The Prophecy of the Little Horn or the Antichrist

True Christianity is not just belief alone, but living one's life according to the commandments. This is made very clear throughout scripture. Here I will just quote two statements of Jesus:

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (Matt. 7:24-27

And again:

"If you love me, you will keep my commandments" (John 14:15)

Thus the Protestant teaching that teaches one is justified by faith alone is a perversion, based on a distortion of Paul's letters.  For by "works" Paul was not talking about works of doing what is good, but instead he was talking about the works of Jewish ritual law. As Jewish ritual laws were representations intended to represent the internal spiritual truths of Christianity, they were no longer necessary to be observed.

In order to get around scriptural passages that are contrary to justification by faith alone, the next falsehood that is taught is that the will of man is "passive" and that works arise "spontaneously" as "fruits of the Spirit." That the will of man is not passive, that works are not spontaneous, is proven by scripture:

"And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” (Luke 10:25-27)

The most important commandment is love of God, and second to that is love of the neighbor. This involves the heart, the soul, the mind and all of one's strength. The heart is one's will, the soul is one's life, the mind is one's thoughts, and all of one's strength is with all of one's effort. It is a covenant relationship - inasmuch as man does his part, God will do His part by dwelling within our heart.

THE PROPHECY OF THE LITTLE HORN OF DANIEL

The doctrine of justification by faith alone is not the foundation of True Christianity; such a doctrine destroys and perverts the foundation of Christianity. It was unknown until the 16th century. This was foretold in end time prophecies in the books of Daniel and Revelation which speak of the perversion and fall of the Christian church. The substitute false church that is setup in its place is the Antichrist, for the teachings are a falsehood that are opposed to the essence of True Christianity.

There are two particular prophecies of Daniel which speaks of a "little horn" that arises at the end times, which are set forth in Daniel chapters 7 and 8. The popular interpretation of the "little horn" is one of a future Antichrist that arises in Europe, since in the literal interpretation of the prophecy it speaks of kingdoms that arise after the fall of the Roman Empire. But the spiritual interpretation is this: the little horn is the false teachings of Protestant doctrine that arise after the fall in power of not the Roman Empire, but that of the Roman Catholic Church. This is clearly set forth in the revelations given to Swedenborg for the doctrines of the New Church. Here is Swedenborg's explanation of Daniel chapter 7:

"Here in the internal sense the perverted state of the church is treated of. The things which were here seen by Daniel, as the beast, the teeth of iron, the horn in which were eyes, and the horns that spoke, and those which made war with the saints, and that which spoke against the Most High, signify the state of falsity and of heresies within the church. That horns signify falsity powerful and prevailing, may be evident only from this, that eyes are attributed to them, that is, understanding (n. 2701); and that they spoke, and even against the Most High. By the kingdoms and kings are not signified kingdoms and kings, but the teachings of falsity; as may be evident from their signification in the Word, as the teachings of truth, and in the opposite sense the teachings of falsity (see n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 2547)." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2832.13)

The "little horn" is explained further in this passage from Apocalypse Explained - it is called a horn from power, and it is "little" because so few are able to see its falsehood:

"Here evidently "horns" means the falsities that destroy the truths of the church, or the power of falsities against truths; "the beast coming up out of the sea" signifies the love of self out of which spring all evils; here the love of ruling over heaven and earth, to which things holy serve as means; it is such a love that is meant by "Babylon" in the Apocalypse. This beast was seen "coming up out of the sea," because the "sea" signifies the natural man separated from the spiritual; for the natural man is then of such a character that he desires nothing so much as to have dominion over all, and to confirm that dominion by the sense of the letter of the Word. "The ten horns" signify falsities of every kind, for "ten" means all; therefore it is further said, that "the ten horns are ten kings," for "kings" signify truths, and in a contrary sense, as here, falsities. "The little horn that came up among them, before which three of the former horns were plucked up by the roots," signifies the complete perversion of the Word by the application of the sense of its letter to confirm the love of dominion. This horn is called "little," because it does not appear that the Word is perverted; and what does not appear before the sight of man's spirit, or before his understanding, is regarded either as nothing, or as little. In the spiritual world such is the appearance of things that are apprehended by a few only. "The three horns that were plucked up by the roots before it," signify the truths of the Word there that have been thus destroyed by falsifications; these truths are also signified by the "three kings" that were humbled by the horn, "three" not meaning three, but what is full, thus that truths were completely destroyed. As that "horn" signifies the perversion of the Word in respect to the sense of its letter, and as this sense appears before the eyes of men as if it were to be understood thus and not otherwise, and therefore not to be gainsaid by any one, it is said of this horn, "that in it there were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things," "eyes" signify understanding, and "eyes like the eyes of a man" an understanding as if of truth, and "mouth" signifies thought and speech from that understanding. From this it can now be seen what is meant by all and by each of the particulars here mentioned; as by "the beast coming up out of the sea, who had ten horns and teeth of iron, and devoured and brake in pieces;" by "the little horn that came up among them, before which three of the horns were plucked up by the roots, in which were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things;" also by "it made war with the saints and prevailed against them," and "it spake words against the Most High;" and "the horns were so many kings."" (Apocalypse Explained, n. 316.15)

For Daniel chapter 8, Swedenborg gets more specific: the little horn refers to those who separate faith from charity:

""out of one of them came forth a little horn" signifies justification by faith, for this is born of the principle of faith alone; it is said to be "little" because it does not appear as a falsity. That this horn "grew exceedingly towards the south, and towards the east, and towards beauty, and grew even to the host of the heavens, and cast down some of the host to the earth, and trampled upon them," signifies that it destroyed all the truths and goods of the church; "the south" meaning where truth is in the light, "the east" and "beauty" where good is in clearness through truth, "the host of the heavens" all truths and goods of heavens and the church; "to cast down the host to the earth, and to trample upon them," signifies to destroy utterly; that "even to the prince of the host it magnified itself," and that "the dwelling place of his sanctuary was cast down," signifies the denial of the Lord's Divine Human, and the consequent vastation of the church; "the prince of the host" is the Lord in respect to the Divine Human, because from that proceed all the truths and goods that constitute the church; "the dwelling place of the sanctuary" is the church where these are; this plainly means the truths destroyed by falsities, for it is said, "it cast down truth to the earth."" (Apocalypse Explained, n. 316.16)

This is repeated again in more detail in the work Doctrine of Faith (found in Doctrines of the New Jerusalem as well as The Divine Revelation of the New Jerusalem) in which it is explain that following the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, a new revelation of Christianity would be given, described as the "morning" after a period where the sanctuary (the church) is trampled down:

"The ram which had the two high horns, of which the higher came up last, signifies those who are in faith coming from charity. His pushing with the horn westward, and northward, and southward, signifies the dispersion of evil and falsity. That he made himself great, signifies increase. The he-goat which came from the west, on the face of the whole earth, signifies those who are in faith separate from charity, and the invasion of the church by them; the west denotes the evil of the natural man. Which had a horn between his eyes, signifies his own intelligence: his running at the ram in the fury of his power, signifies that he fought vehemently against charity and its faith: his breaking his two horns, throwing him to the ground, and stamping upon him, signifies that he wholly dispersed both charity and faith; for he who disperses the one disperses the other also, since they that the great horn of the he-goat was broken, signifies the non-appearance of his own intelligence: the coming-up of four horns in its place, signifies applications of the sense of the letter of the Word in confirmation: the coming forth of a little horn from one of them, signifies reasoning that no one can fulfil the Law, and do good of himself: the growth of that horn toward the south, toward the east, and toward what was pleasant, signifies its rising-up against all things of the church: and even to the host of the heavens, and it cast down unto the earth [some] from the host and from the stars, and it trampled them, signifies that so were destroyed all the cognitions of good and of truth, which belonged to charity and to faith. That he raised himself up even to the prince of the host, and from him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the dwelling-place of his sanctuary was cast down, signifies that thus he laid desolate all things belonging to the worship of the Lord and to His church: that he cast the truth to the ground, signifies that he falsified the truths of the Word. By the evening, the morning, when the holy place will be justified, is signified the end of that church, and the beginning of a new one." (Doctrine of Faith, n. 67)

For a further assessment of the prophecies in Revelation related to the book of Daniel, see The Prophecy of the Dragon, the Beast, and the False Prophet and The Spiritual Meaning of the Woman of the Apocalypse.

WHAT OF OTHER TRADITIONAL INTERPRETATIONS?

The traditional interpretation of the prophecies of Daniel is that they successively describe different kingdoms of the Middle East that ruled over Judea: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, the Roman Empire, and then a future kingdom of 10 kings. Prophecy has a dual nature, sometimes a short term literal fulfillment comes to pass to signify a larger spiritual event. For an example of this, see The Prophecy of Daniel 11-12 Explained. Historical events are thus used to symbolically represent the internal spiritual states of not only the Jewish church, but of the Christian church that followed it:

"The subject here is the state of the church in general, not only the state of the Jewish Church, but also that of the following, which is the Christian Church; for the Word of the Lord is universal. The he-goat of the goats, in respect to the Jewish Church, signifies those who made nothing of internal truths, but accepted external truths so far as they favored their loves, which were that they might be the greatest and the wealthiest. For this reason they recognized the Christ, or Messiah, Whom they were expecting, simply as a king, who would exalt them above all the nations and peoples in the whole world, and would make these subject to them as vilest slaves: this was the source of their love for Him. They did not at all know what love toward the neighbor was, except that it was conjunction through participation in such honor, and by gain.
"But the he-goat of the goats in respect to the Christian Church signifies those who are in external truths from enjoyments, that is, who are in faith separate; for these also care nothing for internal truths; and if they teach them, it is only that they may thereby win reputation, be exalted to honors, and acquire gain. These are the enjoyments which are in their hearts while truths are in their mouth. Moreover by sinister interpretations they force the truths which belong to genuine faith, to favor their loves. It is plain from this what is signified in the internal sense by the above words in Daniel — namely, that by a he-goat of the goats are signified those who are in faith separate." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 4769.2-3)

In the work Heavenly Arcana, the symbolism of scripture is explained in more detail, proving that the horn that arises out of the he-goat are those who create falsehoods out of the external literal sense of the Word. However instead of trusting what is taught in many churches, read the scriptures for yourselves. For the Antichrist does not come from outside the Christian Church, it comes from within the church, and is worshiped as what is holy - this is the "abomination of desolation" which stands "within the holy place" (Matt. 24:15). That the end times are here, one can easily see in the decline of Christianity in society, as well as its loss in influence over the ideas that are accepted as true. This is because of the inherent falsehoods within some teachings that have destroyed the truths from within. But the good news here is there is a new revelation given, which is the doctrines of the New Church, and this revelation is the fulfillment of the Second Coming as it reveals the internal spiritual sense of the Word.

FOR FURTHER READING:

The Spiritual Meaning of Daniel's Prophecy of the Statue of Nebuchadnezzar

The Spiritual Meaning of the Abomination of Desolation

The Prophecy of the Abomination of Desolation (part 1)

The Prophecy of the Abomination of Desolation (part 2)

The Prophecy of the Last Judgment

The Prophecy of Babylon and the Writing on the Wall

The New Church Prophecy of the 2300 Days, or the Cleansing of the Sanctuary

Is the Second Coming a Physical Event or Spiritual Event?

Truth by Religious Tradition & Authority vs. Spiritual Truth

Who or what is the source of truth? Recently it has become apparent that some basic teachings are in order here. The revelations of the New Church are very comprehensive and wide ranging, and can be easily applied to one's spiritual life and allow one to reach a higher understanding.

THE THREE LEVELS OF TRUTH

In Christianity, it should be acknowledged that all source of truth is from the Lord, and that all truth and doctrine should be drawn from scripture.  There are three levels of truth:

1. Knowledges of the truth.
2. Rational truth, which are teachings confirmed by reason when one has come of age.
3. Spiritual or intellectual truth, an inward perception of what is truth.

Swedenborg describes these levels of truth as follows:

"Truth learned is one thing, rational truth is another thing, and intellectual truth is another; and these succeed one another. Truth learned belongs to knowledge; rational truth is truth learned, confirmed by reason; intellectual truth is conjoined with internal perception that a thing is so." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 1496)

Truth learned, or rational truth, only becomes a spiritual truth when one starts to live by them. This is so, because the source of all truth is the Divine good, and all truth leads to this:

"With those who are first learning [the truths of faith] they are only knowledges. Afterward if they are held in holy veneration, they reach further and become truths of the church. But when such are affected by them and live according to them, then they become spiritual truths; for good of love and of charity, which is solely from the spiritual world, then imbues them and causes them to be living, since to be affected by them and to live according to them is from that good." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 5951)

These three levels of truth correspond to the higher and lower parts of the mind. Although we are first introduced to a subject through knowledge, knowledge is the lowest level of truth. The highest level of truth is in the intellectual mind, and it is here where there is Divine influx into each soul:

"Intellectual truth is distinguished from rational truth, and this from truth of knowledge, as the internal, the intermediate, and the external. Intellectual truth is internal, rational truth is intermediate, truth of knowledge is external. These are most distinct from each other, because one is more internal than another. With any man whatever, intellectual truth, which is internal, or in his inmost, is not the man's, but is the Lord's in the man. From this the Lord flows into the rational, where truth first appears as man's; and through the rational into the faculty of knowing; from which it is evident that a man can by no means think from intellectual truth as of himself, but from rational truth and truth of knowledge, because these appear as his." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 1904.3)

NO RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY IS TRUTH IN ITSELF

Although one may be first introduced to Christian truths by religious authorities, or by ritual or tradition, or by one's parents, truth learned by authority is only an introduction. Any religious tradition, any religious authority, any person which serves to introduce knowledges of truth is an instrument or means, but is not a source of truth in itself:

"It is known that a man learns many things in infancy and childhood for the sole use that by them as means he may learn those that are more useful, and successively by these such as are still more useful, till at length he learns those of eternal life; and when he learns these, the former are nearly obliterated. In like manner when a man is being born anew by the Lord, he is led by various affections for good and truth, which are not affections for genuine good and truth, but only useful for apprehending them, and then for being imbued with them; and when he is imbued with these, the former are then given to oblivion and left behind, because they had served only as means." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 3982.2)

There is no such thing as a truth that become a truth because a religious authority says so. This is a fallacy known as argument of authority. It is only but a means of introduction. Most people will only go as far as learning from an authority, and go no further. But this is just the beginning. For whatever one has learned, one should question and determine if it is true or not:

"First the doctrinals of the church are to be learned, and then exploration to be made from the Word whether they are true; for they are not true because the heads of the church have said so and their followers confirm it, inasmuch as thus the doctrinals of all churches and religions would have to be called true, merely according to country and birth. Thus not only the doctrinals of the Papists and likewise of the Quakers would be true, but also those of the Jews and even of the Mohammedans, because their leaders have said so and their followers confirm it. From this it is plain that the Word is to be searched and it is to be seen there whether they are true. When this is done from affection for truth, then man is enlightened by the Lord so as to apperceive, without knowing whence, what is true, and he is confirmed in it according to the good in which he is. If these truths disagree with the doctrinals, let him take heed not to disturb the church.
"Afterward when he is confirmed and thus in an affirmative mind from the Word that they are truths of faith, it is then allowable for him to confirm them by all the knowledges that he possesses, of whatsoever name and nature; for then, because affirmation reigns universally, he accepts the knowledges which are in agreement, and rejects those which by reason of the fallacies that they contain are in disagreement. By means of knowledges faith is corroborated. Wherefore it is denied to no one to search the Scriptures from a desire for knowing whether the doctrinals of the church within which he was born, are true, for otherwise he can in no way be enlightened. Neither is it to be denied to him afterward to strengthen himself by means of knowledges, but he may not do it before. This is the way and the only way of conjoining the truths of faith with knowledges — not only with the knowledges of the church, but also with any knowledges whatever. Yet very few at this day proceed in this way; for most persons who read the Word do not read it from an affection for truth, but from an affection for confirming therefrom the doctrinals of the church within which they were born, whatsoever they be." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 6047.2-3)

I emphasize the last point, because most who read scripture do so to confirm the doctrine they already believe in. Very few are open to questioning what they believe is true or not, and to search the scripture for the truth. One should do so after achieving a certain sense of affirmation to become spiritual. Those who do not entertain doubts, but these doubts are admitted and mere excuses because doubts originate from the evils of life (Heavenly Arcana, n.2689.3-4).

VARIOUS RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS ARE ADAPTIVE TRUTHS

There are many things in religion which are known as "adaptive" truths, or "apparent" truths. They are not exactly true and yet serve a purpose in order to adapt the truth to one's understanding. There are even apparent truths in the sense of the letter of scripture:

"With those who remain in the sense of the letter of the Word, and think that it is the Lord who leads into temptation and who then troubles man's conscience, and who think that because He permits evil He is the cause of evil, and that He casts the evil down into hell, with other similar things — these are apparent truths, but are not truths; and because they are not truths in themselves, there is not a parallelism and correspondence. Still the Lord leaves them intact in man, and miraculously adapts them by charity so that they can serve celestial things for vessels. So, too, with the worship, the religious teachings and morals, and even with the idols, of the well-disposed Gentiles: these likewise the Lord leaves intact, and still adapts them by charity so that they also serve as vessels. The case was the same in regard to the very many rites in the Ancient Church, and afterwards in the Jewish Church; which in themselves were nothing but rituals in which there was not truth, but which were tolerated and permitted, and indeed commanded, because they were held as sacred by parents, and so were implanted in the minds of children, and impressed upon them from infancy as truths." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 1832.3)

When one understands truth is adapted to one's understanding, one can understand others more who follow different religious traditions or practices. It leads to more toleration and understanding. Adaptive or mediate truths are necessary, because the Divine truth itself is so high above us it cannot be comprehended:

"If Divine truths themselves were to be opened, they would not be received by those who are in the doctrinals of faith, because they exceed all their rational apprehension, thus all their belief, and consequently nothing of good from the Lord could flow in. For good from the Lord, or Divine good, cannot flow in except into truths, since truths are the vessels of good, as has been often shown.
"Truths or appearances of truth are given man to this intent, that Divine good may be able to form his intellect, and thus the man himself. For truths are to the end that good may flow in, inasmuch as good without vessels or receptacles does not find place, because it does not find a state corresponding to itself; wherefore where there are not truths, or where they are not received, there is not rational or human good, consequently the man has not any spiritual life. Therefore that man may still have truths, and thence have spiritual life, there are appearances of truth given, and this to every one according to his apprehension; which appearances are acknowledged as truths, because they are such that Divine things may be in them." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 3387.1-2)

Divine good flows from heaven into these lower level truths. Even Jehovah become incarnate in order to reach mankind who had become merely natural:

"The Divine good, which is here called celestial good, is united as by marriage to the Divine truth, which is here called spiritual truth (n. 2508); and although the Divine good is united in this manner to the Divine truth alone, it still flows into lower truths, and conjoins itself with them, but not as by marriage; for it flows into rational truths which are only appearances of truth, and conjoins itself with them; and indeed into truths of sense and of outward knowledge which are scarce other than fallacies, and conjoins itself with them. Unless this were so, no man could by any means have been saved (see Part First, n. 1831, 1832). That the Divine good might be conjoined with truths of reason and of outward knowledge, and that man might thus be saved, was the purpose of the Lord's coming into the world; for without the Lord's Human made Divine there can in no way be any conjunction, but through Him there is conjunction." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2554.1)

This unknown Divine which is beyond all human comprehension, is known in scripture as the Father. The image of the Divine by which He made Himself known is the Son. Even Paul said that the Lord is the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:14). It is a falsehood to declare them as two distinct persons, they are different aspects of One Divine Being.

THE LORD AND SCRIPTURE IS THE SOURCE OF ALL TRUTH

The Lord is the Word made flesh, and in the spiritual sense, the Word or Logos is the Divine truth. The Lord said I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). All truth is from the Lord alone, and no man can claim what belongs only to the Lord. All good and truth belong to the Lord alone, and any good and truth that one has is not one's own but was given to them by the Lord. To acknowledge that good and truth is from the Lord is to glorify Him.

Swedenborg saw in the spiritual world how all truth proceeds from the Lord alone:

"The Lord was the Divine truth itself when He was in the world, and afterward when He was glorified became Divine good, and thenceforth all Divine truth proceeds from Him. This Divine truth is light to the angels, which light also is that which illuminates our internal sight, which is of the understanding.
"This sight, since it does not see natural, but spiritual things, has for objects in the spiritual understanding truths which are called truths of faith, but in the natural understanding it has for objects truths of civil order which relate to what is just, and also truths of moral order which relate to what is reputable, and lastly natural truths which are conclusions from the objects of the external senses, especially of the sight. From this it may be seen in what order truths follow, and that all and each have their origin from truths Divine, which are the internal beginnings of all things. Moreover the forms in which they are have taken their origin therefrom, for these were created to receive and contain. Hence it may be evident what is meant in John by all things being created by the Word (i. 1-3); for truth Divine is the veriest essential and is the only substantial, by which all things are." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 8861.1-2)

As the Lord is Divine truth, and the source of truth, the Word of scripture should be sought to determine what is truth, and one should ask the Lord for enlightenment when reading scripture. There are three principles (True Christian Religion, n. 225):

1. Without doctrine the Word is not understood.
2. Doctrine is to be drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word and to be confirmed by it.
3. But the Divine truth which is of doctrine appears to none but those who are in enlightenment from the Lord.

In the New Church doctrines have been given from heavenly revelations received by Swedenborg in the 18th century. With other churches, they will use the Bible to confirm doctrines which may or may not be true. The third point is important, as most use scripture to confirm their own bias. Jesus said, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; and to him who knocks, it shall be opened (Matt. vii. 7, 8; xxi. 21, 22).

Without acknowledgment of the Lord for enlightenment, the Bible is a closed book, even to theologians and scholars.

THE TRUTHS OF FAITH ORIGINATE FROM LOVE

The truths of faith are those which treat of love, and it is only the truths that one chooses to live by which become a part of one's spiritual life:

"It shall be briefly told what are truths of faith from love. Truths of faith from love are truths which love dictates, and thus which derive their being from love; these truths are living, because the things which spring from love are living. Therefore truths of faith from love are those which deal with love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor, for these are the truths which love dictates. The whole Word is the teaching of such truths; for the Word in its spiritual sense treats solely of things that regard the Lord and the neighbor, and thus of such as are of love to the Lord and toward the neighbor; whence also the Word is living. This is meant by the Law and the Prophets hanging on those two precepts (Matt. xxii. 34-40), the Law and the Prophets being the Word in its whole complex. But truths of faith from love are not bare knowledges of such things with man in the memory and thence in the understanding, but they are affections of life with him; for the things which a man loves and therefore does, become of his life." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 9841.4)

Good is in truth, which determines what man favors:

"That good is within truth, and makes it to be truth, may also be evident from the goods and truths in even worldly things. When man seizes upon and acknowledges anything in these as good, then whatever favors this good he calls truth; but whatever does not favor it, he rejects and calls falsity. He may indeed say that that is true which does not favor that good; but he then dissembles, and thinks otherwise. So likewise in spiritual things." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2434)

One only has faith only inasmuch as one is in charity:

"A man has only so much of faith as he has of charity; and that when a man is being regenerated, charity presents itself to faith, or what is the same, good presents itself to truth, and insinuates itself into it and adapts itself to it in every particular, causing faith to be faith; and thus that charity is the very firstborn of the church, although to man it appears otherwise" (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2435.2)

HOW THE NEW CHURCH IS DIFFERENT FROM OTHER CHRISTIAN CHURCHES

Earlier I described the three levels of truth.  The lowest form of truth is truth from authority, religious tradition, and truth that remain as only mere knowledges of the memory.  But in most Christian churches, this is where people remain. They do not question, they do not ask.  They merely follow authority and tradition. This is partly because church authorities wish to keep people this way - in a form of blind faith, not faith opened up reason and understanding, where truths can be seen in their full light. To merely believe as one has been told to believe is not spiritual faith, it is blind obedience, where the spiritual understanding has been closed off.

Churches that do not go to the Lord or the Word of scripture for enlightenment are not a church, for it is the Lord alone who makes the church. Churches that use scripture to confirm a false doctrine are a falsified church. If the primary interest of a church is their own religious authority, they cease to become a church, for the desire to rule from religious authority is diametrically opposed to love of the Lord. Swedenborg has several visions where the heavenly view of the current state of the Christian church was shown, and it was not good.

The main aspect that makes the New Church unique, is that revelations have been made where the spiritual sense of the Word has been opened. This is the Second Coming, which is described in more detail in Is the Second Coming a Physical Event or Spiritual Event? The New Church is the rebirth of Christianity, for the truth has been falsified in the older Christian churches:

"Now as the dogmas of the present Christian churches were not composed from the Word, but from men's own intelligence and thus from falsities, and as they were also confirmed by some things from the Word, the Word by the Lord's Divine Providence was taken from the laity among the Roman Catholics, and was opened but still was closed among the Protestants by their common declaration that the understanding must be kept under obedience to faith. [a blind faith]
"But the contrary is the case in the New Church; in this church it is allowable to enter with the understanding and penetrate into all its secrets, and also to confirm them by the Word. This is because, its doctrines are continuous truths, laid open by the Lord through the Word; and confirmations of those truths by means of rationals cause the understanding to be opened above more and more, and thus to be raised into the light in which are the angels of heaven; and that light in its essence is truth, and in this light the acknowledgment of the Lord as the God of heaven and earth shines in its glory." (True Christian Religion, n. 508)

So for any who ask, for any who seek, heaven's door now stands open.

The Spiritual Meaning of Works in Scripture, and Why Protestants have it Wrong

The Protestant churches have committed a major error which is the foundation of their theology, in which they have misinterpreted the meaning of the "works of the law" in the letters of the apostle Paul.  The end result is that many (not all) have made religion one of belief alone, and that they do not have to do anything with their lives.  And yet scripture says all will be judged according to their works (see Matt. 16:27).  If all are judged according to their works, how is it that Paul says we are justified by faith without works of the law? I bring this up because this became a matter of discussion for the "life review" we will all experience after death, which I describe in the previous blog post The Life Review of the Near Death Experience and the Visions of Swedenborg, as well as The Christianity of the Being of Light of the Near Death Experience.  What the Near Death Experience shows is that God cares about what we do with our life, and we will be held accountable for what we do with our life.  It is not about one's belief. It is about how we love others.

This issue of "works" comes up repeatedly in discussion with Protestants. What many do not understand is the word "works" is used in different contexts in scripture, and in each context it has a completely different meaning.  There are three main definitions of works, and the same word is used in all contexts:

1. The works of the law refer to the rituals of the Jewish or Mosaic law.
2. Works refer to self-meritorious works, works done for the sake of one's self or for the sake of appearance towards others.
3. Works refer to acts of love and charity based on faith, or one's love towards God and others.

I will repeat this again: in the letters of Paul, Paul speaks of works of the rituals of the Mosaic law, which have been abrogated.  Unfortunately a large number of Christians thinks that Paul is speaking about all works in general, and thus they have made religion one of praise and lip service only.  Many Protestants in particular think all works are by nature self-meritorious or hypocritical (#2 above) and they completely forget about works done out of faith.

PREVIOUS POSTS EXPOSING THE ERROR OF PROTESTANT THEOLOGY

Instead of completely repeating myself, I recommend for anyone interested to explore the following posts in which I discuss Protestant theology:

The Fallacy of Salvation and Justification by Faith Alone - explains how Jesus condemned belief alone. How "faith" is not just merely belief, but means "living by the truth." How Protestants falsely teach the will of each person is passive instead of active.

Is Salvation a Free Gift? - explains the fallacy of the teaching that one must do nothing to enter heaven.  A covenant is a TWO WAY relationship, and is based on love and doing God's commandments.

The False Theological Definition of the word "Grace" - Grace does not mean "unmerited favour." This is a false theological definition invented by Protestants.

The Fundamental Error of the Protestant Faith - this lists multiple quotes from scripture, showing that a spiritual life is not just a belief system in the memory. It is a life of works according to faith.

The Error of the Protestant Churches - this again explains what Paul meant by "works of the law."

A New Perspective on Paul and the New Church Perspective on Paul - Protestant theologians have comes to realize, from indisputable research on Jewish religion of the first century A.D., that Paul was talking about the rituals of the Mosaic law. But Swedenborg pointed this out over 250 years ago.

The Prophecy of Pauline Christianity - this discusses how scripture foresaw how the false teaching of belief alone would come to invade and destroy the church from within.

IS NEW CHURCH THEOLOGY PELAGIAN?

One interesting view I have heard from a Protestant is that New Church theology is a blatant form of Pelagianism.  This was new to me.  So I looked up what Pelagianism was, I had never heard of it.  From Pelagianism:

Pelagianism is the belief that original sin did not taint human nature and that mortal will is still capable of choosing good or evil without special divine aid. This theological theory is named after the British monk Pelagius (354–420 or 440), although he denied, at least at some point in his life, many of the doctrines associated with his name. Pelagius taught that the human will, as created with its abilities by God, was sufficient to live a sinless life, although he believed that God's grace assisted every good work. Pelagianism has come to be identified with the view (whether taught by Pelagius or not) that human beings can earn salvation by their own efforts.

Note the last sentence: opposition to any effort by someone to obtain salvation.  Swedenborg did not discuss Pelagianism directly, but merely lists it as a heresy in Apocalypse Revealed.  Anyone familiar with what was taught in the New Church theology knows that it has nothing to do with Pelagianism.  Here is what the New Church teaches:

1. All good is from God alone.  God alone is good.
2. Man of his selfish ego is nothing but evil. All of one's evil comes from the selfish ego.
3. Inasmuch as one turns against one's selfish evil, and repents, one opens oneself to receiving God's love.
4. God's love flows into us inasmuch as we act from the will according to love.
5. Although we do good as if from ourselves, we must always acknowledge it is God who allows us to do good.

This is spelled out in more detail in the works Doctrine of Life and Doctrine of Faith, which are both found in the work Doctrines of the New Jerusalem.

Protestant theology, in its worst form, declares the will of a man passive, that God does everything through the Holy Spirit.  But we are not passive, our will is active.  There is an influx of Divine good into our will inasmuch as we receive it, and do it.  For that is the nature of love: it desires to do good, to make others happy, in outward act.

ARE WE CAPABLE OF GOOD?

Having been introduced to Protestant theology, I can tell you that most Protestants are introduced to Christianity through the writings of Paul, especially the book of Romans and Galatians.  And here it is not understood that Paul was writing against the Judaizers, who kept trying to get the early Christians to follow the rituals of the Mosaic law.  But there is an interesting quote that Protestants will use, to indicate that each person has no capacity to do good:

For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?
And not [rather], (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just.
What then? are we better [than they]? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (Rom. 3:7-12)

This passage is interesting. Throughout the letters of Paul, Paul is constantly defending himself against being a liar, but in verse 7, he actually admits to having committed a lie.  There is actually a bit of historical evidence of a big conflict between the apostle Paul and the apostle James - for more information on this, see Christus Victor, Pauline Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls.  Another interesting point here is that in Rom, 3:13-18 Paul is quoting the Septuagint version of Psalm 14, which contains 8 lines not found in the Masoretic and were a later addition. But besides that, what of this verse from the Psalm:

There is none who does good, no, not one. (Ps. 14:3)

Does this mean that no one can do any good, and that thus works are of no account?  No.  This is an example of how a verse taken out of context can be distorted.  Psalm 14 begins as follows:

The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. (Ps. 14:1)

Thus the Psalm is speaking of those who do not believe in God, and do everything for their own self.  These become self-meritorious or hypocritcal works, depending on the intent. Thus they are incapable of doing good, for actions are judged according to intent, and anything done for selfish purposes is regarded as evil, not good.  That this is so, is shown by other passages:

Many say, Who will show us good?Jehovah, lift up the light of Your face upon us. (Ps. 4:6)

This speaks of those who deny that anyone can do good.  But the second half speaks of the Divine truth (the light) from the Lord's face, which signifies Divine love and mercy.  Divine love and mercy flows into all people who do according to God's will.  God's light flows into our understanding through faith, and God's mercy flows into us through our will.  We have no good apart from God:

You have said unto Jehovah, You are my Lord,My goodness is not beyond You. (Ps. 16:2)

This is an acknowledgment that one's good originates from God.  We are but recipients of it.  But we are not passive recipients, for the will by nature is active.  Jehovah is Divine Love, which flows into the Lord as to the Divine Human (Heb. Adonai), and from the Lord flows into us through our will.  One must seek good from the Lord, and not from the selfish ego:

They who enquire after Jehovah shall not want any good. (Ps. 34:10)

And who says we should not do good?  That is against all of scripture, and destroys Christianity from within.  That it is not true, and a false teaching, can be shown from this verse:

Depart from evil and do good (Ps. 34:14)

So telling people that they must do good, by refusing evil, and following the commandments, is not Pelagianism.  It is the Christian way of life.  It is an active effective Christianity, one that is useful not only in this life but the life to come.  When one understands that one's good and truth are from the Lord alone, he or she then give glory and honor to the Lord alone:

“By giving to the Lord glory and honor nothing else is meant in the Word but to acknowledge and confess that all truth and all good are from Him, and thus that He is the only God; for He has glory from the Divine truth and honor from the Divine good. These things are signified by glory and honor in the following passages: Jehovah made the heavens; glory and honor are before Him (Ps. xcvi. 5, 6). O Jehovah God, Thou art very great; Thou art clothed with glory and honor (Ps. civ. 1). The works of Jehovah are great; glory and honor are His work (Ps. cxi. 2, 3). Glory and honor Thou layest upon Him, blessings for ever (Ps. xxi. 5, 6). These things are said of the Lord. Gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh, O mighty in glory and honor; in Thine honor mount up, ride upon the Word of truth (Ps. xlv. 3, 4). Thou hast made him little less than the angels; Thou hast crowned him with glory and honor (Ps. viii. 5). The glory of Lebanon hast Thou given unto it, the honor of Carmel and Sharon: they shall see the glory of Jehovah, and the honor of our God (Isa. xxxv. 1, 2). These and the foregoing are concerning the Lord; besides other places, as Ps. cxlv. 4, 5, 12; Apoc. xxi. 24, 26. Besides, where the Divine truth is treated of in the Word, the word glory is used (n. 629); and where the Divine good is treated of, honor.” (Apocalypse Revealed, n. 249)

If you have been taught otherwise, examine the scriptures, and determine what you have been taught is according to the truth.

The Fallacy of Salvation and Justification by Faith Alone

The Protestant Reformation was a major event that exposed and rejected many errors of the Roman Catholic Church, and restored scripture as the authority of God's Word.  However in the process it adopted an error of doctrine that became a foundation of doctrine for that branch of Christianity: that man is justified and saved by faith alone, and in regards to works man can do nothing.  The Roman Catholic Church has pointed out this error multiple times, but Protestants tend to not listen to the Roman Catholic Church due to their other errors.  However, on this issue the Orthodox Church has pointed out the error of the Protestants as well (see How are we Saved?). This goes to show the teaching began in the 16th century, and was not part of the original Christian faith.

This is an error that many Protestants fail to see, as most who grow up in a religion cannot see the errors of their own religion.  Very few question the religion they grew up with.  When one has accepted a certain false doctrine as true, certain "blinders" go up in the mind so that when a contradictory passage is seen that goes against the doctrine, the passage is ignored, or certain false word definitions are used.

Since personally I was introduced to Christianity through the Protestant faith this is what I was taught, but only when I investigated Christianity in an objective manner was I able to see the error.  Thus I am quite familiar with the arguments on both sides of the fence, and I know how easy it is to use scripture to support the Protestant doctrine.  Within most every religion there are errors, and one can only see them when one decides to rationally investigate them instead of accepting truth on the basis of authority.

So how do Protestant or Reformed churches support their doctrine?  There are several foundational pillars by which salvation or justification by faith alone is taught:

1.  Primacy of the letters of Paul over the gospels of Jesus.
2.  Defining the word faith as "belief" instead of the original meaning, which is "living by the truth."
3.  A misinterpretation of "works of the law" in the letters of Paul.
4.  Man has freedom of thought, but in regards to action has a passive will.

So let us go through each of these pillars of faith one by one.

JESUS CHRIST SPOKE AGAINST AND CONDEMNED SALVATION BY FAITH ALONE

Protestant ministers and theologians will probably never publicly admit that they consider the letters of Paul as primary for teaching doctrines of faith over that of the gospels, but in practice this is true.  Perhaps 90% of all sermons will be given from the letters of Paul, more rarely the gospels, and for the most part the Old Testament is ignored entirely.  This is because there are large sections of scripture which goes against the doctrine of salvation by faith alone, which is the foundation of Protestant doctrine.

But what did Jesus say on this issue?  The fact of the matter is, Jesus condemned religion of faith alone or one of belief only, and he spoke against it in the harshest of terms.  These are the few passages where we see Jesus actually getting angry with the false religious teachers, and it is one of the reasons why the Jewish Pharisees absolutely hated him.  This is readily apparent in several passages, as follows:

1. Those who break the least of the commandments and so teach others will be LEAST in the kingdom of heaven. But those who DO AND TEACH the commandments, will be GREAT in the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:19) 

2. Not everyone who believes and pays lip service will go to heaven, but those who do the will of the Father will go to heaven. Those who hear the Word, and do not do them, are foolish (Matt. 7:21-27). 

3. Jesus condemned the scribes and the Pharisees for teaching the law but not doing it.  Jesus called them blind and foolish, and stated they would not escape the damnation of hell (Matt. 23:3, 19, 23, 33). 

4. Those who believed the Lord and paid Him lip service, but did no act of love in their life, were condemned to hell (Matt. 25:31-46) 

5. Only those who DO THE WILL of his Father does Jesus consider his family or brethren (Mark 3:31-35, Luke 8:21). 

6. Jesus condemned the Jews for just paying lip service and following traditions of men, rather than doing God's commandments (Mark 7:6-9) 

7. Jesus asks, "Why do you call me Lord, and do not do the things I say?" (Luke 6:46) 

8. Only those who hear the Word and do it are those who bear fruit (Luke 8:15) 

9. The parable of the Good Samaritan shows doing the will of God has priority over religious belief. The Samaritans have different religious beliefs than the Jews (Luke 10:30-37) 

10. "blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it" (Luke 11:27-28) 

11. Those who heard the teaching, but continued in their sin, could not enter heaven (Luke 13:23-27) 

12. "If you love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15, also 14:21, 15:10)

THE FALSE DEFINITION OF FAITH AS "BELIEF" INSTEAD OF "LIVING BY THE TRUTH"

So given the above passages where Jesus condemns belief alone, how do Protestant ministers and theologians get around it?  They will quote other passages where Jesus talks about faith.  However this is where the biggest misunderstanding of Christianity has come: in the English language, faith has been taken to mean mere belief that something is true, and from that most people think if they merely believe in a certain way they will be saved.  To support this, they will mention such passages as the following:

"Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." (Mark 16:16)

However the Greek word can also be translated as having faith, like this:

"Whoever has faith and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not have faith will be condemned." (Mark 16:16)

In other words, mere belief that something is true does not save, but rather living by that truth is what saves.  That this is so, one has to pay attention to the other passages of scripture.  In ancient times, if one believed what someone said was true, but did nothing according to that truth, this meant that one did not really believe it since they did not commit to any action based on that truth.  Thus one cannot simply believe what Jesus said is true, and yet follow an evil life that has nothing to do with what Jesus said.  The problem here is the same Greek word is variously translated as "belief" or "faith."  Because of this, it is a common misconception among many that religion consists of belief alone without regard to one's life, which is not what scripture teaches.

So, how do we know the correct definition?  We simply look at the Hebrew scripture where it is said "the just shall live by faith" (Hab. 2:4) which Paul quotes and makes the foundation of his argument (see Rom. 1:17, Gal. 3:11, Heb. 10:38).  The Hebrew word for faith is 'emuwnah, which is ultimately derived from "Amen" which means "so be it" or "let it be true."  Truth must be conjoined with good, and that this is so is from the word "just" which can also be translated as "righteous" - which is to do what is good.  So the passage is saying, those who do good will have eternal life by living by the truth.  Action must be guided by truth, and knowing the truth is merely a first step. But according to Jesus, those who know the truth, and do not do according to it, are foolish and will be severely condemned, perhaps more so than those who are in simple ignorance.

It should be noted, that even in the first century there was a strong debate between the apostle Paul and James, the half brother of Jesus, over the matter of what "faith" really meant (see Rom. 4:3, which is countered by James in James 2:23). For an interesting theory that this debate is mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls, see Christus Victor, Pauline Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls.  In the New Church, faith and belief is a required first step in spiritual development, but it must be conjoined with a life according to it.  The first act of belief is repentance from sin, that is, reforming one's life.  Although truth or faith is first in time, a life of love is first in end: in the New Church, love is primary, it is a life of love which saves, not mere belief.  To come to a correct understanding one must take all passages of scripture in context.

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF "WORKS" AND "WORKS OF THE LAW" IN THE LETTERS OF PAUL?

The next pillar of Protestant doctrine are the many instances in which Paul mentions "works" or "works of the law" in his letters.  The Protestant reformers took this to mean works of charity, or any active form of faith.  However historical research within Protestant theological circles has conclusively shown that this is not correct - see A New Perspective on Paul and the New Church Perspective on Paul.  This has caused some - not all - to reexamine their theology.

The problem here, is that the apostle Paul used the word "works" in three different contexts. Since he uses the same word "works" in different contexts, it has led to endless debates.  In the letters of Paul, the word "works" has the following three different meanings:

1. The word "works" is used to refer to the external Mosaic rituals of the Jewish law, which were abrogated when they were fulfilled by the coming of the Lord. Paul most often refers to the rite of circumcision, animal sacrifices, dietary laws, and Jewish feast days.
2. The word "works" is used for self-meritorious works, or things done for the sake of selfish gain.
3. The word "works" is used for works of charity, acts of love, acts of repentance, or things done out of faith.

So here is the problem: most Protestant theologians may be aware of the first two definitions, but are unaware or ignore the third in their theology.  To cover all of this I will simply enumerate the instances where Paul mentions works (also translated as "deeds") for each of the three definitions:

1. Works are the external rituals of the Mosaic law: Rom. 3:20, 3:27-28, 4:2, 4:6, 9:11, 9:32, 11:6; Gal. 2:16, 3:2, 3:5, 3:10; Eph. 2:9; Heb. 6:1, 9:14
2. Works are self meritorious works, done for sake of self: 2 Tim. 1:9; Tit. 3:5. 
3. Works are works of charity, or acts of faith, or acts of repentance, or acts of evil, by which all will be judged: Rom. 2:6, 2:15, 13:3, 13:12, 15:18; 1 Cor. 3:13-15, 5:2; 2 Cor. 9:8, 11:15; Gal. 5:19, 6:2-8; Eph. 2:10, 5:11; Col. 1:10, 1:21, 3:17; 1 Thes. 1:3; 2 Thes. 2:17; 1 Tim. 2:10, 3:1; 5:10, 5:25, 6:18; 2 Tim. 2:21, 3:17, 4:14, 4:18; Tit. 1:16, 2:7, 2:14, 3:1, 3:8, 3:14; Heb. 6:10, 10:24, 13:21

Protestants will use verses in context #1 to support their theology, often also thinking that Paul was talking of works in context #3.  It is very subtle.  One can see how Paul switches context, sometimes in one sentence to the next (see especially Eph 2:9-10, Tit. 3:5,8).  This caused utter confusion in the mind of James and other early Christians - even Peter admitted this (see 2 Pet. 3:15-16).  If one is unaware of the context, one can be easily misled by the writings of Paul.  That works of charity are necessary for salvation (context #3) one can also prove by looking up the same word in the gospels.

A FALSE THEORY OF PROTESTANTS: MAN HAS A PASSIVE WILL, AND COMPLETE INCAPACITY TO DO GOOD

Obviously Protestants cannot completely ignore context #3 in the writings of Paul.  So how do they get around it, to support the idea that faith is mere belief, and that one is saved by faith alone?  For this, they state each person as to their works really does nothing, but the Holy Spirit given by God does it.  Each person of himself does nothing.  In other words, while we have freedom of thought, we do not have freedom of will.  We have a "passive will."  But this is simply not true, we have freedom in both thought and will.  There is a reason why a body is attached to our brain, and we are not mere statues.  In Protestant theology, good works are seen as mere evidence of the dwelling of the Holy Spirit, but does not play a role in regard to salvation.  It is a mere "byproduct" of passive belief.

This theological theory is not only false, it is logically incoherent.  For scripture teaches we will be judged by out works (see Matt. 16:27, Rom. 2:6, and others).  If we are responsible for what we do, we have freedom in terms of our will.  It is true that only God is good, and all good comes from Him alone.  But our will must submit to God's commandments by obedience and a living active faith.

In New Church theology, each person plays an active role in their spiritual development, in both thought and deed.  This is described as a "covenant" - inasmuch as each person approaches God, God will fill that person with His Holy Spirit.  As God changes us within, He forms within us a new will and understanding to do that which is good according to the truth.  As we do good according to the truth, by faith we should acknowledge that all good and truth comes from God alone.  But it takes our active participation to live a full spiritual life. This active participation in word and deed is what is known as "fruits of the Spirit."  But it takes place in an active will, not a passive one, and the first spiritual act of the will is that of repentance, which is to turn away from evil.  A passive will does not do anything, just as a dead tree cannot bear any fruit.

Good and truth are spiritual in origin, and ultimately originate from the Lord alone.  To be spiritual, one must have spiritual communion with heaven.  At the time of Jesus this spiritual communion was threatened to be cut off by the rise in the power of hell over humanity, thus it was necessary for Jehovah to become incarnate to fight against the hells through his human form.  But this does not remove any responsibility on our part: to be spiritual, to enter into communion with the Lord, one must follow the commandments.

CONCLUSION: ONE IS NOT SAVED BY BELIEF ALONE, BUT BY A LIFE ACCORDING TO THE COMMANDMENTS

To conclude, I will simply quote from Swedenborg:

"That it may not lie hid from any one how the case is with the salvation of men after their decease, it is to be briefly told. There are many who say that a man is saved by faith, or, in their words, if he only has faith; but for the most part they are those who do not know what faith is. Some think that it is mere thought, some that it is an acknowledgment of something to be believed; some think that it is the whole doctrine of faith, which is to be believed, and others think variously. Thus in the bare conception of what faith is, they wander in error; and so of course, in regard to the means by which a man is saved. But indeed faith is not mere thought, nor is it an acknowledgment of something to be believed, nor a knowledge of all things which belong to the doctrine of faith. By these no one can be saved; for they cannot send a root down deeper than into the thought. Thought saves no one; but it is the life which he procured to himself in the world, by means of the knowledges of faith. This life remains; but all thought which does not comport with his life perishes, even to becoming none at all. Consociations in heaven are according to lives; and by no means according to thoughts which are not of the life. Thoughts which are not of the life are mere pretences, which are altogether rejected.
"In general, life is twofold; on the one hand infernal, on the other heavenly. Infernal life is from all the ends, thoughts, and works which flow from the love of self, consequently from hatred against the neighbor; heavenly life, from all the ends, thoughts, and works which are of love toward the neighbor. The latter is the life to which all things that are called faith have regard, and which is procured by all things of faith. From this it may be evident what faith is, namely, that it is charity; for, to charity all things lead which are called the doctrines of faith; in it they are all contained, and from it they are all derived. The soul, after the life of the body, is such as its love is." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2228.2-3)

Is Salvation a Free Gift?

Lets take a close look at what pastors are saying to the public about Christianity. There are many pastors who are saying salvation is a "free gift" - that one has to do nothing, but just believe, and then all is said and done. This teaching is based on some fundamental errors of Protestant reformers of the 16th century - for a background, see The Fundamental Error of the Protestant Faith and The False Theological Definition of the word "Grace".  It is based on false readings of the letters of the Apostle Paul - for which see Christus Victor, Pauline Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls. As I said before, stress is placed on belief alone, and the will of the person is made passive, where one should DO NOTHING.  Yes, that's right, they are telling people that one should DO NOTHING to receive salvation.

The message of DO NOTHING is quite apparent in this theology.  Here is a good example from a daily devotion of a popular pastor Rick Warren, from Is Salvation Really Free?:

If you were to ask 100 people on the sidewalk, “How do you get to Heaven?” you’d get a lot of different answers that could be summarized by the idea that you have to earn your way to Heaven. You’d hear things like, “Try to be good and do your best” or “Work really hard at being a moral person” or “Do more good things in life than you do bad things.” All of these ideas are based on works, not grace.
But salvation is a gift, and you don’t work for a gift. It’s free! You can’t earn it, you can’t buy it, and you can’t work for it.
This is the fundamental difference between Christianity and every other religion. Christianity is the only religion that’s built on grace. Every other religion is based on works, and you can summarize them in one word: “do.” There are certain things you have do in order to gain God’s approval, to gain bliss, to gain heaven. There are always rules, regulations, and rituals — something you have to do.
On the other hand, if you were to summarize Christianity in one word, it’s the word “done.” Jesus Christ has already paid the price for you on the cross. It’s done!
A guy asked me one time, “Pastor Rick, what can I do to be saved?” I said, “You’re too late!” (That kind of shocked him.) “You’re about 2,000 years too late! What needed to be done for your salvation has already been done, and you can’t do anything about it.”

Several falsehoods are being taught here. One, religion is made to be of belief and lip service only, making the will passive. Two, the word "works" in the letters of the apostle Paul are taken to mean ALL ACTIONS, when from context it is clear he is talking about the Jewish rituals. Three, Jesus did everything, so we should do nothing. Four, salvation is being taught in terms of "vicarious atonement," where sins are transferred from one person to another automatically. Five, this is the teaching of all of Christianity, when in fact it is the teaching of Protestant theology only.

Is it any wonder that Christianity has lost its moral authority? For there is nothing about morality in this teaching. And when one examines what Jesus taught, there is truly nothing Christian about what these popular pastors are teaching.

That this is clearly a false teaching, and that there is truly nothing Christian about it, is shown by just referencing the teachings of Jesus himself.  For one, Jesus commanded us to not just believe, but DO:

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (Matt. 7:24-27)

And what did Jesus command? First, repentance from sin:

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matt. 4:17)

Repent means to turn away from sin.  And what else did he command? Jesus said this:

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. (John 13:34)

And that, is really it. Repentance from sin, and love one another. Really simple.

THEN WHY DID JESUS COME? HOW DID HE SAVE HUMANITY?

This is the question that will come up when someone can't take a simple answer. But in the simple answer, that Christianity is all about repentance and love, there is the answer.

To repent, this is done out of free will, and done according to the truth one is taught. And what is free will?  Free will in humanity has a spiritual origin: it originates from a balance between heaven and hell, which plays itself out in our own conscience. Every thought we have has a spiritual origin.

By the time Jesus came, hell had obtained dominion over humanity, and even started to rise into the lower heavens of the spiritual world.  The angelic realm was losing its influence over humanity, and the former truths that had been revealed had been perverted and darkened.  To correct this, God himself descended and became incarnate as a human. From his soul, he was Divinity itself, but from the body he inherited from Mary, he could be tempted to commit a sin. So once the incarnation took place, a great spiritual battle took place between the Lord and all of hell. This continued until he glorified his human body and made it one with the Divine. That he launched an attack directly against hell, Jesus so declared to his disciples:

But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.Or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house. (Matt. 12:28-29)

Again:

Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. (John 12:31)

And again:

The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. (Luke 10:17-18)

And between the time Jesus died on the cross, and rose from the dead, something interesting happened: he made a descent into the underworld and hell to release captive souls held there. For that see Jesus the Shaman - Descent into the Underworld. It is not discussed much in modern churches, but that in reality is how he saved humanity: by a spiritual battle against the power of hell.

THE SPIRITUAL BATTLE IS NOW WITHIN US

As Jesus fought against spiritual temptation and sin within himself, so He now can fight for us in our battles against temptation and sin.  But it involves not us alone, but asking for his help. This is done through the Holy Spirit, which is available to all who turn away from sin. It is a life long process. It involves not just the thought, but our very will itself. It takes place within, when we ask Jesus to come dwell in our heart:

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. (Rev. 3:20-21)

As I said before, the answer is all within repentance, and loving each other according to the Lord's commandment. That is the way of salvation. Repentance must of a necessity be done before acts of love and goodness, for evils must be removed before goods can be implanted in the heart. Inasmuch one withdraws from evil, the person will drawn towards the good. It is through repentance that the redemption of Jesus Christ is effected in each and every person, for each time we repent, we put ourselves in conjunction with the Lord who can then act through us.

So is salvation a free gift? If by free gift one means that each person should do nothing, the answer is no.  If by free gift, that God came to dwell among us while we were yet sinners to save us, then the answer is yes. If one recognizes that the good that one does originates from God who is goodness itself, it is even more true that salvation is a free gift. For that is the spiritual meaning of a "covenant" - inasmuch as each person approaches God, so God will approach that person. It is a two way relationship. And this is done first by repentance, and then by living by his commandments through love.

The False Theological Definition of the word "Grace"

Throughout the centuries Christian theologians have created some doctrines and added them onto scripture, muddying the waters when it comes to the highly ethical teachings of Jesus. Truth is empowering, but when men invent doctrines that have no foundation in reason, and none that was revealed in scripture, the truth loses its power and effect.  Before truth can empower people to change, we have to remove what is false. And in many ways, falsehoods are propagated when theologians invent false definitions for words in scripture. It then blinds the masses.

And this brings us to the importance of having an exact language to describe things exactly how they are. There have been several attempts at fixing this by philosophers and mathematicians. How does language influence how we see the world? In many ways, language controls our thinking, and the thinking controls our behaviour. For example, in our day and age, we have three words: murder, manslaughter, and execution. In our current legal definitions, we distinguish between murder and manslaughter. Externally, it is the same act, but internally, quite different. How is murder and manslaughter different? It is the intent of the person who committed the act. And how the current legal system behaves mirrors how our actions are judged in the afterlife: it is the intention or purpose of the act that counts. Someone may do something extremely stupid with bad results, but if their intention is good, and they learned from it, the act was not evil. As one learns the truth and is guided by it, good intentions will begin to lead to good results. So, returning to my example, we distinguish between murder and manslaughter. But that was not always the case. If we turn back the clock, we see that in ancient Hebrew there was just ONE word that meant murder, manslaughter, or executing someone who committed a murder. Since there was one word, they had one concept in their legal system: blood revenge. Someone got killed, no matter what, if blood got spilled more blood had to be shed. And cultures got caught in an endless cycle of bloodshed. There was just one word for someone getting killed. So in the Mosaic law, one can see laws were given to distinguish these different acts, and cities of refuge were provided for those who committed manslaughter, or acted out of self-defense.

THE THEOLOGICAL DEFINITION OF THE WORD "GRACE" ????

So now we come to the word grace, which is a word that has acquired some false theological definitions. I came across the Hebrew word for this when translating, so I was curious, what was the definition? In one sense, the Hebrew word at times does mean something similar to our word for judging how things physically appear: we will call it "graceful." If one does a favor toward another, we call them "gracious." And in English there is a modern idiom where one can say, "Goodness, gracious!" - which in fact, is a verbal pattern that has a true hidden spiritual origin which Swedenborgians will understand. Apparently people used to say if one has "grace in one's sight" which means one has a favorable opinion of that person. But theologians, being as they are, sometimes invent definitions according to their theology. So, what is the modern Christian theological definition of grace? I did a random search, here is one modern theological definition:

Grace: (in Christian belief) the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings.

I remember seeing this added in footnotes in some study Bibles. And just to be sure, I doublechecked by checking About.com - Christianity:

Definition: Grace is God's unmerited favor. It is kindness from God we don't deserve. There is nothing we have done, nor can ever do to earn this favor. It is a gift from God. Grace is divine assistance given to humans for their regeneration (rebirth) or sanctification; a virtue coming from God; a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine favor.

And to be triple sure: lets check the Merriam Webster dictionary, who seem to be in survival mode in the internet age by having videos of people talking about word definitions:

GRACE: unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification

So is this true? Does grace mean it is unmerited, undeserved, and it does not matter what you do? No, it is FALSE. This is a word definition that was INVENTED by the Protestant Reformers of the 16th century. If you look in any Hebrew concordance, grace simply means "favor." There is nothing in the word definition that says it is "unmerited" or "undeserved." And yet, Protestant theologians and ministers keep repeating it over and over again. IT IS A FALSE INVENTION OF THE PROTESTANT CHURCHES.

To confirm that "unmerited favor" is a false Protestant invention, lets check the Catholic Church and see what they have to say. Because much of Protestant theology was inherited from the Catholic Church. If I go to the New Advent Encyclopedia (which should be always double checked for accuracy) , they get a bit complicated, with a distinction between "actual grace" and "sanctifying grace."  I am not going to go through it all (since the Catholic Church has misconceptions of its own), but the Catholic Church confirms that the modern English definition is a Protestant invention. From Actual Grace:

With the early Protestants and Jansenists, the necessity of actual grace may be so exaggerated as to lead to the assertion of the absolute and complete incapacity of mere nature to do good

On this point the Catholic Church is correct. And I honestly first ignored it because the Catholic Church has so many other errors in it. One of the reasons I first ignored it is I thought the Catholic Church was talking about good for the sake of self-credit, this is not good, it is hypocritical. Remember, every action is judged by its INTENT. Good deeds, good works, are the result of a living, active faith of the human will. Where does the false definition of grace come from? It comes from a Protestant misunderstanding of the apostle Paul. For this see The Fundamental Error of the Protestant Church. Otherwise, why would Jesus himself say that everyone will be judged according to their works? (see Matt. 16:27, Rev. 2:23).

THE HEBREW VIEW OF THE WORD FOR GRACE

Lets go straight to scripture, ignoring what any Christian church has to say. Because many Christian churches have to ignore many passages of scripture, and hope that their congregations just listen to them and not read it for themselves. Here is the first passage that mentions "grace", which is right after God decides to destroy the entire land with a flood:

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. (Gen. 6:8)

And the word grace can easily be translated as favor. Was this favor unmerited? Undeserved? It did not matter what Noah did? NO. This we know from the next verse:

Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. (Gen. 6:9)

In other words, Noah lived a good life, obeying God's commandments. Favorable actions will simply lead to favorable outcomes. And the outcome we are looking at is one's eternal destiny. SIMPLE. If you want to live a good life, you have to ignore a lot of false theology. The Protestant theological definition of grace is unethical, immoral, and has no rational justification. You cannot apply it to your life, and the judge cannot apply it to the courtroom. Nor can managers apply it in their job when reviewing the work of those who report to them, nor can parents apply it when disciplining their children. It makes no moral or rational sense, and should be rejected.

THE NEW CHURCH VIEW

I say "New Church" because one is needed due to the falsity found in both Protestant an Catholic churches. Because actions are judged by one's intent, one CANNOT do good until one first removes false ideas and sinful behaviours. For this see The Three Steps of Spiritual Development, which also covers the symbolism of the Jewish festivals of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles.

One Protestant reasoning I have heard is that the law was to teach everyone they cannot be perfect. So what do they say we should do? GIVE UP! Don't even try! But this is utterly ridiculous, and leads to spiritual and moral apathy. And it is in contradiction with scripture. So why in the world did Jesus say this:

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. (Matt. 5:48)

Which means, we should eternally strive towards perfection. Its a goal that will never be reached, but we should constantly try to correct ourselves for the better.

Another New Church doctrine: "grace" or favor is what spiritual people who live according to truth seek, but those who are of a higher level of spirituality do no seek God's grace or favor, but his mercy. It is a deeper acknowledgment of one's sinfulness, done from the heart. Swedenborg explains it in this way:

...there is a distinction in the Word between mercy and grace, and this in accordance with the difference of those who receive. Mercy is applied to those who are celestial, and grace to those who are spiritual; for the celestial acknowledge nothing but mercy, and the spiritual scarcely anything but grace. The celestial do not know what grace is; the spiritual scarcely know what mercy is, which they make one and the same with grace. This comes from the kind of humiliation of each, which thus differs. They who are in humiliation of heart implore the Lord's mercy; but they who are in humiliation of thought beseech His grace; and if these implore mercy, it is either in a state of temptation or is done with the mouth only and not from the heart. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 598.2).

That there is a distinction between mercy and grace, which correspond to God's love and favor to save humanity, is hard to describe to those who have not experienced humility. There are many things that Swedenborg describes that one will not know until they experience it. Mercy and grace (or favor) often appear together in scripture, and concerns God's desire to bring humanity to himself.

RECIPROCOL CONJUNCTION

There is no such thing as "free" salvation which Protestant theology likes to talk about so much. In scripture, a relationship between a person and God is known as a "covenant" - you do your part, God will do his. If you don't move, God won't move toward you. If you turn away, he will turn away from you. This relationship can be described as a "reciprocol conjunction." Every action has a reaction, and what goes around comes around. I will quote from Swedenborg on recipocol conjunction between man and God:

...From the Lord, through man's internal, life continually flows into man's rational, and through this into his external, and indeed into his knowledges, external and internal — and not only adapts them to receive life, but also arranges them into order, and so enables man to think and at last to be rational. This is the conjunction of the Lord with man; without which man could not think at all, still less be rational. This may be plain to every one from the fact that there are in man's thought numberless arcana of science and of analytical art, so many that they cannot be explored to eternity, which do not flow in through the senses or through the external man, but through the internal. But man on his part, by means of knowledges external and internal, goes to meet this life which is from the Lord; and so he reciprocally conjoins himself. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2004.2)

This is a central doctrine: this reciprocol conjunction is the union of love and truth, which is also represented in the marriage of one man with one woman. Do good by the truth that you know. Inasmuch as you try and approach God, he will approach you. It is a universal law. I like this image below to describe it: the Yin-Yang tree. Inasmuch as you reach down and remove the sins in yourself (your earthly body) so your soul will reach up to heaven. Look at any tree - the branches above the earth will be a mirror of the roots in the earth below it. Inaction - unmerited favor, belief alone, what have you - this STOPS the spiritual process.

So if anyone tells you that grace means "unmerited" favor - check again. It is a man-made definition, and dates back to the 16th century. It is UNAPPLICABLE to any actual situation in life. It is not pragmatic or useful whatsoever. If there is any truth in it, it is this: that any good that you do does not originate from you, but from God, who is goodness itself, and the source of all good in humanity across the universe. But it is no excuse for spiritual apathy and to do whatever evil you want.

And for those who believe all they need to do is believe, and God somehow does everything else, perhaps they may find this poem a bit "uplifting":

GRACE DOES NOT MEAN UNMERITED FAVOR

I thought I would add a final update here, because this is important. Much of what is taught in the church today is based on a false theology. And that false theology uses false word definitions - and this word "grace" is one of the key words to the Protestant theology. As most Christian denominations are uncomfortable with Emanuel Swedenborg due to the fact he had visions, I want to emphasize here that he backed up many of his key points with scripture throughout his theological works.  I will simply start adding in this section other web blogs of Christians who have discovered that grace does not mean unmerited favor - from SCRIPTURE ONLY. But if you really want to know how evil this doctrine this is in the sight of God and heaven, then read up on Emanuel Swedenborg. Here is a list below:

IS GOD'S GRACE UNMERITED FAVOR? or GRACE IS NOT UNMERITED FAVOR

This is a good post. It begins with this statement: 

Is a sinner commanded to do anything to receive God's Favor?

Today's Christianity says there's nothing one has to do!

      This is the teaching in today's accepted Christianity that there is nothing a sinner must do, no action or change, no behavior change, no repentance of sins and changes in one's life that are based on the breaking of God's 10 commandments in order to receive God's Grace.

And another quote:

God demands a heart that is humble, because He says in James 4:6, "God resists the proud, but gives grace unto the humble." Every sinner coming to Christ, must humble himself, as a small child, and become converted, Mat. 18:3-4, to receive God's grace and His kingdom, and he must remain humble to grow in God's grace, or God is going to resist you and eventually reject you! God will resist the proud! God will resist any one proudly wrapped up in himself as a professing minister or a professing member and all that each has done, or as he thinks he has done, as in being some great spiritual leader. People as members of a church  should not be looking to these proud leaders, but instead they should be looking to the true, great, spiritual leader and Shepherd, Jesus Christ and trusting what He teaches from His Word and not from traditions and commandments of men.

Grace is Unmerited Favor" - This Common Definition is Wrong - this from a long time Christian. He begins on the false definition of grace:

There are a few key words in the Bible that are given wrong definitions even though the definitions are widely accepted. Such wrong definitions created much confusion and a weak church.

He however does not know (as most don't) the difference between mercy and grace.  When trying to come up with a definition, he comes up with this:

James Ryle defines it as, "Grace is the empowering Presence of God enabling you to be who He created you to be, and to do what He has called you to do."

Which is not what it is. See The Fundamental Error of the Protestant Church, as Protestant ministers have a tendency to make us "passive subjects." Mercy and grace is God's desire to save humanity.  So what is that "empowerment" that God gave man to do what you should do? Its not called grace. It is your own will power. Yes, in addition to a brain, giving everyone power to reason and think, God gave you this thing called a body which allows you to act according to what your brain says. There is no complicated theology here. Grace and favor also occurs when you are given the opportunity to do something:

He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing (John 15:5)

And Protestants will take that verse to mean everyone can do nothing and has no will power, which is not true. It means it begins with trust and hope in God, and an acknowledgement that any good that you do (bearing fruit) originates from God. Thus I brought up the concept of "reciprocol conjunction" above, thus Jesus says abide in me, and I in you. Reciprocol action/reaction. It also means that the smallest matters are governed by Divine Providence. There are no accidents.

Grace is not Unmerited Favor - this one is good. It asks some very simple questions:

1. If Grace is unmerited favor (that is to say, God is good to us even though we don't deserve it.) Then every body gets this grace right?

Then why does God only give it only to the humble? James 4:6, and 1 peter 5:5

If it is truly unmerited favor, wouldn't God give it to the proud more then the humble? Wouldn't they "not merit" it more then the humble?

2. If Grace is unmerited favor (God is good to us even though we don't deserve it.)
then why can you fall from it?

Gal. 5:4 says you are fallen from grace.- So, God is going to give me something I don't deserve and then take it away if I don't deserve it. I'd be better off backsliding so I could get more grace.

3. If Grace is unmerited favor (God is good to us even though we don't deserve it.)
Then why was Grace upon Jesus? Luke 2:40

A quote from Grace is not Unmerited Favor:

Many, or most of us, have been conditioned by religion to believe that Grace is unmerited favor. The thought that it could be more than that, will be difficult for some to grasp. The truth is, we have all been affected by the teachings of the Babylon system of religion.

The sorry weak Evangelical meaning of grace has kept the saint’s sin-conscious and sinning. The thinking of many is, since we are such undeserving worms, we are too weak to be anything but “Sinners saved by grace.” Rubbish! 

A quote from a forum at Grace is not unmerited favor

In my understanding ( I work in a baptist-run environment), it is an offshoot of the doctrine that man is completely wretched, vile and deserving only of God's wrath. The "unmerited favor" doctrine is another one of those theological ideas that transforms grace into another judicial act, making Christ's sacrifice a legal matter, not an act of supreme love. In fact, in many Baptist circles, GRACE is an acronym : God's Riches At Christ's Expense. And I cringe everytime I see it...

Which is observant: the false definition stems from a false idea of "vicarious atonement" - a theology that did not exist until the 11th century A.D. I have blogged about that before. See The Error of Vicarious Atonement.

I can go on and on.  And since this poster said "I cringe everytime I see it" I will conclude with this particular lesson from a chalk board: