Because goods and truths that proceed from the Lord were not and are not accepted by man as being the Lord's, and have been distorted, mankind now lives in various degrees or states of evil and falsity. Basically, these are seen in four different kinds: 1 - They who are in falsities from evil and in falsities not from evil. 2 - They who are in truths apart from good. 3 - They who are in truths and through them regard, and inspire to, good and 4 - They who are in truths from good.

The first state concerns falsities from evils and falsities not from evil. Now, the Word reveals these readily both historically and prophetically. In the Ancient Church - the Noachian Church  - history treats of its development and its decline or 'fall' into which mankind came into falsities and evils. Although this Church was a Spiritual Church and had the knowledge of the science of correspondences and, therefore, could come to understand spiritually the truths of the Lord, over time, however, they fell into external worship and eventually that worship became devoid of God and embraced false gods. Thus, one sees this when Abram was called out from his father's house and came into Canaan where the Amalekites and other nations were and later when the Israelites returned there out of bondage in Egypt. It is in external worship that evils and falsities enter a man's heart and mind. Now, it is in the names mentioned in Genesis 10 that the Israelites were later to kill or drive out of the land of Canaan. They, in fact, represent the evils and falsities that fought against in themselves, for they would have corrupted them, that is, their worship of Jehovah.

However, when the Word is understood not only from its literal sense, but also from its spiritual sense we see, that what is shown in this is the decline of man into evils and falsities. Such a man has separated himself from the Lord just as those who had separated themselves from the Lord and fell from the Lord's grace and had left paradise. In other words, the life of man becomes distorted from what was God's purpose in creation when he chooses to live from himself and rejects the life that the Lord gives him in which he receives good and truth and that is in all the universe. From Divine Love and Wisdom comes only good and truth. However, let us confirm this state wherein there comes these falsities that come from evils into man and those not from evils that mankind today comes into.

In chapter 14 of Genesis, we see that historically there was a dispute and a war between various nations - those peoples who had grown out of the Spiritual Church, out of Noah and his sons. Now, we know later on when the Israelites were in the land of Canaan that the Amalikites were those there whom they fought against and were to defeat. So, in them - the Amalekities and others - can be seen representing the kinds of falsity and evil that man comes into. They did not worship the Lord God, but Baal - a false god. Therefore, we see the Word in Genesis 14 that the Amalekites were also those slain by those in the Ancient Church. One may look upon these battles and wars as a man's temptations. In this it is to be seen that the goods and the truths of the external man - of those whose worship had became external - had to fight against evils and falsities because the goods and truths in them were no longer the Lord's. They were from self and in these there is the tendency to love self.  Such truths from man were and are only apparent truths and likewise are such goods. The Kings that are listed in verse one in Genesis 14 are those apparent goods and truths that are of man, and the kings seen in verse 2 are the falsities and evils of man that they fought against. In this story one may see a struggle that continues even today portrayed in the squabbles and fights between man and in the wars between nations and peoples. 
Now, why would God instruct the Israelites not to make friends with other nations? Doesn't making friends seem right, good, moral and civil, which Christians are to do, and to act towards all? Well, as we have shown, these - the various nations in Canaan (as the Amalekites) - represent the falsities and evils of mankind that had fallen away from the Lord's good and truth, that is, from true life, which are present in man's spiritual worship. Are not falsities and the worship of false gods the corruption of life? Had the evils and falsities lived among the goods and truth in a man he would become corrupted and instead of the apparent truths and goods that a man has naturally by obedience to them, he eventually will embrace falsity and evil. One can look at this in this way: A parent (God) wishes His child (God's creation of man) to grow up being moral and civil and, at first, may keep their child safe at home (in Paradise). He also teaches the child how to be good and truthful. (He taught them to eat of the trees of the garden, even of the tree in the middle of the garden, and warning them not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and later teaches through His Revelation - the Word). So, that when His children does venture into the world (rejects Him and His Word) and comes into such evil (the love of self and the world) that lead them astray, entice them, teach them falsities, and lead them into a life of evil, they are able to resist and could turn again to Him. These are but temptations, which they are to fight against and 'as it were' kill within themselves such as the Israelites, were to rid the Land of Canaan of the Amalekities.

So, in being able to understand the spiritual sense of the Word and not just its literal sense where one sees only apparent truths, we learn that it is because of falsities that come from evils that enter one's mind through the will and, thus, through one's desire for self and for worldly things that enter through the understanding, that become distorted and false. The life of a person is in his or her love and, if the person loves evils, then falsities become a part of his or her life and the person, in time, becomes confirmed in falsity and evil. Or, if the person in such falsity who received from principles through the understanding, then these cannot be rooted out of the will once they are confirmed. All that is produced from falsities coming from evils is an evil life.

From a practical sense what is produced from the evils of life in man take this example: If a person believes in meriting salvation by works, and confirms himself in this belief, then self justification and confidence are the evils that come from it. Or if it is believed impossible to have piety without placing merit in works, then he extinguishes all piety of life and gives himself up to cupidity and pleasure. What one sees here are the falsities that are not from evils.

However, there are falsities that are from evils. And, in these, one lives in evils such as adultery and thinks it is lawful, even honorable, and has delight in it, and promotes it with others, etc. There is another falsity and is that which produces evils. As an example: when man believes some principle is good and holy, when in itself is evil. Such is the person who believes that a man has power to save and, so, worships and adores the man. What we come to understand, here, is the degeneration of man from celestial to where nothing celestial remains in him. This can be seen in the spiritual history of the Church, such as when the flood consumed all those of the Most Ancient or the Adamic Church, except the remnant who then became the spiritual Church. And, again, this can be seen when Abraham lived in Canaan and in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Remember that the people who lived in those cities were the progeny of the Ancient Church and had turned from God and to self-love and came into false and evil worship.)

Here, it should be pointed out that this decline of mankind and his consummation is continued in the Israelitish Church until the only way for a man's salvation was in the Lord's Coming. And, it is in Him that the celestial and spiritual in man was again made possible to become conjoined with his natural and thus come into Heaven. This was accomplished in the Lord in His uniting the Divine Essence with His Human Essence in Himself.
Good and truth that go to create and sustain man are turned into evil and falsity, because man distorts them. Thus, instead of peace and a life from Heaven man comes into hell. To learn more of such falsities and evils that man has fallen into see The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 21 concerning Good and Truth.

Nonetheless, there are those who are in truths but not in goods. One can understand that such truths are not in themselves truths, because they have no life. Life was shown as one's love and if the love is not what is good or from the Lord, then there is no true life, but instead there is death. It is as a body without a soul. Let us see this explained. Today, a man receives good only through his understanding, which is like a vessel that receives good from God just as light is the recipient of heat from the sun. The light, of course, one easily understands means the 'truth' and heat refers to the 'good'. Thus are goods and truths similar. In this one sees how truth without good would be like a body without a soul. So, if there is evil instead of good within man, then he is more than just inanimate, but he is as a corpse, that is, dead - a body in which there is no soul.

What is put forth here is that a person can be in the truth, though not in good, but for him to know truth he must scrutinize these truths that are not from good, that is, that are not from God, for from good or God truth receives its quality. Recall that truth is alive when good is within and about it. In reality, if this is not so with man, then the man's faith is without charity, his faith being the truth and his good the charity. In fact, when man is in any affection of doing good, he comes into the truth, which then enters into a good. Of course, when he turns away from good, truth becomes separate in him. In this way, truth comes into his remembrance as he lives from affection of truths and of goods. What we must come to acknowledge, here, is the marvelous Love and Wisdom of God and His continual working within man, bringing man into conjunction with Heaven and the Lord. As to the various states that the man who is in truth, though not in good, these are found in number 22 of The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine and explained in the Arcana Coelestia.

It was shown that from his state a man can come into truth and, that if he has affection for truth, he is regenerated. He can come into truth and through truth look towards, and is inspire to do good or to do well. These are truths through which there comes good to a man. What a man loves, he wills and confirms, and this he calls good and the truth. To understand how this is one must know that truths of faith - the things believed - enter the will and there they become the truths of life and are truths in act, and, so, are called good. What happens if this is continued in man is that a new will becomes formed within him by the Lord. Christians should know is the Divine Truth within them Who fights the falsities within themselves, even as He has fought and has overcame all evils and falsities that tempted Him in His Human that He put on upon coming to earth. These are seen in the temptations admitted into Him during His life here on earth, even to the passion of the cross.

When this happens to such a man there is formed within him the capability to become the recipient of true life and, so, the Lord's good and His truth enter him. The man's state, then, is reversed and Heaven is received in him; he does not receive - falsities and evils - from hell as before, which entered through his understanding dominated by his will. The case is this: Such a man, now begins to realize that the things he loved prior, such as, falsities and evils that he thought were truths and goods, he now sees that he is to slay these or to kill them within himself. In fact, as we said, there is a new will formed within him in which his love then is of good and truth that are from the Lord, and are not from self.

Perhaps you are familiar with the story of Esau having been cheated out of his birthright and blessing from his father by Jacob. Now, we all know that the Lord knows all things that are in the hearts of men. Thus, we can come to realize that even though it was wrong what Jacob did, we come to see that it was in order that the Israelitish Church could continue to exist that the Lord could come on earth and, thus it was of Divine Providence. However, there is an internal meaning or spiritual sense to these words. For instance, the story says that Esau hated Jacob and said in his heart that he would (in time) slay his brother. From a spiritual sense what he wanted was an inversion of his life to where he would have the birthright and the blessing. However, in fact, he wanted the truth that Jacob had the birthright and blessing to be inverted and, thus, in his heart, he deprived true life from himself. Basically, this is changing the truth and the good that flows from God into falsity and evil as those in hell do. From this we may understand that truth has its life from good and that falsity has its life from evil. So instead of true life they have death. We can also see that there is a conjunction of truth with good or of falsity with evil. However, there are far too many doctrinal things concerning those who are in truths and through them look towards and aspire to good to mention here. Confer with The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 23.

There is one final state that mankind is in today and that is seen in those who are in truths from good. First, there are truths, which lead to good and second, there are truths that come or proceed from good. In the first, these truths are not genuine truths, but apparent truths, for they are from the man's rational, which is the result of his rejecting life from the Lord. This can be seen in the story of Adam and Eve eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and of, thus, wanting to know truths from one's self.

In such a person truth is not divine, for it is not united with good as to be the truth from good, which is the second. Until truth comes from good, that is, from God something of the human remains in man that is not from the Divine. And, as a man is in faith by means of the truth of faith in following or in acting accordingly, the Lord 'as it were' meets such truths in him through charity or by the means of willing and doing good. These, then, fit into the man's cognition of faith, that is, into his truths. Recall here that we had said that truths are the recipients or the vessels of good. So, man is brought more and more back into Divine order where good then shines through the truths in him to where only good is seen. This, then is the man who is a celestial-spiritual man.