In Proportion as a Man Shuns Evils as Sins,
in the Same Proportion He Does Goods,
Not From Himself But From the Lord.
DLife 18-19, 20, 22-23, 24
Who does not or may not know
that evils stand in the way of the Lord's entrance to a person?
For evil is hell,
and the Lord is heaven,
and hell and heaven are opposites.
In proportion therefore as a person is in the one,
in the same proportion he cannot be in the other.
For the one acts against the other and destroys it.
So long as a person is in this world,
he is midway between hell and heaven:
hell is below him, and heaven is above him,
and he is kept in freedom
to turn himself to either the one or the other . . .
It is not from himself that every person has this freedom,
but he has it from the Lord,
and this is why he is said to be kept in it.
It is plainly evident from all this
that in proportion as a person shuns evils,
in the same proportion is he with the Lord and in the Lord;
and that in proportion as he is in the Lord,
in the same proportion he does goods,
not from self but from Him.
From this results the general law:
IN PROPORTION AS ANY ONE SHUNS EVILS,
IN THE SAME PROPORTION HE DOES GOODS.
Two things however are requisite:
first, the person must shun evils because they are sins,
that is, because they are infernal and diabolical,
and therefore contrary to the Lord and the Divine laws,
and secondly, he must do this as of himself,
while knowing and believing that it is of the Lord.
From what has been said three things follow:
* i. If a person wills and does goods
before he shuns evils as sins,
the goods are not good.
* ii. If a person thinks and speaks pious things
while not shunning evils as sins,
the pious things are not pious.
* iii. If a person knows and is wise in many things,
and does not shun evils as sins,
he is nevertheless not wise.
* i. If a person wills and does goods
before he shuns evils as sins,
the goods are not good.
* ii. If a person thinks and speaks pious things
while not shunning evils as sins,
the pious things are not pious.
* iii. If a person knows and is wise in many things,
and does not shun evils as sins,
he is nevertheless not wise.
. . . because he does (these things) from himself
and not from the Lord,
and therefore self is in them and not the Lord . . .
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