The New Church - Free Will, Morality, and Salvation

Free Will, Morality, and Salvation

Free will to choose between good and evil originates from the spiritual equilibrium that exists between heaven and hell. Hell continually influences man to do evil, and heaven continually influences man to do good. It is from this spiritual equilibrium that man has freedom to think rationally, and it is from this freedom that one can be spiritually reformed by acknowledging evil in one's self, then ceasing to do evil, and finally to hold that evil in aversion. The reason why this choice is spiritual in origin is there is a constant spiritual influx into the soul and mind with every thought and action. Inasmuch as one does good one becomes conjoined with angels, and inasmuch as one does evil one becomes conjoined with evil spirits. One must become reformed and saved by means of Divine truth: for it is truth which fights against what is evil and false. When the truth is accepted and one sees an internal evil selfish desire, combat or temptation results. One must resist against evil temptation from one's own effort, which appears as a remorse of conscience, but in reality this is a combat that takes place between the Lord and the devil or hell. Thus "he who thinks that he fights from himself against the devil is enormously deceived."

Salvation or condemnation is a result of one's moral choices in life, based on one's intentions. Good is only considered good once evils are removed, not before. Good must be done for the sake of the Lord our of love, and not for profit or self-honor. And, one must acknowledge that all good comes from the Lord only, and only the Lord can conquer temptation. This is a continuous process during one's lifetime. If this is the case, the question then arises, why was it necessary for Jesus Christ to come to save the human race? The answer to that is before the time of Jesus, the spiritual equilibrium between heaven and hell had become imbalanced, and hell began to gain control and influence over humanity: more people began to choose evil, and an eternal damnation threatened the entire human race. By becoming incarnate in human form, Jehovah could fight directly against all of hell, as Jesus suffered enormous temptations from the body He inherited from His human mother. This process continued until Jesus conquered all temptations, and thus all of hell, even to the point where His physical body was made one with the Divine. From His body the Divine proceeded forth as the Holy Spirit, by which He can directly operate through each person's will for reformation, so that each person can become conjoined directly with the Lord.

Remission of sins is nothing more than their removal after repentance. This is the other point where the New Church differs from the older Christian churches. "The belief that the passion of the cross was redemption itself is a fundamental error of the church; and that error, together with the error concerning three Divine persons from eternity, has perverted the whole church, so that nothing spiritual is left in it." The passion of the cross was simply the last temptation that was endured before the human was made Divine. There is no such thing as vicarious atonement, where sins are transferred from one person to another. Passages from scripture that refer to the body and blood of Jesus refer to the Divine Good and Divine Truth which proceeds from his Divine Human; and these are imbibed or imputed by a life of charity and faith.