1. True Christianity

Containing a Comprehensive Theology of the New Heaven and the New Church

The Faith of the New Heaven and the New Church

THE faith of the new heaven and the new church is stated here in both universal and specific forms to serve as the face of the work that follows, the doorway that allows entry into the temple, and the summary that in one way or another contains all the details to follow. I say "the faith of the new heaven and the new church" because heaven, where there are angels, and the church, in which there are people, act together like the inner and the outer levels in a human being. People in the church who love what is good because they believe what is true and who believe what is true because they love what is good are angels of heaven with regard to the inner levels of their minds. After death they come into heaven, and enjoy happiness there according to the relationship between their love and their faith. It is important to know that the new heaven that the Lord is establishing today has this faith as its face, doorway, and summary.

231. 3. The genuine truth in the Word's literal meaning, the truth that is needed for a body of teaching, becomes manifest only to those who have enlightenment from the Lord. Enlightenment comes from the Lord alone and affects people who love truths because they are true and who make them useful in their lives. Other people do not have enlightenment concerning the Word. Enlightenment comes from the Lord alone because the Word is from him, and therefore he is in it. Enlightenment comes to people who love truths because they are true and who make them useful in their lives, because these people are in the Lord and the Lord is in them. The Lord is truth itself, as I showed in the chapter on the Lord. Loving the Lord is living by his divine truths, that is, doing useful things with those truths, as we read in the following words in John:

On that day you will recognize that you are in me and I am in you. The people who love me are the people who have my instructions and follow them. I will love them and will manifest myself to them. I will come to them and make a home with them. (John 14:20-21, 23)

These are the people who are enlightened when they read the Word. For them the Word shines and becomes translucent.

The Word shines for these people and becomes translucent to them because the details in the Word have spiritual and heavenly meanings inside. These meanings are in the light of heaven. The Lord flows through these meanings and their light into the Word's earthly meaning and its light in the people. As a result of this light, the people first acknowledge the truth with deep perception and then see it in their own thought. This happens whenever people have a desire for truth because it is true. This desire, you see, leads to perception, and perception leads to thought. This process leads to the acknowledgment that is known as faith.