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Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem · 11 of 14

Shunning False Witness: Loving Truth

87.IN PROPORTION AS ANY ONE SHUNS FALSE WITNESS OF EVERY KIND AS SIN, IN THE SAME PROPORTION HE LOVES THE TRUTH. To “bear false witness,” in the natural sense, means not only to play the false witness, but also to lie, and to defame. In the spiritual sense, to “bear false witness” means to declare some false thing to be true or some evil thing good, and to persuade others that it is so; and the converse. And in the highest sense, to “bear false witness” means to blaspheme the Lord and the Word. These are the three senses of “bearing false witness.” That these make a one in the man who bears false witness, utters a lie, or defames, is evident from what has been shown respecting the three senses of all things of the Word, in the Doctrine of the Holy Scripture (n. 5-7, etc. and n. 57).

88.As lying and the truth are two opposite things, it follows that in proportion as anyone shuns lying as sin, in the same proportion he loves the truth.

89.In proportion as anyone loves the truth, in the same proportion he desires to know it, and in the same proportion is affected at heart when he finds it. No one else comes into wisdom. And in proportion as anyone loves to do the truth, in the same proportion he is sensible of the pleasantness of the light in which the truth is. It is the same with all the other things spoken of above; with sincerity and justice in the case of one who shuns thefts of every kind; with chastity and purity in the case of one who shuns adulteries of every kind; and with love and charity in the case of one who shuns murders of every kind; and so forth. On the other hand, one who is in the opposites to these heavenly things knows nothing about them, although everything that is truly something is present in them.

90.It is the truth that is meant by the “seed in the field,” of which the Lord said: A sower went forth to sow, and as he sowed some fell upon the way, and it was trodden down, and the fowls of heaven devoured it; and some fell upon stony places, and as soon as it was sprung up, because it had no root it withered away; and some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprung up with it and choked it; and other fell into the good ground, and sprung up, and bare fruit manifold (Luke 8:5-8; Matt. 13:3-8; Mark 4:3-8). Here the “sower” is the Lord, and the “seed” is His Word, thus the truth; the “seed upon the way” exists with those who do not care for the truth; the “seed upon stony places” exists with those who do care for the truth, but not for its own sake, thus not interiorly; the “seed in the midst of thorns” exists with those who are in the concupiscences of evil; but the “seed in good ground” exists with those who love the truths that are in the Word from the Lord, and do them from Him, thus who bear fruit. That these things are meant is evident from the explication of the parable by the Lord (Matt. 13:19-23, 37; Mark 4:14-20; Luke 8:11-15). From all this it is evident that the truth of the Word cannot take root in those who do not care for the truth, nor in those who love the truth outwardly and not inwardly, nor in those who are in the concupiscences of evil, but in those in whom the concupiscences of evil have been dispersed by the Lord. In these the “seed”-that is, the truth-takes root in their spiritual mind (concerning which above, n. 86 at the end).

91.It is a general opinion at the present day that to be saved consists in believing this thing or that which the church teaches, and that it does not consist in keeping the commandments (which are, Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness) in both the restricted and the extended sense. For it is maintained that works are not regarded by God, but faith, when nevertheless the truth is that in proportion as anyone is in these evils, in that same proportion he has no faith. (See above n. 42-52.) Take counsel of reason and observe whether, so long as he is in the concupiscence of these evils, any murderer, adulterer, thief, or false witness is able to have faith; and also, further, whether the concupiscence of these evils can be shaken off in any other way than by refusing to will to commit them for the reason that they are sins, that is, because they are infernal and devilish. So that whoever imagines that being saved consists in believing this thing or that which is taught by the church, while himself remaining thus evil in feeling and in character, must needs be a “foolish man,” in accordance with the words of the Lord in Matthew 7:26. Such a church is thus described in Jeremiah: Stand in the gate of Jehovah’s house, and proclaim there this word: Thus saith Jehovah of Armies the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings; trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, are these. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, We are delivered, while ye do all these abominations? Is this house become a den of robbers? Behold, I, even I, have seen it, saith Jehovah (Jer. 7:2-4, 9-11).