Do we earn our salvation? Or do we do nothing at all? These are two positions we tend to fall into, yet the truth is somewhere in between.
Reading Exodus chapter 30, verses 11-16, the temple tax, or ransom money.
“Wherever a Church exists, heresies arise in it as a consequence of people basing their thinking on one particular article of faith to which they attach supreme importance.” (Arcana Caelestia, paragraph 362)
THE FAITH OF THE NEW CHURCH There is one God, in whom is the Divine Trinity, and He is the Lord God the Saviour, Jesus Christ. Saving faith is to believe in Him. Evil actions are not to be done, because they are of the hells and from the hells. Good actions are to be done, because they are of God and from God. And these are to be done by man as if from himself; but it ought to be believed that they are from the Lord working in man and by him.
Heavenly Secrets, paragraph 10225, on the four stages of life: … the first state (0 to 5 years) is a state of ignorance and also of innocence within ignorance. … only the most external levels, those of the senses, are open … … the second state (5 to 20 years) is one in which instruction is received and knowledge is acquired … The young person does not arrive at any conclusion by himself nor draw any distinction between one truth and another, nor even between truth and falsity, only with the help of others. The third state (20 to 60 years) is a state in which understanding exists because the person now thinks for himself, drawing distinctions and arriving at conclusions; and the conclusions are his, not another's. At this time belief begins; for belief is not a person's own until he has confirmed what he believes with ideas that are the product of his own thinking. The last state (60 years and above) however is one of wisdom and of innocence within wisdom which exists when a person is no longer concerned just to gain an understanding of truths and forms of good, but he's concerned to make them part of his will and life; for then the person has wisdom. And how far that person is able to make them part of his will and life depends on how much innocence he has, that is, on how far he believes that left to himself he has no wisdom at all, but that whatever wisdom he has is derived from the Lord, and also on how far he loves this to be so.
And from paragraph 10227, section 2: … everyone possesses the ability to understand and be wise; but the reason why one person may be wiser than another is that they are not alike in attributing to the Lord all that constitutes understanding and wisdom, ... all forms of truth and good constituting wisdom flow in from heaven, that is, from the Lord there. The attribution of them all to the Lord opens the inner levels of a person's mind towards heaven. For that attribution involves the acknowledgement that no truth or good at all come from self; and in the measure that this is acknowledged self-love departs, and along with it the thick darkness resulting from falsities and evils. In the same measure also the person attains innocence, love to the Lord, and faith in Him. As a result of this the person is linked to the Divine, who then flows in, bringing enlightenment. …
“My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:30) - still a burden
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” (Rev 3:20)
The nature of love: "The essence of love is not to love self, but to love others and through love to be conjoined with them. It is also the essence of love to be loved by others, for thus is conjunction achieved." (Divine Love & Wisdom, paragraph 47)
Recorded on Sunday 3rd April 2022.