We are all Judged by Works and Deeds, not by a Dead Faith

Man is both intellect and will, faith enters into the intellect, but doing according to one's faith must be done from one's own will.  That being faithful is one that requires doing, is shown by the first and foremost commandment:

And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. (Mark 12:29-30)

Unfortunately, many think "faith" is one that involves just the mind, but note, the mind is last in the list.  Faith is implanted in the mind first in time, but ultimately the goal is to do according to love which is the primary objective.  We are to do according to what we compel ourselves from the will is shown by the fact that we are to love not just according to the mind but according to our strength.  This originates from our will, which is signified by the heart, and by our understanding, which is signified by the soul. It is based on love, which does not seek return for one's self.

And inasmuch as we do, so Jesus Christ works within us and we become His image (Rom. 8:29, Eph. 2:10). So many Protestant churches talk about faith alone, misinterpreting the writings of Paul, who in many cases talked about the works of the Jewish rituals, or works done for sake of self merit.  Does this mean we are to do nothing, that works and deeds are irrelevant for salvation? No.  Are works just a "by product" or "proof of faith"?  No again.  Are works "spontaneously produced" by a third party Holy Spirit within us? No again, a covenant is a two way relationship. God will not interfere with our free will, but will act within us when we exercise it. One's will is not a passive observer, but an active participant.  We are the ones who are going to move our hands, and although we do good, we must acknowledge God is the source of all good. When you do, you confirm your faith, and you become grounded in it.

That when you do according to faith, or do what is useful and produce good works, that is when faith becomes grounded in reality.  That this is the case, is shown by the parable of those who hear and do not do build their house on sand, but those who hear the Word and do it build upon a solid foundation:

Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.  (Matt. 7:24-27)

Those who believe, and do not do by turning away from evil and do good, are like the plant that immediately sprang up without establishing roots in much soil, who then falls away when temptation and affliction comes (Matt. 13:5, 20-21). Only the one who hears the word, and does it, becomes a plant that is well grounded and produces fruit (Matt. 13:8, 23).  In scripture, "fruit" is a symbol of good works, which leads to our primary point here:

WE ARE ALL JUDGED BY OUR WORKS AND DEEDS

Surprising as it is, Protestants who misinterpret the writings of Paul have a distinct habit of ignoring or nullifying scripture that specifically states that we are judged by our works and deeds, not by what we happen to believe is true.  Faith is but a means to an end. God cares about our heart, not so much by words of the mouth (Matt. 15:8). In other words, actions speak louder than words.  But, since Protestants keep repeating the same falsehood over and over again, here is a list of verses they will specifically ignore or try to nullify:

Say to the righteous that it shall be good:

For they shall eat the fruit of their doings.

Woe to the wicked! It shall be bad,

For the reward of his hands shall be done to him. (Isa. 3:10-11)

 

I Yahweh investigate the heart,

Proving the kidneys,

So to give each man according to his ways,

According to the fruit of his doings. (Jer. 17:10)

the Great, the Mighty God, Yahweh of hosts, is His name, great in counsel, and mighty in work: because Your eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of Men: to give each man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings (Jer. 32:18-19)

Give to them according to their deeds, 

And according to the evil of their doings:

Give to them according to the work of their hands,

Render to them their reward.

For they do not understand the deeds of Yahweh,

Nor the work of His hands. (Ps. 28:4-5)

 

And to You, Lord, belongs mercy, 

For You repay a man according to his works (Ps. 62:12)

For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds. (Matt. 16:27)

Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good [deeds] to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil [deeds] to a resurrection of judgment.  (John 5:28-29)

who will render to each person according to his deeds (Rom. 2:6)

So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God (Rom. 14:12) 

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad (2 Cor. 5:10; also 1 Cor. 3:8, 13-15)

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary (Gal. 6:7-9) 

And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile (1 Pet. 1:17)

and I will give to each of you according to your works (Rev. 2:23)

And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. ... And they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done (Rev. 20:12-13)

WE RECEIVE ATONEMENT THROUGH REPENTANCE

Where the redeeming work of Jesus Christ comes in is when we put our faith in Him and repent.  Repentance is to turn away from evil, and this is followed up by doing good.  And this is what it means to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance:

Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance (Matt. 3:8)

And one's true character is seen by the fruits that they bear, that is, their actions or deeds.  Actions speak louder than words:

Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. (Matt. 7:15-20)

Image from: Matt. 3:8 by Inkwisely.  But to comment here: the leaves represent the truths of faith, as leaves absorb the light of truth. When we do, and repent, and work on our internal character, those are the roots. What is seen by others are the fruits of the good works. Thus:

he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God (John 3:21) 

And faith is but a means to an end, with love as our purpose or intent: FAITH WORKS THROUGH LOVE (Gal. 5:6). And those are the three pillars of the church: love, faith and works. Take one away, and it becomes a dead faith (see 1 Cor. 13:2, James 2:17). And yet, we are to acknowledge that all good comes from God alone (Ps. 16:2). 

The Precognitive Fiction of the Book of Doors

THE MYSTERY OF PRECOGNITIVE FICTION

In 2013 I posted a blog concerning "precognitive fiction" which discussed some uncanny coincidences where a work of fiction would later remarkably predict future events (see Precognitive Fictional Novels, and Synchronicity). In that blog I mentioned how the novel Futility predicted events concerning the sinking of the Titanic. Philip K. Dick, a famous science fiction author, wrote a fictional work concerning a character named Kathy who was 19 years old in a relationship with a policeman. The same year after he finished his novel, he met a woman named Kathy who was also 19 years old who was in a relationship with a policeman. There are many examples which go beyond just a simple coincidence. In that blog, I had also mentioned the movie Stranger than Fiction (2006), which is about an IRS agent who begins to hear the voice of a narrator who begins to predict his impending death, and he eventually discovers he is hearing the thoughts of an author who has writer's block in trying to determine how he his going to die:

THE FICTIONAL NOVEL OF THE BOOK OF DOORS

Recently someone suggested I should look into audio books when on long road trips. All one needs is a library card, and a mobile audio app such as Libby or Hoopla. A couple of weeks ago I had to get a library card to check out a book for another person, and then decided to try it. Between work and writing, audio books would be a nice way to pass the time. I looked up fantasy novels, the first one I found was Babel by R.F. Kuang. Despite good reviews it did not hold my attention. I next randomly found another fantasy novel, The Book of Doors, by Gareth Brown.

As any reader can see from blog comments and books that I have written, my name is Theodore D. Webber (in 2025 I recently issued a new edition of The Numerical Poetry of the Psalms).  In 2023 I had left the New Jersey/New York area, and in 2025 I began a temporary apartment lease where I worked with a leasing agent, a young woman named Cassidy. For the past few months I have been working remotely in the business center across the lobby where Cassidy would be at her desk for the apartment. There is a coffee machine in the lobby which I would use while there, and Cassidy would periodically maintain it when I indicated it was broken. There is also a cold brew coffee canister, which at one time exploded and doused her in cold coffee while she was trying to fix it.

And as I listened to the audio book The Book of Doors, I just could not believe what I was hearing. It begins with a young woman named Cassie working at a bookshop, which also has a coffee counter. An elderly man named John Webber would frequently visit the bookshop to sit at a table across from Cassie who would periodically serve him coffee. This takes place in New York in the year 2022, the same year I was still in the New York area. Midway through the book it is revealed that Cassie's actual given name is Cassidy. At another point in time Cassie encounters Mr. Webber who finds her a place to stay in the same apartment complex, reversing the roles of the real Mr. Webber and the real Cassidy. Mr. Webber is a pianist and composer, and while I am neither, I am named after my grandfather Theodore Webber who was both a pianist and composer. We are both descendants of one John Webber.

Mr. Webber is a minor side character who appears at a key moment at the beginning and end of the book.  Much to Cassie's dismay (and to my own personal disappointment), Mr. Webber immediately dies in the first chapter in the book store. Despite not knowing Mr. Webber so well, Cassie soon discovers that Mr. Webber left behind a marvelous gift for her: a strange magical book called The Book of Doors. Cassie soon discovers that the book gave her the power to travel to other destinations, any destination, by simply opening a door while holding the book. Moreover it had another power: she could travel to other destinations in the past, as well as the future.

This is where it gets interesting. Here is what one book cover of The Book of Doors looks like (see Gareth Brown Books - The Book of Doors):

And here is a book I published back in 2012, containing all of the major theological works of Emanuel Swedenborg:

I discuss the work here: The complete works of Emanuel Swedenborg - on your tablet or smartphone which you can find on Amazon here: The Divine Revelation of the New Jerusalem: Expanded Edition. In his work Emanuel Swedenborg made use of a more accurate version of the Bible at the time, and based on that I made use of modern research to document mistranslations in the book of Psalms in the work, The Mistranslations of the Psalms:

 

And here we have a woman walking through a magical doorway in the Bible. It is glowing with multiple colors which is exactly what happens to the book of doors in the fictional novel when someone uses it.

Between The Book of Doors and The Divine Revelation of the New Jerusalem, both covers contain a spiral staircase with a woman. Both have a background of stars. In the case of The Book of Doors, the spiral staircase refers to a secret staircase at the top of which was a secret library containing a library of magical books. In the case of The Divine Revelation of the New Jerusalem, the cover is from a painting by William Blake called Jacob's Ladder, depicting angels ascending and descending on a stairway to heaven. And The Divine Revelation of the New Jerusalem is not just one book, but a whole library of books.

Coincidence? Even if the author did see my work online, which I doubt, it is just not possible he could have known about my personal circumstances as they occurred after the book was published. The focus and subject matter of his work is completely different: it is just a fantasy novel.

THE REAL "BOOK OF DOORS"?

So is there any other connection between this fictional "Book of Doors" and the work The Divine Revelation of the New Jerusalem?  In one scene of The Book of Doors, there is time travel back to around the year 2012 where Cassie begins a search to find The Book of Doors. And The Divine Revelation of the New Jerusalem was published in the year 2012. As said above, the cover of the work is a depiction of Jacob's ladder, a staircase to heaven that the patriarch Jacob saw in a dream. When he awoke from the dream, he said this:

And Jacob awoke from his sleep, and he said, Surely Yahweh is in this place; and I did not know it.  And he was afraid, and said, How fearsome is this place! This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven (Gen. 28:16-17).

And a gate is of course a door. The works in The Divine Revelation of the New Jerusalem describe a system of symbolism known as "correspondences" embedded in the Bible which connects our reality with heaven, and it is through this symbolism that communication with heaven is opened. The author, Swedenborg, experienced 27 years of open communication with the spiritual world of heaven and described the afterlife in detail. And he was shown that a "door" is a symbol of open communication:

"it must be told whence it is that a door and a door post signify communication and conjunction. Angels and spirits have habitations which appear quite like those which are in the world, and, what is an arcanum [secret], all things and each seen in their habitations are significative of spiritual things; they are indeed the outflow of the spiritual things which are in heaven and hence in their minds. Communications of truth with good are there presented by doors, and conjunctions by door posts... That this is the case, man at this day, especially if a merely natural man, cannot believe, because such things are not manifest to the senses of the body. Nevertheless that such things were seen by the prophets when their interiors were open into heaven, is evident from the Word. They have also been perceived and seen by me a thousand times. I have moreover frequently heard them say that the doors of their apartments were open when their thoughts were in communication with me, and that they were closed when they were not in communication." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 8989.3, in The Divine Revelation of the New Jerusalem) 

And indeed, when Swedenborg discusses the symbolism of the angels descending and ascending upon the stairway to heaven in Jacob's dream, it signifies communication and conjunction with heaven. Thus the entire cover of the work can simply be represented by a door.

In the novel the book of doors is a "key" to a secret library of books. This book, as well as other books with different powers, allows the holder to make their idea become manifest in reality.  In one scene the origin of the magical books is explained as the manifestation of the thoughts of a key character, which then later became the physical book in our world. But in most of these books the contents are seen as useless incomprehensible scribbles. The main topic in in The Divine Revelation of the New Jerusalem describes how high level heavenly ideas descended into the minds of prophets and was made manifest in a beautiful series of symbolic correspondences which we now know as the Bible. But to many, the meaning of most of the contents is kept hidden. The revelations given to Emanuel Swedenborg explains the hidden spiritual sense of the Bible, and this revelation is the Second Coming, the manifestation of the Word which had manifested itself in the flesh in the First Coming. 

THE REAL "MR. WEBBER"?

Life is full of surprises, and this is not the first time someone upstairs has played such an odd joke on me. The other experience is so unbelievable I have only hinted at it in a few blog posts here and there, and somehow one reader of this blog was able to figure some of it out and gave me some things to investigate in a rather interesting email. While certain parts of The Book of Doors are unnecessary or distracting to the main plot of the book itself, for me personally the ending involving Mr. Webber was a bit touching. I would like to believe that I also could give something to others, and to me there is nothing more important than the heavenly revelations as described in The Divine Revelation of the New Jerusalem. Other versions of these writings can be found here online: The Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. My hope is other readers will find it.

After I listened to the audio book of The Book of Doors, I searched online about the book to recall certain details. Mr. Webber appears at the beginning and end of the book, and even though he is a minor character I saw online that some fans have speculated that perhaps Mr. Webber is not who he seem to be, and has some other hidden identity which would give the book an interesting plot twist. A hint of that comes from the book Mr. Webber reads, The Count of Monte Cristo, which is based on someone who assumes an alternate identity, who leaves his old life behind due to a betrayal and begins a new one. At that observation I just had to laugh.

If any readers of the The Book of Doors are still seeking a plot twist concerning the identity of Mr. Webber, this blog post should give them, as well as the author, another theory to think about. But most will probably not even believe this. This would align perfectly with the name Cassidy, as it comes from the Greek priestess Cassandra. Cassandra was fated by Apollo to utter prophecies, but who was never to be believed.

The Spiritual Meaning of the Feast of Tabernacles, or Succoth

The Jewish holiday of Succoth is approaching, which is also widely called the Feast of Tabernacles.  There are three main religious festivals in the Jewish religion: Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles.  All of these Jewish rituals have a symbolic spiritual meaning.  It is well known in Christianity that the Passover ritual was fulfilled on Easter, as Jesus was crucified on the Passover.  As a deeper meaning, the deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt signifies deliverance from the bondage of hell.  What is not so well known is that between heaven and hell there is a middle region in the spiritual world where both the good and evil dwell for a time before being judged, and in this state those who are good may suffer for a time due to falsehoods they had adopted as true and are thus held back for a time.  These souls who were trapped were delivered and released and ascended to heaven, which took place at the time of Jesus' death and resurrection. This is the general spiritual meaning of the Exodus, passing through the Red Sea, the wandering in the wilderness, and entry into the Promised Land.

The next Jewish feast, which always takes place 50 days after Passover, is the feast of firstfruits where an offering of the firstfruits of the harvest was given to Jehovah. What is not so commonly known about the feast of firstfruits is this feast actually commemorates the day in which Moses revealed the 10 commandments. I accidentally discovered this when I investigated Biblical chronology many years ago, and it is also presented on the web site The Exodus Route: Travel times, distances, rates of travel, days of the week - 

The web site is actually a good reference on research that indicates that Mt. Sinai is actually in western Saudi Arabia, not in the Sinai peninsula.  But returning to the topic at hand, in Christianity the feast of firstfruits was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost, where the gift of the Holy Spirit was given to the apostles and the first followers of Jesus Christ.  Before the 10 commandments were written on tablets of stone, and in Christianity the 10 commandments are written on our hearts.

We now reach the feast of Tabernacles, or Succoth, in which the Israelites were commanded to make temporary shelters to commemorate the time they dwelt in temporary shelters while traveling to the land of Canaan.  This feast happens in the fall in September-October, depending on the lunar calendar. It just so happens that it was some time in the fall that the Israelites reached the land of Canaan, but of instead of entering immediately they spied out the land for another 40 days, and could not enter. My guess is that it may have been intended for a historical event to take place on the feast of Tabernacles, but since the Israelites delayed and could not enter for another 40 years this did not happen. By careful study of the Gospels, it is now known that Jesus was most probably born on the feast of the Tabernacles in the fall, and not on December 25 as commonly celebrated now.  Thus John wrote:

The word for "dwelling" here means literally to tent or encamp. And later Jesus would refer to His body as a temple.  For this see Was the Birth of our Messiah on the Feast of Tabernacles?

SO WHAT IS THE SPIRITUAL MEANING OF ALL THIS?

So far, everything I have said is from a literal, historical and prophetic perspective.  But scripture has a deeper spiritual meaning: these three Jewish festivals represent three stages in our spiritual development, and understanding the spiritual meaning will allow us to immediately apply it to our lives. Hidden behind the literal stories of scripture there is a deeper spiritual meaning, and this is what in fact makes scripture Divinely inspired, for understanding it and applying it allows us to connect more directly with heaven.  To obtain a deeper understanding, I will now quote from Emanuel Swedenborg on the spiritual meaning of these three Jewish festivals in his commentary on Exodus 23:14-16:

"...by the feast of unleavened bread [Passover] is signified purification from falsities, by the feast of harvest [feast of firstfruits, or Pentecost] the implanting of truth in good, and by the feast of ingathering [Succoth, or Feast of Tabernacles] the implanting of good thence derived, and thus full deliverance from damnation; for, when a man has been purified from falsities and then introduced by truths into good, and at length when he is in good, he is then in heaven with the Lord, and consequently is then fully liberated. The successive steps of deliverance from damnation are as the successive steps of regeneration, inasmuch as regeneration is deliverance from hell and introduction into heaven by the Lord; for the man who is being regenerated is first purified from falsities, then the truths of faith are implanted with him in the good of charity, and lastly this good itself is implanted, and this being done the man is regenerated, and is then in heaven with the Lord. Wherefore by the three feasts in the year was also signified the worship of the Lord and thanksgiving on account of regeneration. Inasmuch as these feasts were instituted for the perpetual remembrance of those things, therefore it is said worship and rendering of thanks permanent, for the chief things of worship are to remain in continuance. The things which remain in continuance are those which are not only inscribed on the memory, but are also inscribed on the life itself, and they are then said to reign universally with the man" (Heavenly Arcana, n. 9286.1-2)

So to sum up, these three feasts describe three steps of spiritual regeneration that we should all follow:

1. Repentance, or purification from falsehoods and evils;
2. Living by the truth, by learning and then living by it;
3. Doing good out of love
   

So spiritual regeneration is not a one time conversion, it is in fact a life long process.  The first and second stages are represented in Christianity by baptism, and the final stage is represented by communion or the Eucharist. For it is in communion that we acknowledge that all good and truth are from the Lord, which is represented by us partaking in the bread as His body and the wine as His blood. And that is how true salvation takes place, it is a process that we can all immediately apply to our lives, at the end of which God dwells within us, we become a Tabernacle for the Holy Spirit in love and truth.