The Gist of Swedenborg | Page 5

of self and the love of the world are infernal
loves, and yet man has been able to come into them, and thus to ruin
will and understanding in him, is as follows: By creation the love of
self and the love of the world are heavenly loves; for they are loves of

the natural man serving his spiritual loves, as a foundation does a house.
From the love of self and the world, a man wishes well by his body,
desires food, clothing and habitation, takes thought for his household,
seeks occupation to be useful, wishes also for obedience's sake to be
honored according to the dignity of the thing he does, and to be
delighted and recreated by the pleasures of the world;--yet all this for
the sake of the end, which must be use. By this a man is in position to
serve the Lord and to serve the neighbor. But when there is no love of
serving the Lord and the neighbor, but only a love of serving oneself at
the world's hands, then from being heavenly that love becomes infernal,
for it causes a man to sink mind and character in his _proprium_, or
what is his own, which in itself is the whole of evil.
--_Divine Love and Wisdom, n._ 396
THE NEED FOR SELF-ACTION
No one can cleanse himself of evils by his own power and abilities; but
neither can this be done without the power and abilities of the man,
used as his own. If this strength were not to all appearance his own, no
one would be able to fight against the flesh and its lusts, which,
nevertheless, is enjoined upon all men. He would not think of combat.
Because man is a rational being, he must resist evils from the power
and the abilities given him by the Lord, which appear to him as his own;
an appearance that is granted for the sake of regeneration, imputation,
conjunction, and salvation.
--_True Christian Religion, n._ 438

THE WARFARE OF REGENERATION
"Blessed be the Lord my strength, Who teacheth my hands to war, And
my fingers to fight: My goodness, and my fortress; My high tower and
my deliverer; My shield, and He in whom I trust; Who subdueth my
people under me."
--_Psalm,_ CXLIV, 1, 2
"TO HIM THAT OVERCOMETH"
Because man is reformed by conflicts with the evils of his flesh and by
victories over them, the Son of Man says to each of the seven Churches,
that He will give gifts "to him that overcometh."
--_True Christian Religion, n._ 610
Without moral struggle no one is regenerated, and many spiritual

wrestlings succeed one after another. For, inasmuch as regeneration has
for its end that the life of the old man may die and the new and
heavenly life be implanted, there will unfailingly be combat. The life of
the old man resists and is unwilling to be extinguished, and the life of
the new man cannot enter, except where the life of the old has been
extinguished. From this it is plain that there is combat, and ardent
combat, because for life.
--_Arcana Coelestia, n._ 8403
REPENTANCE AND THE REMISSION OF SINS
He who would be saved, must confess his sins, and do repentance. To
confess sins is to know evils, to see them in oneself, to acknowledge
them, to make oneself guilty and condemn oneself on account of them.
Done before God, this is to confess sins. To do repentance is to desist
from sins after one has thus confessed them and from a humble heart
has besought forgiveness, and then to live a new life according to the
precepts of charity and faith.
He who merely acknowledges generally that he is a sinner, making
himself guilty of all evils, without examining himself,--that is, without
seeing his sins,--makes a confession but not the confession of
repentance. Inasmuch as he does not know his evils, he lives as before.
One who lives the life of charity and faith does repentance daily. He
reflects upon the evils in him, acknowledges them, guards against them,
and beseeches the Lord for help. For of oneself one continually lapses
toward evil; but he is continually raised up by the Lord and led to good.
Repentance of the mouth and not of the life is not repentance. Nor are
sins pardoned on repentance of the mouth, but on repentance of the life.
Sins are constantly pardoned man by the Lord, for He is mercy itself;
but still they adhere to man, however he supposes they have been
remitted. Nor are they removed from him save by a life according to
the precepts of true faith. So far as he lives according to these precepts,
sins are removed; and so far as they are removed, so