10112. 'And a stranger shall not eat them' means no making of good their own by those who do not acknowledge the Lord. This is clear from the meaning of 'a stranger' or a foreigner as one who is outside the Church, dealt with in 2049, 2115, 7996, and they are said to be outside the Church who do not acknowledge the Lord (among the Jewish nation those who did not acknowledge Jehovah as their God or allow themselves to receive instruction in the ritual observances of the Church [were called 'outsiders']; those who did acknowledge Him and allow themselves to receive instruction were called 'sojourners', who had the same rights as natives, see 8007, 8013, 9196); and from the meaning of 'eating' as making good one's own, dealt with in 10109. The reason why good is not made their own by people who do not acknowledge the Lord is that acknowledging one's God is the starting point of religion, and among Christians acknowledging the Lord is the starting point of the Church; for without acknowledgement of Him there can be no transmission of anything from Him, nor consequently any faith, nor thus any love. So it is that the chief thing the Christian Church teaches is that without the Lord there is no salvation. For whatever a person calls true and believes and whatever he calls good and loves cannot be said to be true or good unless it comes from the Divine, and so unless it comes from the Lord. For no one left to himself is able to believe what is true or do what is good; rather, as is also well known, everything true and everything good comes from above. From this it is plainly evident that people within the Church who do not acknowledge the Lord cannot possess faith, nor thus any love to God, and therefore cannot be saved. This was represented among the Israelite nation by their acknowledgement of Jehovah as their God, by the acceptance of their worship and its being called holy, and by their being sanctified then, regardless of what they were like inwardly. For things of a representative nature were no more than outward forms, and with that nation an interest in these alone was sufficient, see the places referred to in 9320(end). Those of them therefore who did not acknowledge Jehovah but some other God, however much they offered the same kinds of sacrifice and worshipped in the same kinds of ways, were nevertheless banished from the Church, such as those who honoured baal and other gods. From this it may be recognized what kind of fate in the next life awaits those who have been born within the Church and yet at heart fail to accept the Lord, whatever the ways in which they have behaved towards others. Much experience as well has led me to see that they cannot be saved, as also the Lord teaches explicitly in John,
He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not believe in the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him. John 3:36.
As regards nations outside the Church however, those who, true to their religion, have led lives in which some kind of charity towards their neighbour has figured, and some kind of love to God the Creator of the universe in a human form, are accepted in the next life by the Lord and saved. For after receiving instruction from angels they acknowledge the Lord, believe in Him, and love Him, see 2589-2604.
