9230. 'And you shall not eat flesh torn in the field' means that falsified good of faith must not be joined [to oneself]. This is clear from the meaning of 'flesh' as good, dealt with in 7850, 9127; from the meaning of 'the field' as the Church in respect of good, thus the Church's good, dealt with in 2971, 3766, 7502, 7571, 9139, 9141; from the meaning of 'torn' as something destroyed by falsities, thus also something falsified, dealt with in 5828; and from the meaning of 'eating' as making one's own and joining [to oneself], dealt with in 2187, 3168, 3513 (end), 3596, 4745, 5643, 8001. From these meanings it is evident that 'you shall not eat flesh torn in the field' means that the Church's good, or the good of faith, if it has been falsified, is not to be made one's own or joined [to oneself].

[2] A brief statement must be made here about what the good of faith is and what the truth of faith is. The good of faith is a term that denotes everything of the Church that has to do with life and service inspired by teachings of the Church that compose its faith, in short, everything that has to do with willing those things and doing them in a spirit of obedience; for the Church's truths of faith become, through people's willing them and doing them, forms of good. But the truth of faith is a term that denotes everything which does not as yet have useful service as its end in view or does not exist for the sake of its use in life. Consequently it is something a person comes to know and retain in the memory, then grasps with his understanding, and goes on to teach. As long as the Church's truths go no further than the understanding they are merely items of knowledge and known facts, and in contrast to forms of good stand outside the person himself. For the human memory and understanding are like the hall outside a room, and the will is so to speak the actual room, the will being the person himself. This shows what the truth of faith is and what the good of faith is. But the good that a person does in the first state, while he is being regenerated, is called the good of faith, whereas the good that he does in the second state, which is when he has been regenerated, is called the good of charity. When therefore a person doing good is governed by the good of faith, he does good in a spirit of obedience; but when someone doing good is governed by the good of charity, he does good out of affection. Regarding those two states with a person who is being regenerated, see 7923, 7992, 8505, 8506, 8510, 8512, 8516, 8643, 8648, 8658, 8685, 8690, 8701, 9224, 9227.

1044. 'And it will be for a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth' means a token of the Lord's presence in charity, 'the earth' here being a person's proprium. This is clear from what has been stated already. That 'the earth' means a person's Proprium is clear from the internal sense and from the whole train of thought. Above it was stated that 'this is the sign of the covenant between Me and you and every living soul that is with you' meant whatever has been regenerated; but here the wording is different - 'it will be for a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth'. From this, and also from the repetition of 'sign of the covenant', it is evident that something different is meant here, and indeed that 'the earth' is that which has not been regenerated, and which is incapable of being, namely the will part of a person's proprium.

[2] When somebody is regenerate he belongs to the Lord so far as the understanding Part of his mind is concerned but belongs to himself so far as the will part of it is concerned. These two parts in the spiritual man are opposed to each other. But although the will part of a person's proprium is opposed, its continuing presence is nevertheless inevitable. Indeed all the obscurity in the understanding part, that is, all the thickness of his cloud, originates there. It is constantly flowing in from there, and in the measure it flows in so the cloud in the understanding part thickens; but in the measure it is taken away, the cloud thins out. This is why 'the earth' here means a person's proprium. That 'the earth' means the bodily part of man's nature as well as having many other meanings has been shown already.

[3] The relationship between those two parts is like two parties who were first of all joined together by a covenant of friendship - as will and understanding were in the member of the Most Ancient Church - and then the friendship was broken off and hostility arose, as happened when man corrupted totally the will part of him. After that, when the covenant is renewed, the hostile part presents itself as though the covenant were with it. But no covenant is made with it because it is utterly opposed and contrary. It is made instead with that which flows in from it, as has been stated, that is, with the understanding part of the proprium. The sign or token of the covenant is this, that to the extent the Lord is present in the understanding part of the proprium the will part of it will be taken away. The relationship between the two is just like that of heaven and hell. The understanding part of a regenerate person, by virtue of the charity in which the Lord is present, is heaven, while the will part of him is hell. To the extent the Lord is present in heaven, hell is removed; for when he subsists from himself man is in hell, but when he does so from the Lord he is in heaven. Man is constantly being raised up from hell into heaven, and so far as he is raised up his hell is taken away from him. The sign or token therefore that the Lord is present rests in the fact that man's own will is taken away. The possibility of that removal is achieved by means of temptations and many other means of regeneration.