms such as these. And the greater their joy the more dreadful those forms are.

[4] But on the other hand if he caricatures love and charity for himself or also finds an expression of it for himself in some outward form, he will see, insofar as his drawing or portrayal is accurate, that it is an angelic form full of blessed and beautiful things, which has what is heavenly and Divine within it. Can anyone believe that those two forms are able to exist side by side, or that the devilish form can be thrown off and transformed into one of charity, and that this can be achieved by means of faith to which the life is contrary? For after death everyone's life, or what amounts to the same, his affection, remains. At that time the nature of affection determines the nature of all his thought, and consequently his faith, which manifests itself as it had existed in his heart.