NJHD 141, 144, 147 - Freedom

NJHD 141, 144, 147

All freedom is of love,
for what man loves,
this he does freely;
so also all freedom is of the will,
for what man loves, this he also wills;
and because love and the will make the life of man,
so also does freedom. 

The freedom of doing good,
and the freedom of doing evil,
though they appear alike in the external form,
are as different and distant from each other
as heaven and hell are:
the freedom of doing good also is from heaven,
and is called heavenly freedom;
but the freedom of doing evil is from hell,
and is called infernal freedom;
so far, also, as man is in the one,
so far he is not in the other,
for no one can serve two lords (Matt. 6:24).

Man is kept by the Lord between heaven and hell,
and thus in equilibrium,
that he may be in freedom for the sake of reformation.
What is inseminated in freedom remains,
but not what is inseminated in compulsion.
Therefore freedom is never taken away from anyone.
No one is compelled by the Lord.
. . . the Lord leads man by means of freedom into good;
by means of freedom he turns him from evil,
and bends him to good,
so gently and tacitly
that the man knows no other
than that all proceeds from himself.