--_Arcana Coelestia, n._ 10,325
THE LIFE OF CHARITY AND FAITH
"He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the
Lord require of thee, but to do justly and to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with thy God."
--_Micah,_ VI, 8
THE LAW OF CHARITY
Not to do evil to the neighbor is the first thing of charity, and to
do good to him fills the second place.... That a man cannot do good
which in itself is good before evil has been removed, the Lord teaches
in many places: "Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit"--_Matt._ XVI, 18.
So in Isaiah: "Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your
doings from before Mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well" (I,
16,17).
--_True Christian Religion, n._ 445
GOOD IN ITS WHOLENESS
Before repentance good is not done from the Lord, but from the man. It
has not, therefore, the essence of good within it, however it appears
like good outwardly. Good after repentance is another thing
altogether.
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