8363. 'And keep all His statutes' means a life in keeping with the truths of faith, which are exterior aspects of the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'keeping' too as leading a life; and from the meaning of 'statutes' as the outward truths of the Word, dealt with in 3382, 8357, thus the truths of faith that are exterior aspects of the Church. Quite a number of places in the Word mention statutes and commandments, and when one is spoken of along with the other, 'statute' means an outward aspect of the Church and 'commandment' an inward aspect of it.

5726. Since death is due entirely to sin, and sin consists in everything contrary to Divine order, evil therefore closes the tiniest and completely invisible blood vessels out of which the immediately larger, yet also invisible, vessels are constructed. For the tiniest and completely invisible vessels extend into a person's interiors. This is where the first and innermost obstruction develops and where the first and innermost impairment enters the blood. As this impairment grows it causes sickness, and at length death. But if it were the case that the person was leading a good life his interiors would lie open into heaven, and through heaven towards the Lord, and so too would his tiniest invisible vascula (the mere traces of first threads may by virtue of correspondence be called vascula). If this were so man would not know any sickness and would grow weak only as he approached extreme old age, until he became a young child again, but now a young child with wisdom. And when his body was no longer able to serve his internal man, which is his spirit, he would pass, without knowing any sickness, from his earthly body into a body such as angels possess, and so would pass from the world directly into heaven.