AC 10187 - Being in Good

AC 10187

. . . good cannot be approached by evils,
because evils cannot by any means
endure the sphere of good;
when evils, that is, those who are in evils,
or those who are from hell,
come unto this sphere,
which is the sphere of heaven,
they are direfully tortured,
and insofar as they enter into this sphere,
so far they feel infernal torments within them,
and consequently become like those
who are lying in the death agony;
and therefore they instantly
cast themselves down into hell,
and no longer dare to lift up their heads.
This is the reason why
those who are in heaven are in safety
from the infestation of evils from the hells;
and this is meant by
the words of Abraham
to the rich man who was in hell:

Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed,
so that those who want to go from here to you cannot,
nor can anyone cross over from there to us.
(Luke 16:26);

and by these words:

They shall say to the mountains and to the rocks,
Fall on us, and hide us
from the face of Him that sits on the throne,
and from the wrath of the Lamb.
(Revelation 6:6; Hosea 10:8)

But as regards truth,
this can be approached by the evil,
because the evil pervert truths
by wrong interpretations,
and so apply them to favor their own evil desires;
but in proportion as good is present in truths,
truths cannot be approached.
From this it can be seen
what kind of protection is possible in the other life
to those who are solely in truths,
which are called the truths of faith,
and not at the same time in good.
By good is meant
charity toward the neighbor and love to the Lord,
for all goods are from this source.