DP 82, 83, 86 - To Be Born Again

DP 82

The Lord teaches that unless one is born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God

In reply Jesus declared,
"I tell you the truth,
no one can see the kingdom of God
unless he born again."
. . ."I tell you the truth,
no one can enter the kingdom of God
unless he is born of water and the spirit.
. . . You should not be surprised at My saying,
"'You must be born again.'
(John 3:3, 5, 7)

But few know what it is
to be born again or regenerated.
That is because people do not know
what love and charity are,
and so neither what faith is.

DP 83 [1-2, 4 5, 6]

For it to be known, however,
how a person is regenerated,
we must consider the following three stages:
the nature of a person's first state,
which is a state of damnation;
the nature of his second state,
which is a state of reformation;
and the nature of his third state,
which is the state of regeneration.

A person's first state, which is a state of damnation,
every person has owing to his heredity . . ..
For in consequence of it
a person is born into a love of self
and a love of the world,
and from these
as fountainheads into evils of every kind.
The delights of these loves
are the ones by which he is led,
and the delights cause him not to know
that he is caught up in evils,
as no delight of any love is ever felt
as anything other than good.
Unless a person is regenerated, therefore,
he knows no otherwise
than that to love himself and the world
above all else
is goodness itself,
and that to dominate over all others
and to possess the wealth of all others
is the highest good.

It is from this, too, that every evil springs,
for the person looks upon no one else with love,
but only himself,
and if he does look upon another with love,
it is as a devil regards a devil
or as a thief regards a thief
when the two are acting in concert.

A person's second state,
which is a state of reformation,
occurs when he begins to think about heaven
in terms of the joy there,
and so about God,
from whom the joy of heaven is possible for him.

As long as evils remain in the lusts
and consequent delights of a love for them,
there is no faith, charity, piety or worship
except in merely outward expressions,
which to the world seem real, and yet are not.

As long as a person's character is such
that he thinks about heaven and God
in accordance with religion,
and does not think of evils as being sins,
he is still in the first state.
But he comes into the second state
or state of reformation
when he begins to think
that there is such a thing as sin,
and still more when he thinks
that this or that evil is a sin,
and when he examines it somewhat in himself
and does not will it.

A person's third state,
which is the state of regeneration,
picks up and continues on from the prior state.
It begins when a person
desists from evils as being sins,
progresses as he refrains from them,
and is perfected as he fights against them;
and as with the Lord's help
he overcomes them,
he is then regenerated.

In a person who is being regenerated,
the order of his life is changed.
From being natural he becomes spiritual.
For when separated from the spiritual component,
the natural one is contrary to order,
while the spiritual one is in order.
Consequently the regenerate person
acts out of charity,
and makes everything connected with his charity
a part of his faith.

But still, he becomes spiritual only to the extent
that he is governed by truths.
For everyone is regenerated by means of truths
and by a life in accordance with them.
It is through truths, indeed,
that he knows about that life,
and through that life that he puts them into practice.
Thus he joins together good and truth,
which is the spiritual marriage governing heaven.

DP 86

Because an evil person as well as a good one
possesses rationality and freedom,
the evil person as well as a good one
can understand truth and do good.
But an evil person cannot do so
in freedom in accordance with his reason,
while a good one can,
because an evil person
is caught up in the delight of an evil love,
whereas a good person is impelled
by the delight of a good love.
Consequently the truth
that an evil person understands,
and the good that he does,
do not become attached to him,
but do become attached to a good person;
and without their becoming attached as his,
reformation and regeneration are impossible.
For in evil people
evils are present with their falsities
as though at the center,
and goods with their truths on the peripheries.
But in good people
goods are present with their truths at the center,
and evils with their falsities on the peripheries.
Moreover, in either case those things
which are at the center
are diffused toward the peripheries,
like heat from a fire at its center,
or like cold from ice at its center.
Thus goods on the peripheries in evil people
are defiled by the evils at the center;
and evils on the peripheries in good people
are mitigated by the goods at the center.

This is the reason
that evils do not condemn a regenerate person,
and goods do not save an unregenerate one.