Session Six
CONTINUATION: BY THE PASSION OF THE CROSS THE LORD DID NOT TAKE AWAY SINS, BUT BORE THEM
CONTINUATION: BY THE PASSION OF THE CROSS THE LORD DID NOT TAKE AWAY SINS, BUT BORE THEM
No where can it be seen that in regards to the Lord's passion, leading up to and including His crucifixion, that a man's sins are taken away by such. We have already shown what 'Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world' means, and, even, here in the literal sense it is not said the sins of man, but 'of the world' taken away that is mentioned. Of course, if by the 'world' is meant the earth or globe then what sins does it have? So basically, it is referring to the Church, for the Church is within man in God's presence, but since man has sinned and distorted that presence the Lord is no longer present or recognized. Yet, by knowing what the internal sense of Word means and in this case concerning how the Lord was treated by the Israelites and His crucifixion will reveal how He bore or carried our sins, that is, how He held together the natural state in which a man lives in until coming into the spiritual.
Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Concerning the Lord
16 [5]. That the Lord Himself, as the Greatest Prophet, represented the state of the Church as to the Word, appears from the particulars of His passion, as: He was betrayed by Judas: He was taken and condemned by the chief priests and elders: they buffeted Him and smote Him on the head with a reed: they put a crown of thorns (upon His head): they divided His garments and cast lots for His vesture: they crucified Him: they gave him vinegar to drink and pierced His side: He was buried and rose again on the third day.
[6]. He being betrayed by Judas signified that He was betrayed by the Jewish nation, with whom the Word then was; for Judas represented that nation. His being taken and condemned by the chief priests and elders signified that He was taken and condemned by the whole of that Church. Their scourging Him, spitting in His face, buffeting Him and smiting him on the head with a reed, signifies that they did the like to the Word, with respect to its Divine truths, which all treat of the Lord. Their putting a crown of thorns (on His head), signified that they have falsified and adulterated those truths. Their dividing His garments and casting lots for His vesture signified that they had dispersed all the truths of the Word, but not its spiritual sense: for the vesture of the Lord signified this sense of the Word. Their crucifying Him signified that they destroyed and profaned the whole Word. Their offering Him vinegar to drink signified that all was utterly falsified and false; and therefore He did not drink it, and then said, It is finished. Their piercing His side signified that they had completely extinguished all the truth of the Word and all its good. His being buried signified the rejection of what still remained of His Human derived from the mother. [7]. His rising again on the third day signified His glorification. Such also is signified by the same things in the Prophets and in the Psalms where they are foretold.
On this account also, after He had been scourged and led out wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe was put on Him by the soldiers, He (Pilate) said: Behold the Man! (John xix 1-5). This was said because by man is signified the Church, for by the Son of Man is signified the truth of the Church, and consequently the Word. Now it is evident from these things that by bearing iniquities is meant to represent and portray in Himself sins against the Divine truths of the Word.
That the Lord endured and suffered such treatment as the Son of Man, and not as the Son of God, will be seen in what follows; for the Son of Man signifies the Lord as the Word.
The question comes, how, then, if the Lord in His passion on the cross does not take away our sins, but only bore them, are we saved? We saw how the Lord bore our iniquities and that in so doing He was to be seen as a sign and represented the Church. He was a sign to all, especially to the Church at that time - the Israelitish. So, as they had rejected the Word, so they rejected the Lord and, thus, His life, having loved their own life more than God even as men today do. We saw that all who did and who does then falls into temptations from hell. To those who did not and who do not treat Him with distain or reject Him receive His life - His Love and Wisdom - implanted 'as it were' within us.
We saw that the hells had attacked the Lord's Human that He assumed upon coming to earth and that He overcame and was victorious in all His combats against them. This victory was so much so, that today they (the evils) are now subjugated in hell and cannot harm us when we willing allow, not only the truth, but the Lord's goodness, to bring life to us, for it is His living and reigning within us that we have abundant life. Has the acceptance of the Lord's life been made possible by the Lord's passions including the passion on the cross? Or, is there some special knowledge or formula to follow for one to believe? Probably, most 'Old' Christian Churches would say and teach that it is by one's faith that one is saved, which means that the Lord lived His good life in their stead, which they call imputation. (The subject of imputation will be discussed in a future session.) And, to be sure, one's faith does have something to do with salvation and his entrance into Heaven. However, as was pointed out in the Session Five of this doctrinal point concerning the Lord's passion, one's faith must be in the truth and primarily that truth is to be lived, that is, one is to live a good life 'as of himself' and not a sinful life.
The point, that faith has to do with, is to teach and instruct, because by faith is meant a life lived according to the truth. Truths are for one's instruction, but it is the actual willing to live or the acting of the truth that becomes charity with us that unites us with the Lord and, thus, He lives within us. What we can understand, here, is that there are two parts to the doctrine of salvation as it relates to the Lord's death and His passion on the cross: One, that of faith and the other of charity; one, what is of the understanding and one which is of the will of man. Thus, these two spiritual essences of love and wisdom - good and truth - become one in us as faith and charity and, as they do, we are saved.
Let us now look at this teaching in a logical and rational way. If we only know the truth, but do not acknowledge it by following it with living accordingly, we have no ground on which to claim any removal of sin from our life. Likewise, if we know about the Lord and His teachings and, even, though we may outwardly act accordingly, but we do so for our gain or for reputation and honor, we may foolishly think we are saved and may even fool others of how 'good' we live according to the Lord's truths. The sins we would do have only been held in subjugation until a greater temptation comes or when those around us no longer can observe us. One can see that any such an act is not for the sake of the truth or for the Lord, but for the sake of one's self. Beside, when in the other world - the spiritual world - when the natural has been put off, the desires of the love of self then comes forth and such loves are fit only for hell. Anyone may understand that one who lives an evil life is not allowed in Heaven, but only in hell.
So, how is it that one can accept within himself the Lord's essence, that is, His goods and truths so that he or she lives from Him, after all, if these qualities are not within us, then aren't we but only in falsities and evils? How can we reach such a state in the Lord's love where we have true charity along with true faith, that is, a true belief in God? Don't we have the ability to understand the Word, even if it is only understood naturally? Yes, of course, we do, and the Lord would not leave us in our present state of 'death', but would provide us a way that we can become prepared and purified of our sins for a life in Heaven.
Isn't it, also, true that we can be sorry for our trespasses and debts, for how we have hurt and wronged others? Yes, we can ask for forgiveness from others, but mainly the Lord's. We can truly repent of our sins. In that way, we can become sorry for the evil life that we lived against the Lord and the neighbor and so repent of our sins. We had said that the evils of hell have been subjugation and all their power taken away by the Lord, who came, fought, and was victorious over them. Since that is true, are we redeemed and so all we need do is accept it. It is true the Lord did redeem mankind and that if He had not come into the world, we would not have been able to receive His Divine truth, let alone His Divine good, and in fact, the devil, the prince of this world, had superior power prior to the Lord's coming and would have plucked any remaining truth and good out of a man's heart.
Now, here, is the key to a man's redemption and his salvation. Sins are not taken away by the passion on the cross, but they are when one believes on the Lord and lives according to the commandments taught in the Word.
In confirmation of this we quote from the Word.
The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Concerning the Lord
17 [1] Something will now be said regarding what is meant by taking away sins. By taking away sins is meant the same as by redeeming man and saving him; for the Lord came into the world that man might be saved. Without His Coming, no mortal could have been reformed and regenerated, and thus saved: but this became possible after the Lord had taken away all power from the devil, that is, from hell, and has glorified His Human, that is, has united it to the Divine of His Father. If these things had not been done, no man could have received any Divine truth that would remain with him, and still less, any Divine good; for the devil, who prior to this had superior power, would have plucked them out of his heart.
[2] From these considerations it is manifest that the Lord did not take away by the passion of the cross; but that He takes away, that is, removes them, with those who believe on Him by living according to His commandments. This the Lord also teaches in Mathew:
Think not that I am come to destroy the Law and the Prophets. . . .Whosoever shall break the least of these commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called the least in the kingdom of the Heavens: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of the Heavens. Matthew v 17.19.
[3] Every one may see from reason alone, if he be in any enlightenment, that sins cannot be taken away from a man, except by actual repentance; and this consists in the man seeing his sins, imploring help from the Lord and desisting from them. To see, believe and teach otherwise, is not from the Word, nor is it from sound reason, but from lust and a depraved will, which constitute man's proprium, by which his intelligence is bemused.
Although the above selection of the Word can be plainly understood in its natural sense, there are things which need further explanation. Example: what is actual repentance? Before that is explained one needs to see the contrast between a man's rational and a rational from the Lord with man. In session five one saw the rational of the man who of himself makes doctrine from the Word of the Old and New Testaments without his knowing the Word's spiritual or internal sense, and before the Divine Human, the Third Testament, which was given to the world or accepted. Basically, such a doctrine that comes from a man's natural rational is, one that man's sins are taken away by the Lord's death and passion on the cross. And, as we have seen, such a doctrine was substantiated through a literal understanding of John i 29 and Isaiah liii 4 to end. Now, here, in number 17 of the book The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Concerning the Lord we see clearly the Word of both the Old and New Testaments explained and accommodated for us and we can literally understand how the Lord took away our sins, even using the words that the Lord spoke in Matthew v 17, 19 which explaining how sins are taken away. Of course, the man who rejects this work and depends upon his 'proprium' remains in darkness and falsities because of his natural rational. Natural reasoning has come to understand that his sins are removed by the Lords death on the cross, while a 'rational' that comes from the Lord sees they are taken away when one believes on the Lord by living according to His commandments. We see that very few will come to know and acknowledge this truth without a Revelation to them through the Word of the Divine Human or someone to teach them, yet, it can be known from the Old and New Testaments even without having any awareness of the correspondences as have just been shown.
Now, let us find out what is actual repentance so that one's sins may actually be taken away or removed 'as it were'. What this consists of is an actual effort on our part to live according to the commandments. The Word openly teaches this, and all Christians know and believe that they can do nothing that is good itself, and that good is only of and from the Lord. Therefore, it is more than just saying in pray that they have sinned, but it is an examination of one's self, of his life so as to learn what sins he harbors and has done. It is a knowing and an acknowledgement of one's sins. Thus, it is making one's self guilty and confessing to the Lord and asking for His help to resist from continuing with such sins. In other words, it is asking for the power to resist sinning, for the shunning of sins is the beginning of charity with us. What this enables is the living of a new life as from one's self, knowing that the goodness that comes is the Lord's, it is His goodness and His truthfulness enlivened within us.
Again, let us examine what repentance is. Is it not said in the Word to do the work of repentance, and believe in Christ, and our sins will be remitted and we will be saved? Then, how can one believe that repentance can be performed without true faith, saying we are saved by grace without any merit of our own? Or what do we need, then, but a faith alone that God the Father has sent His Son that He might take away the condemnation of the law, etc., and give us the Holy Spirit to work every good in us? We know the Lord taught repentance for the remission of sins and to believe on Him. He commanded the disciples to do the same. Still, the doctrine of the Lord's passion is so strongly taught that it is said, the Lord has justified us because we believe this and so we are led by the spirit of grace. Such think sin has no part of them and that death has nothing to do with them.
Indeed, repentance is absolutely necessary and we can confirm this from the Word:
John preached the baptism of repentance and said, 'Bring forth . . . fruits worthy of repentance,' Luke iii 3, 8; Mark I 4.
Jesus began to preach, and to say, 'Repent'. Mark i 14, 15
'Except you repent, you shall all . . . perish.' Matthew iv 17.
Jesus instructed His disciples ' . . . 'that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations.' Luke xxiv 47; Mark vi 12.
There are many more verses in the Acts of the Apostles that show the necessity of repentance, not to mention the book of revelation where the Church of Pergamos, Thyatira, and Laodeicia are mentioned.
Obvious, one cannot confess repentance with the lips only that he is a sinner, for he would then be a hypocrite, it must be repentance from evil works. Then one's sins are remitted, that is, one is detained from evils and kept in good by the Lord. Repentance precedes remission of sins, wherefore the Lord commanded the disciples, that they should preach repentance for the remission of sin.
End.
Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Concerning the Lord
16 [5]. That the Lord Himself, as the Greatest Prophet, represented the state of the Church as to the Word, appears from the particulars of His passion, as: He was betrayed by Judas: He was taken and condemned by the chief priests and elders: they buffeted Him and smote Him on the head with a reed: they put a crown of thorns (upon His head): they divided His garments and cast lots for His vesture: they crucified Him: they gave him vinegar to drink and pierced His side: He was buried and rose again on the third day.
[6]. He being betrayed by Judas signified that He was betrayed by the Jewish nation, with whom the Word then was; for Judas represented that nation. His being taken and condemned by the chief priests and elders signified that He was taken and condemned by the whole of that Church. Their scourging Him, spitting in His face, buffeting Him and smiting him on the head with a reed, signifies that they did the like to the Word, with respect to its Divine truths, which all treat of the Lord. Their putting a crown of thorns (on His head), signified that they have falsified and adulterated those truths. Their dividing His garments and casting lots for His vesture signified that they had dispersed all the truths of the Word, but not its spiritual sense: for the vesture of the Lord signified this sense of the Word. Their crucifying Him signified that they destroyed and profaned the whole Word. Their offering Him vinegar to drink signified that all was utterly falsified and false; and therefore He did not drink it, and then said, It is finished. Their piercing His side signified that they had completely extinguished all the truth of the Word and all its good. His being buried signified the rejection of what still remained of His Human derived from the mother. [7]. His rising again on the third day signified His glorification. Such also is signified by the same things in the Prophets and in the Psalms where they are foretold.
On this account also, after He had been scourged and led out wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe was put on Him by the soldiers, He (Pilate) said: Behold the Man! (John xix 1-5). This was said because by man is signified the Church, for by the Son of Man is signified the truth of the Church, and consequently the Word. Now it is evident from these things that by bearing iniquities is meant to represent and portray in Himself sins against the Divine truths of the Word.
That the Lord endured and suffered such treatment as the Son of Man, and not as the Son of God, will be seen in what follows; for the Son of Man signifies the Lord as the Word.
The question comes, how, then, if the Lord in His passion on the cross does not take away our sins, but only bore them, are we saved? We saw how the Lord bore our iniquities and that in so doing He was to be seen as a sign and represented the Church. He was a sign to all, especially to the Church at that time - the Israelitish. So, as they had rejected the Word, so they rejected the Lord and, thus, His life, having loved their own life more than God even as men today do. We saw that all who did and who does then falls into temptations from hell. To those who did not and who do not treat Him with distain or reject Him receive His life - His Love and Wisdom - implanted 'as it were' within us.
We saw that the hells had attacked the Lord's Human that He assumed upon coming to earth and that He overcame and was victorious in all His combats against them. This victory was so much so, that today they (the evils) are now subjugated in hell and cannot harm us when we willing allow, not only the truth, but the Lord's goodness, to bring life to us, for it is His living and reigning within us that we have abundant life. Has the acceptance of the Lord's life been made possible by the Lord's passions including the passion on the cross? Or, is there some special knowledge or formula to follow for one to believe? Probably, most 'Old' Christian Churches would say and teach that it is by one's faith that one is saved, which means that the Lord lived His good life in their stead, which they call imputation. (The subject of imputation will be discussed in a future session.) And, to be sure, one's faith does have something to do with salvation and his entrance into Heaven. However, as was pointed out in the Session Five of this doctrinal point concerning the Lord's passion, one's faith must be in the truth and primarily that truth is to be lived, that is, one is to live a good life 'as of himself' and not a sinful life.
The point, that faith has to do with, is to teach and instruct, because by faith is meant a life lived according to the truth. Truths are for one's instruction, but it is the actual willing to live or the acting of the truth that becomes charity with us that unites us with the Lord and, thus, He lives within us. What we can understand, here, is that there are two parts to the doctrine of salvation as it relates to the Lord's death and His passion on the cross: One, that of faith and the other of charity; one, what is of the understanding and one which is of the will of man. Thus, these two spiritual essences of love and wisdom - good and truth - become one in us as faith and charity and, as they do, we are saved.
Let us now look at this teaching in a logical and rational way. If we only know the truth, but do not acknowledge it by following it with living accordingly, we have no ground on which to claim any removal of sin from our life. Likewise, if we know about the Lord and His teachings and, even, though we may outwardly act accordingly, but we do so for our gain or for reputation and honor, we may foolishly think we are saved and may even fool others of how 'good' we live according to the Lord's truths. The sins we would do have only been held in subjugation until a greater temptation comes or when those around us no longer can observe us. One can see that any such an act is not for the sake of the truth or for the Lord, but for the sake of one's self. Beside, when in the other world - the spiritual world - when the natural has been put off, the desires of the love of self then comes forth and such loves are fit only for hell. Anyone may understand that one who lives an evil life is not allowed in Heaven, but only in hell.
So, how is it that one can accept within himself the Lord's essence, that is, His goods and truths so that he or she lives from Him, after all, if these qualities are not within us, then aren't we but only in falsities and evils? How can we reach such a state in the Lord's love where we have true charity along with true faith, that is, a true belief in God? Don't we have the ability to understand the Word, even if it is only understood naturally? Yes, of course, we do, and the Lord would not leave us in our present state of 'death', but would provide us a way that we can become prepared and purified of our sins for a life in Heaven.
Isn't it, also, true that we can be sorry for our trespasses and debts, for how we have hurt and wronged others? Yes, we can ask for forgiveness from others, but mainly the Lord's. We can truly repent of our sins. In that way, we can become sorry for the evil life that we lived against the Lord and the neighbor and so repent of our sins. We had said that the evils of hell have been subjugation and all their power taken away by the Lord, who came, fought, and was victorious over them. Since that is true, are we redeemed and so all we need do is accept it. It is true the Lord did redeem mankind and that if He had not come into the world, we would not have been able to receive His Divine truth, let alone His Divine good, and in fact, the devil, the prince of this world, had superior power prior to the Lord's coming and would have plucked any remaining truth and good out of a man's heart.
Now, here, is the key to a man's redemption and his salvation. Sins are not taken away by the passion on the cross, but they are when one believes on the Lord and lives according to the commandments taught in the Word.
In confirmation of this we quote from the Word.
The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Concerning the Lord
17 [1] Something will now be said regarding what is meant by taking away sins. By taking away sins is meant the same as by redeeming man and saving him; for the Lord came into the world that man might be saved. Without His Coming, no mortal could have been reformed and regenerated, and thus saved: but this became possible after the Lord had taken away all power from the devil, that is, from hell, and has glorified His Human, that is, has united it to the Divine of His Father. If these things had not been done, no man could have received any Divine truth that would remain with him, and still less, any Divine good; for the devil, who prior to this had superior power, would have plucked them out of his heart.
[2] From these considerations it is manifest that the Lord did not take away by the passion of the cross; but that He takes away, that is, removes them, with those who believe on Him by living according to His commandments. This the Lord also teaches in Mathew:
Think not that I am come to destroy the Law and the Prophets. . . .Whosoever shall break the least of these commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called the least in the kingdom of the Heavens: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of the Heavens. Matthew v 17.19.
[3] Every one may see from reason alone, if he be in any enlightenment, that sins cannot be taken away from a man, except by actual repentance; and this consists in the man seeing his sins, imploring help from the Lord and desisting from them. To see, believe and teach otherwise, is not from the Word, nor is it from sound reason, but from lust and a depraved will, which constitute man's proprium, by which his intelligence is bemused.
Although the above selection of the Word can be plainly understood in its natural sense, there are things which need further explanation. Example: what is actual repentance? Before that is explained one needs to see the contrast between a man's rational and a rational from the Lord with man. In session five one saw the rational of the man who of himself makes doctrine from the Word of the Old and New Testaments without his knowing the Word's spiritual or internal sense, and before the Divine Human, the Third Testament, which was given to the world or accepted. Basically, such a doctrine that comes from a man's natural rational is, one that man's sins are taken away by the Lord's death and passion on the cross. And, as we have seen, such a doctrine was substantiated through a literal understanding of John i 29 and Isaiah liii 4 to end. Now, here, in number 17 of the book The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Concerning the Lord we see clearly the Word of both the Old and New Testaments explained and accommodated for us and we can literally understand how the Lord took away our sins, even using the words that the Lord spoke in Matthew v 17, 19 which explaining how sins are taken away. Of course, the man who rejects this work and depends upon his 'proprium' remains in darkness and falsities because of his natural rational. Natural reasoning has come to understand that his sins are removed by the Lords death on the cross, while a 'rational' that comes from the Lord sees they are taken away when one believes on the Lord by living according to His commandments. We see that very few will come to know and acknowledge this truth without a Revelation to them through the Word of the Divine Human or someone to teach them, yet, it can be known from the Old and New Testaments even without having any awareness of the correspondences as have just been shown.
Now, let us find out what is actual repentance so that one's sins may actually be taken away or removed 'as it were'. What this consists of is an actual effort on our part to live according to the commandments. The Word openly teaches this, and all Christians know and believe that they can do nothing that is good itself, and that good is only of and from the Lord. Therefore, it is more than just saying in pray that they have sinned, but it is an examination of one's self, of his life so as to learn what sins he harbors and has done. It is a knowing and an acknowledgement of one's sins. Thus, it is making one's self guilty and confessing to the Lord and asking for His help to resist from continuing with such sins. In other words, it is asking for the power to resist sinning, for the shunning of sins is the beginning of charity with us. What this enables is the living of a new life as from one's self, knowing that the goodness that comes is the Lord's, it is His goodness and His truthfulness enlivened within us.
Again, let us examine what repentance is. Is it not said in the Word to do the work of repentance, and believe in Christ, and our sins will be remitted and we will be saved? Then, how can one believe that repentance can be performed without true faith, saying we are saved by grace without any merit of our own? Or what do we need, then, but a faith alone that God the Father has sent His Son that He might take away the condemnation of the law, etc., and give us the Holy Spirit to work every good in us? We know the Lord taught repentance for the remission of sins and to believe on Him. He commanded the disciples to do the same. Still, the doctrine of the Lord's passion is so strongly taught that it is said, the Lord has justified us because we believe this and so we are led by the spirit of grace. Such think sin has no part of them and that death has nothing to do with them.
Indeed, repentance is absolutely necessary and we can confirm this from the Word:
John preached the baptism of repentance and said, 'Bring forth . . . fruits worthy of repentance,' Luke iii 3, 8; Mark I 4.
Jesus began to preach, and to say, 'Repent'. Mark i 14, 15
'Except you repent, you shall all . . . perish.' Matthew iv 17.
Jesus instructed His disciples ' . . . 'that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations.' Luke xxiv 47; Mark vi 12.
There are many more verses in the Acts of the Apostles that show the necessity of repentance, not to mention the book of revelation where the Church of Pergamos, Thyatira, and Laodeicia are mentioned.
Obvious, one cannot confess repentance with the lips only that he is a sinner, for he would then be a hypocrite, it must be repentance from evil works. Then one's sins are remitted, that is, one is detained from evils and kept in good by the Lord. Repentance precedes remission of sins, wherefore the Lord commanded the disciples, that they should preach repentance for the remission of sin.
End.
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