AC 8171, 8172, 8175 - Moses Tells of the Powerful Salvation of the Lord

AC 8171

Do not be afraid.
(Exodus 14:13)

That this means that they must not despair,
is evident from the meaning of "fearing,"
as being to feel horror, here to despair;
for spiritual fear in temptations is first a horrible dread,
and finally is despair.
Spiritual fear is fear on account of damnation.

AC 8172

Stand still, and see the salvation of Jehovah.
(Exodus 14:13)

It is here said that they must have faith
that salvation is from the Lord alone,
and not at all from them,
because this is the main thing of faith in temptations.
He who when he is tempted
believes that he can resist from his own strength, yields;
the reason is that he is in what is false,
and that he therefore attributes merit to himself,
and thus demands to be saved of himself,
and thus shuts out the influx from the Divine.
But he who believes
that the Lord alone resists in temptations, conquers;
for he is in the truth,
and attributes the merit to the Lord,
and perceives that he is saved by the Lord alone.
He who is in the faith of charity
ascribes everything of salvation to the Lord,
and nothing to himself.

AC 8175

Jehovah shall wage war for you.
(Exodus 14:14)

That the Lord alone
sustains the combats of temptations,
and conquers,
is because the Divine alone can conquer the hells.
Unless the Divine acted against them,
they would rush in like a vast ocean,
one hell after another,
for the resisting of which
no person can of the slightest avail;
and the less so because in respect to what is his own,
a person is nothing but evil, thus is hell,
from which the Lord then withdraws him,
and afterward withholds him.