9263. The expressions the righteous, righteousness, and justifying ¹ occur many times in the Word; but what they mean specifically is not yet known. Their specific meaning is not yet known because up to now no one has known that all the different expressions in the Word are used to mean such things as belong to the internal Church and such as belong to heaven, thus such things as belong to the internal man since the internal aspect of the Church, also heaven, has a place in the internal man. Nor has anyone known that these interior things in the Word are different from its exterior ones, that is, from those in the letter. They are as different as spiritual things are from natural ones or heavenly things from earthly ones, the difference between which is so great that to the natural man there seems to be scarcely any similarity at all, when yet they are in perfect accord with one another. Since none of this has been known no one has been able to know what 'the righteous', 'righteousness', and 'justifying' denote in the Word on its spiritual and heavenly level of meaning. Leaders of the Church suppose that the righteous and the justified are those who have learned the truths of faith from the teachings of the Church and from the Word, and from this knowledge are given the trust or assurance that they are saved through the Lord's righteousness, and that the Lord acquired righteousness by fulfilling all things of the Law, also merit because He endured the Cross, thereby making atonement for and redeeming mankind. By this faith alone, they suppose, is a person justified; and they also suppose that people such as this are the ones whom the Word calls 'the righteous'.

[2] These however are not the ones whom the Word calls 'the righteous' but those who are governed by the good of charity towards the neighbour, received from the Lord. For the Lord alone is righteous, since He alone is Righteousness; and therefore in the measure that a person receives good from the Lord, that is, in the measure that what composes the Lord's essential nature resides with him, he is righteous and has been justified. The Lord became Righteousness through making His Human, by His own power, Divine. This Divine virtue residing with a person who receives it is the Lord's Righteousness with him. And it is the true good of charity towards the neighbour; for the Lord is within the good of love and through this within the truth of faith, the Lord being Divine Love itself.

[3] The good of charity towards the neighbour is exterior good, which is meant by 'the righteous', whereas the good of love to the Lord is interior good, which is meant by 'the innocent', dealt with immediately above in 9262. The fact that the good of love towards the neighbour, received from the Lord, is meant by 'righteous' in the proper sense may be recognized from places in the Word in which the expressions 'the righteous', 'righteousness', and 'being justified' occur, such as in Matthew,

Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, When did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You? But the King answering will say to them, Truly I say to you, Insofar as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers you did it to Me. And the righteous will go into eternal life. Matthew 25:37-40, 46.

[4] Here those people are called 'the righteous' who have performed the good deeds of charity towards the neighbour that are recounted in this passage. The fact that those good deeds of charity constitute the Lord's presence with them is explicitly stated in the words, 'Insofar as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers you did it to Me', see 4807-4810, 4954-4959, 5063-5071. Those people are also called 'the sheep', for those governed by the good of charity from the Lord are meant by 'sheep', 4169, whereas 'the goats', who are on the left and are damned, means those who adhere to faith separated from charity, 4169 (end), 4769. The same people are meant by 'the righteous' elsewhere in Matthew,

The angels will come out and separate the evil from the midst of the righteous. Matthew 13:49.

And in Luke,

You will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. Luke 14:14.

[5] This shows what the meaning is of the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father, ² Matthew 13:43, namely people governed by the good of love, received from the Lord. For the Lord is the Sun in the next life; and the good of love flows from the Lord as the Sun there, see 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 2441, 2495, 3636, 3643, 4060, 4321 (end), 4696, 5097, 7078, 7083, 7171, 7173, 7270, 8487, 8812. This is why the Lord is called the Sun of Righteousness in Malachi 4:2. In Daniel,

Those who have intelligence will shine like the brightness of the expanse, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars for ever and ever. Daniel 12:3.

'Those who have intelligence' are people with whom the truth and good of faith are present, 'those who turn [many] to righteousness' are people who lead others by means of the truth and good of faith to the good of charity. 'Shining like the stars' means having an intelligent understanding of truth and a wise discernment of good, as a result of which they possess eternal happiness; for 'the stars' are cognitions or knowledge of truth and good, which lead on to intelligence and wisdom, 2495, 2849, 4697.

[6] 'A righteous person' is described in David as follows,

Jehovah upholds the righteous. The righteous shows mercy and gives. The righteous shows mercy all the day and lends. The righteous will possess the land and dwell in it forever. The mouth of the righteous utters ³ wisdom and his tongue speaks judgement. The law of his God is in his heart. Psalms 37:16-34.

These are good deeds of charity, which are those of 'the righteous'. The fact that these good deeds of charity are inspired by the Lord, so much so that they are the Lord's with a person, is well known to the Church. 'A righteous person' is also described in Ezekiel 18:5-9, 21; 33:15ff.

[7] All this shows what it is that 'the righteous' and 'righteousness' mean in the following places: In Matthew,

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 5:6.

In the same gospel,

He who welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in a righteous person's name will receive a righteous person's reward. Matthew 10:41.

In the same gospel,

Many prophets and righteous people desired to see what you see, but did not see it. Matthew 13:17.

In the same gospel,

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous. On you will come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel ... Matthew 23:29, 35.

'The prophets' stands for those who teach the truths and forms of the good of faith, and in the abstract sense for doctrinal teachings that compose faith, 2534, 7269; and 'the righteous' stands for those who lead a charitable life, and in the abstract sense for the good of charity. Abel, who is called 'righteous', represented the good of charity, see 342, 374.

[8] In Isaiah,

The righteous has perished, and no man takes it to heart; and holy men are taken away, ⁴ and no one understands. For because of evil the righteous is taken away. ⁵ Isaiah 57:1.

In the same prophet,

Your people will all be righteous; they will possess the land forever. Isaiah 60:21.

In the same prophet,

Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain with righteousness; let the earth open, in order that [its inhabitants] may bring forth the fruit of salvation, and let righteousness spring up together. I Jehovah am speaking righteousness, declaring ways that are right. ⁶ Isaiah 45:8, 19.

'Righteousness' stands for what comes out of the good of love, 'ways that are right' for what comes out of the truths of faith. In the same prophet,

Thus said Jehovah, Keep judgement and do righteousness, for My salvation is near [to come], and My righteousness to be revealed. Isaiah 56:1.

'Judgement' means the truth that belongs to faith, and 'righteousness' the good that belongs to charity, which is why it says 'do righteousness'. The fact that 'righteousness' is the good of charity received from the Lord is what the words 'My righteousness is near to be revealed' are used to mean.

[9] Many times also, in other places, the words 'judgement and righteousness' are used, 'judgement' meaning truth and 'righteousness' meaning good, as in Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah, Do judgement and righteousness, and deliver the plundered out of the hand of the oppressor. Woe to him who builds his house in unrighteousness, and his upper rooms not in judgement! Did not your father eat and drink, and do judgement and righteousness? Then it was well with him. Jeremiah 22:3, 13, 15.

'Judgement' stands for those things that are matters of truth, and 'righteousness' for those that are aspects of good. In Ezekiel,

If the wicked person turns away from his sin and does judgement and righteousness, all his sins which he has committed will not be remembered; he has done judgement and righteousness, he will surely live. When the wicked turns away from his wickedness and does judgement and righteousness he will live because of these. Ezekiel 33:14, 16, 19.

Other places similar to these include Isaiah 9:7; 16:5; 26:7, 9; 33:5, 15; 56:1; 58:2; Jeremiah 9:24; 23:5; 33:15; Hosea 2:19-20; Amos 5:24; 6:12; Psalms 36:5-6; 119:164, 172. The words 'judgement and righteousness' are used because wherever truth is dealt with in the Word, so too is good, on account of the heavenly marriage in every detail of the Word, which is the marriage of goodness and truth, spoken of in 683, 793, 801, 2173, 2516, 2712, 4138 (end), 5138, 5502, 6343, 7945, 8339. Since righteousness is associated with good and judgement is associated with truth, other places again use the words righteousness and truth, such as Zechariah 8:8; Psalms 15:2; 36:5-6; 85:11-12.

Примітки:

3563. 'And said, The voice is Jacob's voice, and the hands Esau's hands' means that the understanding consists in this case of truth existing inwardly, while the will consists in this case of good existing outwardly, so that an inversion of order exists with them. This is clear from the use of 'voice' to refer to truth and of 'hand' to refer to good. For 'voice' is used in reference to truth, as is evident from the places introduced in Volume One, in 219, 220, and from the fact that the actual words used are 'the voice is Jacob's voice', Jacob representing natural truth, as shown in various places above. And the reason why 'hand' is used in reference to good is that 'the hand' means power and ability, 878, 3541, the source of which is nothing other than good. All the power and ability that truth possesses comes from good, even though it seems to come from truth. This likewise is evident from the fact that the actual words used are 'the hands are Esau's hands', Esau representing natural good, as also shown above. The consequent existence of an inversion of order with them is evident from the consideration that proper order requires good, which belongs to the will, to exist inwardly, and truth, which belongs to the understanding, to exist outwardly. But these matters, as stated above, are such as can hardly be explained in any intelligible way because few have any knowledge of such things. For even if a perfectly clear explanation of them were given they would still not be understood if knowledge of them is lacking. Nevertheless the matter must be discussed since it is the subject at this point.

[2] The only source of the good of the natural which manifests itself in a person is interior good, that is, the good of the rational. Natural good can have no other source, though that which flows in from the one determines the nature of the good in the other. And since the good of the natural comes from no other source, neither does the truth of the natural, for where good is, so also is truth. Both must be present if they are to be anything at all. And again, that which flows in determines the nature of the truth there. Influx is such that the good of the rational flows into the natural along two different routes - one a very short and thus direct route into the good itself of the natural, and then on through the good of the natural into the truth there, this good and this truth being represented by Esau and his venison. In addition to this, the good of the rational flows into the natural along a second route which is less short, that is to say, through the truth of the rational, by means of which influx it forms something resembling good, but which in fact is truth.

[3] Everything is thus taking place according to order when the good of the rational flows directly into the good of the natural and at the same time into the truth there, and also indirectly by way of the truth of the rational into the good of the natural, and in a similar way both directly and indirectly into the truth of the natural. When all this is taking place the influx is according to order. Such is the influx with those who have been regenerated. But a different influx exists prior to regeneration, as has been stated above. That is to say, the good of the rational does not flow into the good of the natural directly but indirectly, by way of the truth of the rational, and so manifests something resembling good in the natural, which is not genuine good nor consequently genuine truth. Instead it is something such as does indeed possess good inmostly by virtue of influx through the truth of the rational; but there is nothing more. Therefore good too presents itself there under a different form, that is to say, outwardly as good represented by 'Esau' but inwardly as truth represented by 'Jacob'. And as this is not in accordance with order an inversion of order is said to exist with them. Yet insofar as nobody can be regenerated in any other way it is according to order.

[4] I realize that no matter how clearly these matters are stated and as a consequence are able to be perceived clearly by those who have a knowledge of the existence of such things, they still remain obscure to those who do not know what influx is, more so to those who do not know that the rational is distinct and separate from the natural, and more so still to those who do not have any distinct and clear idea of what good is or of what truth is. But the nature of natural good and of natural truth in the state prior to regeneration is plain to see only from the desires present at that time. When a person desires truth not because he has life in view but some other ends, such as to become learned, and to become this because of some desire to outdo others, which amounts to childish envy, and also because of some desire for glory, the order existing with the good of the natural and the truth of the natural is akin to that represented here by Jacob. As these two exist in relation to each other, there is a reversal of order, that is to say, the will, to which good belongs, exists outwardly, while the understanding, to which truth belongs, exists inwardly.

[5] But in the state following regeneration the situation is different. In this case the person desires truth not only because he has life in view but more still because he desires the good itself which constitutes that life. Previous desires, that is to say, those connected with outdoing, with childish envy, and with glory, now break away, so much so that they seem so to speak to have been dispelled. At this point good which belongs to the will exists inwardly, and truth which belongs to the understanding exists outwardly. The result then is that truth acts as one with good since it stems from good. This order is genuine order. The order existing previously also serves to bring this order about, for the will which at that time occupies an external position allows many things to come in which contribute to regeneration, like a sponge which absorbs water, clear or muddy, so that it absorbs such things as would otherwise be rejected. Indeed these things serve as means and also as ideas that have to be formed concerning genuine goods and truths, besides other uses which they serve.