6427. The contents of these two verses in the internal sense is plain from the things unfolded, but still these things must needs be obscure unless the nature of the spiritual kingdom is known. This kingdom consists of those who are in the truth of faith, but who make this the truth of life, and thus good; for when the truth of faith is lived, it becomes good, and is called the “good of truth,” but in its essence it is truth in act. In the Lord’s spiritual church the truth of faith is various, for that is said to be truth in one church which in another is said not to be truth, and this according to the doctrine of each; thus it is doctrinal things that are called truths. These truths are what are conjoined with good, and make the good of the spiritual church; and thus its good becomes such as is its truth, for good has its quality from truths.

[2] Hence it is evident that the good of the spiritual church is impure; and because it is impure, the spiritual cannot be admitted into heaven except by Divine means. The veriest Divine means was that the Lord came into the world and made the Human in Himself Divine; by this the spiritual were saved. But because the good with them is impure, they must needs be infested by evils and falsities, and thus be in combats; but the Lord provides that by means of these combats the impurity in them may gradually be purified, for the Lord fights for them. This is what is signified by “the daughter marched upon the wall,” and by “the archers embittered him, and shot at him, and hated him, and he shall sit in the strength of his bow, and the arms of his hands are made strong by the hands of the mighty Jacob, from whence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel.”

[3] See what has already been said about those who are of the spiritual church, namely, that they are in obscurity as to truth and the derivative good (n. 2708, 2715, 2718, 2831, 2935, 2937, 3241, 3246, 3833, 6289); that this obscurity is illumined by the Lord’s Divine Human (n. 2716); that before the Lord’s coming there was not such a spiritual kingdom as after His coming (n. 6372); that the Lord came into the world in order to save the spiritual; and that they are saved by means of the Lord’s Divine Human (see n. 2661, 2716, 2833, 2834, 3969). Hence also it is plain that by “the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty Jacob, from whence is the shepherd the stone of Israel,” is signified the power of fighting derived from the omnipotence of the Lord’s Divine Human, whence is all the good and truth in the spiritual kingdom (n. 6424-6426).

2715. There are two arcana here, one, that the good of the spiritual man is comparatively obscure; and the other, that this obscurity is illuminated by the Lord’s Divine Human. As regards the first, that good with the spiritual man is comparatively obscure, this is evident from what was said above concerning the state of the spiritual man in comparison with the state of the celestial man (n. 2708); for by comparing these states the fact becomes manifest. With the celestial, good itself is implanted in their will part, and light comes therefrom into their intellectual part; but with the spiritual all the will part has been destroyed, so that they have nothing of good from it; and therefore good is implanted by the Lord in their intellectual part (see n. 863, 875, 895, 927, 928, 1023, 1043, 1044, 2124, 2256). The will part is what chiefly lives in man, while the intellectual lives from it. As therefore the will part has been so destroyed with the spiritual man as to be nothing but evil, and yet evil flows in from it perpetually and continually into his intellectual part, that is, into his thought, it is evident that the good there is comparatively obscured.

[2] Hence it is that the spiritual have not love to the Lord, as have the celestial, and consequently they have not the humiliation which is essential in all worship, and by means of which good can flow in from the Lord; for an elated heart does not receive at all, but a humble heart. Neither have the spiritual love toward the neighbor, as the celestial have for the love of self and the world continually flows in from their will part, and obscures the good of that love; as must also be evident to everyone if he reflects, by considering that when he does good to anyone it is for the sake of an end in the world; and that therefore, although he is not doing so consciously, still he is thinking of a recompense, either from those to whom he does good, or from the Lord in the other life; thus that his good is defiled by the idea of merit, as also by considering that when he has done any good, if he can make it known and thus set himself above others, he is in the delight of his life. But the celestial love the neighbor more than themselves; nor do they think at all of recompense, nor in any manner set themselves up above others.

[3] Moreover, the good that is with the spiritual has been obscured by persuasions from various principles arising also from the love of self and of the world. The quality of their persuasion even of faith may be seen above (n. 2682, 2689 the end); this likewise is from the influx of evil from their will part.

[4] Moreover that the good with the spiritual man is obscure in comparison, is evident from the fact that he does not know what is true from any perception, as the celestial do, but from instruction from parents and masters, and also from the doctrine into which he was born; and when he superadds anything from himself and from his thought, then for the most part the sensuous and its fallacies, and the rational and its appearances, prevail, and cause him to be scarcely able to acknowledge any pure truth, such as the celestial acknowledge. Nevertheless in those seeming truths the Lord implants good, even if the truths are fallacious, or appearances of truth; but the good becomes obscure from them, being qualified by the truths with which it is conjoined. The case with this is as with the light of the sun flowing into objects. The quality of the objects which receive it causes the light to appear there under the aspect of color, beautiful if the quality of the form and of the reception is becoming and correspondent, but unbeautiful if the quality of the form and of the reception is not becoming, and thus not correspondent. In this manner the good itself is qualified according to the truth.

[5] The same is also manifest from the fact that the spiritual man does not know what evil is. He scarcely believes any other things to be evil than those which are contrary to the precepts of the Decalogue, and is not aware of the evils of affection and thought, which are innumerable; nor does he reflect upon them, nor call them evils. All delights whatever of cupidities and pleasures he regards no otherwise than as good; and the very delights of the love of self he both seeks after, and approves, and excuses, being ignorant that such things affect his spirit, and that he becomes altogether such in the other life.

[6] From this it is in like manner evident that though scarcely anything else is treated of in the whole Word than the good of love to the Lord and of love toward the neighbor, still the spiritual man does not know that good is the essential of faith, nor even what love and charity are in their essence; and that as to what he has learned of faith, which he makes essential, he nevertheless discusses whether it be so, unless he has been confirmed by much experience of life. This the celestial never do, for they know and perceive that it is so. Hence it is said by the Lord in Matthew:

Let your speech be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay; what is more than these is of evil (Matthew 5:37).

For the celestial are in the truth itself respecting which the spiritual dispute whether it be so; hence, as the celestial are in the truth itself, they can see from it endless things which belong to that truth, and thus from light see as it were the whole heaven. But as the spiritual dispute whether it be so, they cannot, so long as they do this, come to the first boundary of the light of the celestial, still less look at anything from their light.