AE 902
Spiritual life is acquired solely by a life
according to the commandments in the Word.
These commandments are given in a summary in the Decalogue, namely,
Thou shalt not commit adultery,
Thou shalt not steal,
Thou shalt not kill,
Thou shalt not bear false witness,
Thou shalt not covet the goods of others.
These commandments are the commandments that are to be done,
for when a man does these his works are good and his life becomes spiritual,
because so far as a man shuns evils and hates them,
so far he wills and loves goods.
AE 902 [6]
... for to do these commandments from religion purifies the internal man,
opens heaven,
admits the Lord,
and makes man as to his spirit an angel of heaven.
And this is why the nations outside the church
who do these commandments from religion are all saved,
but not any one who does them merely from civil and moral law.
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AE 902 [6] Consider further, why the ten precepts of the Decalogue were promulgated from mount Sinai in so miraculous a manner; that they were engraven on two tables of stone, and that these were deposited in the ark, upon which was placed a mercy-seat with cherubs; and that the place where those precepts were, was called the Holy of holies, within which it was lawful for Aaron to enter only once a year, and this with sacrifices and incense - and if he had entered without these, he would have fallen down dead; also, that so many miracles were afterwards performed by that ark. Are not all people throughout the whole world acquainted with similar precepts? Do not their civil laws lay down the same? Who does not know from natural light (lumen) alone that, for the sake of order in every kingdom, adultery, theft, murder, false witness, and the other things contained there, are forbidden? Why, then, had those very precepts to be promulgated with so many miracles, and to be accounted as holy? Can any other reason be assigned, than that every one might do them from religion, and thus from God, and not from civil and moral law only, and consequently for the sake of self and the world? This was the reason why they were promulgated from mount Sinai, and why they were holy. For to do those precepts from religion purifies the internal man, opens heaven, admits the Lord, and makes a man, as to his spirit, an angel of heaven. This is the reason that the Gentiles, outside the church, who do those precepts from religion, are all saved, but none of those who do them only from civil and moral law.
Examine now, whether the faith of the present day, which is, that the Lord suffered for our sins, that He took away the curse of the law by fulfilling it, and that a man is justified and saved by this faith without good works, does not loosen all those precepts. Consider further, and investigate how many there are at this day in the Christian world who do not live according to this faith. I know that they will reply that they are weak and imperfect men, born in sins, and the like. But who is there that cannot think from religion? This the Lord grants to every one; and in the man who thinks such things from religion, the Lord operates all things, so far as he thinks. And, be it known, that he who thinks of those [precepts] from religion, believes that there is a God, a heaven and a hell, and a life after death; but he who does not think of them from religion, I affirm that he does not believe them.
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