ans write, I know thy works; repent," Rev. iii. 14, 15, 19. "I heard a voice from heaven saying, Blessed are the dead, which die in the Lord from henceforth; yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow with them," Rev. xiv. 13. "A book was opened, which is that of life, and the dead were judged according to those things which were written in the book, all according to their works,” Rev. xx. 12, 13. 'Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, that I may give to every one according to his works," Rev. xxii. 12. In like manner it is written in the Old Testament: " Recompense them according to their work, and according to the deed of their hands," Jer. xxv. 14. "Jehovah, whose eyes are open upon all the ways of men, to give to every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his works," Jer. xxxii. 19. "I will visit him according to his ways, and recompense him according to his works," Hosea iv. 9. "Jehovah hath dealt with us according to our ways, and according to our works," Zech. i. 6. So there are many places, in which it is required that men should do the statutes, commandments, and laws; as in the following: "Ye shall observe my statutes and my judgments, which if a man do, he shall live by them," Levit. xviii. 5. "Ye shall observe all my statutes and my judgments, to do them," Levit. xix. 37. chap. xx. 8, chap. xxii. 31. "Blessings are pronounced, if they do the commandments, and curses if they do them not," Levit. xxvi. 4 to 46. The children of Israel were commanded to make to themselves a fringe on the borders of their garments, that they might remember all the precepts of Jehovah to do them, Deut. xxii. 12, not to mention a thousand other passages to the same purport. That works are what constitute man a member of the church, and that he is saved according thereto, the Lord also teaches in his parables, several of which imply, that they who do good are accepted, and that they who do evil are rejected; as in the parable concerning the husbandmen in the vineyard, Matt. xxi.. 33 to 44; and concerning the fig-tree which did not yield fruit, Luke xiii. 6; and concerning the talents and pounds given to trade with, Matt. xxv. 14 to 31. Luke xix. 13 to 25; and concerning the Samaritan who bound up the wounds of him that fell among thieves, Luke x. 30 to 37; and concerning the rich man and Lazarus, Luke xvi. 19 to 31; and concerning the ten virgins, Matt. xxv. 1 to 12.

3. The true reason why every one, who has any religion, knows and acknowledges that he who lives well will be saved,

and that he who lives ill will be condemned, is grounded in the conjunction of heaven with the man who is acquainted by the Word that there is a God, that there is a heaven and a hell, and that there is a life after death; hence is derived that general perception. Wherefore in the doctrine of the Athanasian Creed, which is universally received throughout all Christendom, what is said in the conclusion is universally received also, viz. 'Jesus Christ, who suffered for our salvation, ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father Almighty, whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead; and then they who have done good shall enter into life eternal, and they who have done evil into everlasting fire."

4. There are many, nevertheless, in Christian churches, who teach that faith alone is saving, and not any good of life, or good work; they add also, that evil of life, or evil work, does not condemn those who are justified by faith alone, because they are in God and in grace. But it is extraordinary, that although they teach such doctrines, still they acknowledge (which is in consequence of a general perception derived from heaven) that they are saved who live well, and they are condemned who live ill. That they acknowledge this, is evident from the EXHORTATION, which is publicly read in all churches, both in England, in Germany, in Sweden, and in Denmark, previous to the celebration of the Holy Supper. That in those kingdoms there are some who teach the doctrine of faith alone, is well known. The EXHORTATION, which is publicly read in England previous to the celebration of the sacrament of the Lord's supper, is as follows:

5. "The way and means to be received as worthy partakers of that holy table, is, first, to examine your lives and conversations by the rule of God's commandments, and whereinsoever ye shall perceive yourselves to have offended either by will, word, or deed, there to bewail your own sinfulness, and to confess yourselves to Almighty God, with full purpose of amendment of life; and if ye shall perceive your offences to be such as are not only against God, but also against your neighbors, then ye shall reconcile yourselves unto them, being ready to make restitution and satisfaction, according to the utmost of your power, for all injuries and wrongs done by you to any other, and being likewise ready to forgive others that have offended you, as ye would have forgiveness of your offences at God's hand; for otherwise the receiving of the holy communion doth nothing else but increase your damnation.

Therefore if any of you be a blasphemer of God, a hinderer or slanderer of his Word, an adulterer, or be in malice or envy, or in any other grievous crime, repent you of your sins, or else come not to the holy table: lest, after the taking of that holy sacrament, the devil enter into you, as he entered into Judas, and fill you with all iniquity, and bring you to destruction both of body and soul.

*7. It was given me to ask some of the English clergy who professed and preached the doctrine of faith alone, (which was done in the spiritual world,) whether, whilst they were reading in their churches the above exhortation, in which faith is not even mentioned, they believed what is there as serted, viz. that if any do evil and do not repent, the devil will enter into them, as he entered into Judas, and destroy both body and soul? They replied, that in the state in which they were, whilst reading the exhortation, they knew and thought no other than that what they read was the truth and essence of religion; but that when they began to conceive and compose their discourses or sermons, they thought differently, because they then thought about faith as being the only means of salvation, and about the good of life as being only accessary thereto in promoting the public good. But still it was proved to conviction, that they also had a general perception, that whosoever lives well is saved, and whosoever lives ill is condemned, and that they had this perception when they were not under the influence of their own proprium, or selfhood.

8. The reason why all religion has relation to life is, because every one after death is his own life, for it remains the same as it was in the world, and is in no respect changed; inasmuch as an evil life cannot be converted into a good life, nor a good life into an evil life, these being opposites, and conversion into an opposite is extinction: it is on account of this opposition that a good life is called life, and an evil lifeis called death. Hence it is that religion has relation to life, and that the life thereof is to do good. That man, after death, is such as his life had been in the world, may be seen in the Treatise concerning HEAVEN and HELL, n. 470 to 484.

*This paragraph is n. 7, and the preceding one is n. 5; the reason of which is, because, in n. 5 of the original, the exhortation to the sacrament is quoted in English, as above, and n. 6 is merely occupied by a translation of the same into Latin.

II. THAT NO ONE CAN DO GOOD, WHICH IS REALLY GOOD,

FROM HIMSELF.

9. AT this day scarcely any one knows, whether the good which he does be from himself or from God; the reason is, because the church has separated faith from charity, and good is of charity. A man gives to the poor, relieves the needy, endows churches and hospitals, promotes the good of the church, of his country, and of his fellow-citizens, frequents places of public worship, listens attentively to what is said there, and is devout in his prayers, reads the Word and books of piety, and thinks about salvation; and yet knows not whether he does such things from himself or from God. It is possible he may do them from God, and it is possible he may do them from himself: if he does them from God, they are good; if from himself, they are not good. Yea, good things of a like nature may be done by man from himself, which yet are actually evil, as is the case with what is hypocritical, which is grounded in deceit and artifice.

10. Good things done from God and from man's self, may be compared with gold. Gold, which is real gold from its inmost ground, and is called sterling gold, is good gold: gold mixed with silver, is also gold, but its goodness is according to the mixture: it is still less good when mixed with copper: but gold artificially made, and only resembling gold in color, is not good, inasmuch as the substance of gold is not in it. There is also what is gilded; as gilded silver, copper, iron, tin, lead, and also gilded wood, and gilded stone, which superficially may appear as gold, but inasmuch as they are not gold, they are esteemed, either according to the excellence of the workmanship, or according to the value of the gilded material, or according to the value of the gold which may be scraped off: these differ in goodness from real gold, as a man's clothes differ from the man himself. It is possible, also, that rotten wood, and dross, yea, and even dung, may be overlaid with gold; this is gold which may be compared with pharisaical good.

11. Man has the skill to discern whether gold be substantially good, whether it be mixed and counterfeit, and whether it be only a covering of gold; but he has not the skill to discern whether the good which he does be in itself good this only he knows, that good from God is good, and that good from man is not good: Wherefore, it being of importance to

salvation, to know, whether the good which he does be from God, or whether it be not from God, it is expedient that it should be revealed. But before it is revealed, it may be necessary to speak concerning the various kinds of good.

12. There is civil* good, moral good and spiritual good. Civil good is that which a man does whilst acting under the influence of civil law; and by this good, and according to it, he is a citizen in the natural world. Moral good is that which a man does whilst acting under the influence of the law of reason; and by this good, and according to it, he is a man. Spiritual good is what a man does whilst acting under the influence of a spiritual law and by this good, and according to it, he is a citizen in the spiritual world. These three kinds of good follow in this order; spiritual good is the supreme, moral good is the middle, and civil good is the ultimate, or lowest.

13. The man who is principled in spiritual good, is a moral man, and also a civil man ; whereas the man who is not principled in spiritual good, appears as if he was a moral and civil man, but still he is not so in reality. The reason why the man who is principled in spiritual good is a moral and civil man, is, because spiritual good has the essence of good in it, and consequently moral and civil good also. The essence of good cannot possibly originate in any other but in Him, who is good itself. Give to thought its utmost range, call forth all its powers, and inquire whence it is that good is good, and you will perceive that it is from its esset, and that that is good which has in it the esse of good; consequently, that that is good, which is from good itself, that is, from God; consequently, that good not from God, but from man, is not good.

*The term CIVIL is here used to denote what appertains to the state, or the community, to which man belongs here on earth; according to which sense, CIVIL good is that, which is connected with, and conducive to, the common good of the state, or community, and is regulated by the laws thereof. According to the same sense, a CIVIL man, (see n. 13,) is one who consults the good of the state or community to which he belongs, by submitting his conduct to the regulation of its laws.

+ It is not possible to express, by any single word in our language, the precise idea which the author here means to convey by the word ESSE. The reader, who is acquainted with the Latin tongue, will readily apprehend the full mean ing of the term: It may be expedient, however, in order to assist the conception of the unlearned, to observe, that by the term ESSE is expressed the inmost ground or principle of a thing's existence; and when applied here to good, it signifies good in its inmost ground or principle, which is God; and that noth ing therefore is really good, but what has its ground or principle of goodness in God. The same term ESSE is applied below, n. 43 and 48, to the human will, to distinguish it from the understanding, the understanding being only an exist ence, whose ESSE, or ground of being, is in the will.