AC 2250

The Lord's intercession for the human race
existed at the time when He was in the world,
and in fact when He was in a state of humiliation,
for as before said,
He then spoke with Jehovah as with another.
But of course in His state of glorification
when the Human Essence
has become united to the Divine Essence,
and is itself also Jehovah,
He does not intercede,
but has mercy
and affords aid from His Divine, and saves.
It is Mercy itself which is the intercession,
for such is its essence.

AC 2258 [2-3]

. . . there are two things which constitute
the order of the universal heaven,
and thence in the universe,
namely, Good and Truth.
Good is the essential of order,
all the things of which are mercies.
Truth is the secondary of order,
all the things of which are truths.
The Divine good adjudges all to heaven,
but the Divine truth condemns all to hell;
and therefore unless the Lord's Mercy,
which is of good,
were eternal,
all people, however many, would be condemned.
This is what is meant by the statement
that the Divine good cannot do this
after the manner of truth separated from good.

That the evil are nevertheless condemned to hell,
is not because
the Divine good is separated from the Divine truth,
but because the person separates himself
from the Divine good.
For the Lord in no case sends anyone down into hell,
but the person sends himself,
as has been already stated a number of times.
In the following respect also
the Divine good is conjoined with the Divine truth:
that unless the evil were separated from the good,
the evil would do harm to the good,
and would be continually endeavoring to destroy order:
thus that the good may not be harmed,
is of Mercy.
This stands just as in the kingdoms of the earth.
If evils were not punished,
the whole kingdom would be infected with evils,
and so would perish;
for which reason
kings and judges show more mercy
in punishing evils and in expelling from society
those guilty of them,
than by exercising in their behalf
an unseasonable clemency.