571. Chapter 10: Reformation and Regeneration

Now that repentance has been treated, the next topic in order is our reformation and regeneration. These two both follow our repentance and are moved forward by it.

There are two states that we all inevitably enter into and go through if we are to turn from an earthly person into a spiritual person. The first state is called reformation, the second is called regeneration. In the first state we look from our earthly self toward having a spiritual self; being spiritual is what we long for. In the second state we become someone who is both spiritual and earthly. The first state is brought about by truths (these have to be truths related to faith); through these truths we aim to develop goodwill. The second state is brought about by good actions that come from goodwill; through these actions we come [more deeply] into truths related to faith.

To put it another way, the first state is a state of thought that occurs in our intellect; the second state is a state of love that occurs in our will. As the second state begins and progresses, a change takes place in our minds. There is a reversal, because then the love in our will flows into our intellect and leads and drives it to think in agreement and harmony with what we love. As good actions that come from love take on a primary role, and the truths related to faith are relegated to a secondary role, we become spiritual and are a new creation [2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15]. Then our actions come from goodwill and our words come from faith; we develop a sense of the goodness that comes from goodwill and a perception of the truth that is related to faith; and we are in the Lord and in a state of peace. In brief, we are reborn.

[2] If we begin the first state while we are in this world, we can be brought into the second state after we die. If we do not begin the first state while we are in this world, we cannot be brought into the second state or be reborn after we die.

These two states can be compared to the increase of light and heat that occurs as the day progresses in springtime. The first state is like the early light before dawn, when the rooster crows. The second state is like the dawn and the morning. The further development within the second state is like the increase of light and heat as the day progresses toward noon.

These two states can also be compared with the growth of grain crops. In the first stage they are like grass; after that they develop ears or fruiting spikes; and finally the grain itself grows within those structures.

These two states can also be compared with the growth of a tree. It begins as a sprout growing out of a seed in the ground. This then becomes a shoot. Then branches form and are adorned with leaves. Then the tree blossoms and fruit begins to grow in the heart of the flowers. As the fruit grows and develops, it produces new seeds, which are in effect the tree's offspring.

The first state, the state of reformation, can be compared to the state of a silkworm when it draws silky threads out of itself and wraps itself in them. After all its hard work [of transformation], it becomes able to fly in the air and feeds no longer on leaves as before but on the nectar of flowers.

685. These and the foregoing remarks enable us to see that the three purposes of baptism combine into one, just as do the first cause, the intermediate or efficient cause, and the last cause or the effect, which is the real end in view for the sake of which the others exist. The first purpose is for a person to be named a Christian; the second is what follows from this, so that he may get to know and acknowledge the Lord, the Redeemer, Regenerator and Saviour; the third is so that he may be regenerated by the Lord, and when this happens, he is redeemed and saved. Since these three purposes follow one succeeding the other and combine in the last, so that angels think of them together as one, then when baptism is performed, read about in the Word or mentioned, the angels present understand not baptism, but regeneration. So these words of the Lord:

He who believes and is baptised will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned, Mark 16:16.

are understood by the angels in heaven as meaning that the person who acknowledges the Lord and is regenerated is saved.

[2] This too is the reason why baptism is called by the Christian churches on earth the washing of regeneration. The Christian ought therefore to know that one who does not believe in the Lord cannot be regenerated, despite being baptised. Baptism without faith in the Lord is of no avail; see above in this chapter, 673. Every Christian ought to be fully aware that baptism involves purification from evils and so regeneration, for when he is baptised as an infant, the priest makes the sign of the cross with his finger on his forehead and chest as a token of the Lord, and then turning to the godparents asks whether he renounces the devil and all his works, and whether he accepts the faith. To which the godparents answer in place of the child: 'Yes, indeed.' The renouncing of the devil, that is, of the evils which come from hell, and faith in the Lord, bring about regeneration.