Spiritual life is procured solely by a life according to the precepts in the Word, which are summarily expressed in the Decalogue, namely, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet the goods of others. These precepts are meant by the precepts that are to be done; for when a man does them, then his works are good, and his life is spiritual. The reason is, that so far as a man flees from evils and hates them, so far does he will and love goods. [2] For there are two opposite spheres surrounding man, one from hell, the other from heaven. From hell, a sphere of evil and of the falsity therefrom; from heaven a sphere of good, and of the truth therefrom. And these spheres do [not] affect the body directly) but they affect the minds of men, for they are spiritual spheres; and consequently they are affections of the love, a man being set in the midst of them. So far as, therefore, he accedes to the one, so far he recedes from the other. Hence it is, that so far as man flees from evils and hates them, so far does he will and love goods and the truths therefrom;

For no one can at the same time serve two masters, for either he will hate the one, or love the other (Matt. vi. 24).

[3] But it must be understood, that man ought to do these precepts from religion, because they are commanded by the Lord. If [his actions proceed] from any other cause whatever - as, if [he acts] from civil law only, or from moral law - a man remains natural, and does not become spiritual. For if a man acts from religion, he then acknowledges in heart that there is a God, a heaven and a hell, and a life after death. If, on the contrary, he acts only from civil and moral law, he may then do similar things, and yet in heart deny that there is a God, a heaven and a hell, and a life after death. And in this case if he flees from evils and does goods, it is only in the external, and not in the internal form; thus he is outwardly as to the life of the body like a Christian, and inwardly as to the life of his spirit like a devil. From these things it is evident, that a man cannot become spiritual, or receive spiritual life, except by a life according to religion from the Lord.

[4] That this is the case has been proved to me from angels of the third or inmost heaven, who are in the greatest wisdom and happiness. When I asked these how they became such angels, they said, because when they lived in the world they accounted filthy thoughts as heinous, which to them were also adulteries; also frauds and illicit gains, which to them were thefts; also hatred and revenge, which to them were murder; so also lies and blasphemies, which to them were false testimonies; and so in other cases. Afterwards, when asked whether they did good works, they said that they loved chastity, in which they were, because they accounted adulteries as heinous; that they loved and practised sincerity and justice, because they accounted frauds and illicit gains as heinous; that they loved the neighbour, because they regarded hatred and revenge as heinous; that they loved truth, because they regarded lies and blasphemies as heinous, and so on. Also they said that they perceived, that on those [evils] being removed, to act from chastity, sincerity, justice, charity, and truth, was not from themselves, but from the Lord, and that thus good works were everything that they did from the above, although as from themselves; and that consequently after death they were raised up by the Lord into the third heaven. From these things it was clear how spiritual life, which is the life of the angels of heaven, is acquired.

[5] It shall now be explained how that life has been destroyed by the faith of the present day. That faith is, that it is to be believed, that God the Father sent His Son, who suffered the cross for our sins, and took away the curse of the law by fulfilling it; and that this faith, without good works, will save every one, indeed, even in the last hour of death. By this faith, taught from childhood and afterwards confirmed by preachings, it has come to pass, that no one shuns evils from religion, but only from civil and moral law; thus, not because they are sins, but because they are hurtful. Consider now; when a man thinks that the Lord suffered for our sins, that He took away the curse of the law, and that to believe these things, or that faith in them alone, without good works, saves, whether or not this is to treat with contempt all the precepts of the Decalogue, all the life of religion as prescribed in the Word, and moreover all the truths that teach charity. Put these aside, therefore, and remove them from a man; what religion has he? For religion does not consist in merely thinking this or that, but in willing and doing that which is thought; and there, is no religion, when willing and doing are separated from thinking. Hence it follows, that by the faith of the present day, spiritual life - which is the life of the angels of heaven, and the Christian life itself - is destroyed. Consider further, why the ten precepts of the Decalogue were promulgated from mount Sinai in so miraculous a manner; that they were engraven on two tables of stone, and that these were deposited in the ark, upon which was placed a mercy-seat with cherubs; and that the place where those precepts were, was called the Holy of holies, within which it was lawful for Aaron to enter only once a year, and this with sacrifices and incense - and if he had entered without these, he would have fallen down dead; also, that so many miracles were afterwards performed by that ark. Are not all people throughout the whole world acquainted with similar precepts? Do not their civil laws lay down the same? Who does not know from natural light (lumen) alone that, for the sake of order in every kingdom, adultery, theft, murder, false witness, and the other things contained there, are forbidden? Why, then, had those very precepts to be promulgated with so many miracles, and to be accounted as holy? Can any other reason be assigned, than that every one might do them from religion, and thus from God, and not from civil and moral law only, and consequently for the sake of self and the world? This was the reason why they were promulgated from mount Sinai, and why they were holy. For to do those precepts from religion purifies the internal man, opens heaven, admits the Lord, and makes a man, as to his spirit, an angel of heaven. This is the reason that the Gentiles, outside the church, who do those precepts from religion, are all saved, but none of those who do them only from civil and moral law.

Examine now, whether the faith of the present day, which is, that the Lord suffered for our sins, that He took away the curse of the law by fulfilling it, and that a man is justified and saved by this faith without good works, does not loosen all those precepts. Consider further, and investigate how many there are at this day in the Christian world who do not live according to this faith. I know that they will reply that they are weak and imperfect men, born in sins, and the like. But who is there that cannot think from religion? This the Lord grants to every one; and in the man who thinks such things from religion, the Lord operates all things, so far as he thinks. And, be it known, that he who thinks of those [precepts] from religion, believes that there is a God, a heaven and a hell, and a life after death; but he who does not think of them from religion, I affirm that he does not believe them.