REFORMATION AND REGENERATION

After dealing with the subject of repentance Swedenborg turns to discuss that of Reformation and Regeneration. These processes follow all true repentance, An important part of the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ is that which tells us of the imperative need of rebirth. A person who is not born again cannot enter the kingdom of God. We are all familiar with the Lord's words to Nicodemus, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God ...

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God; That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of spirit is spirit.” That a person must be born again, says Swedenborg, is' due to the fact that everyone is born prone to evils. By heredity, from a long chain of ancestors, we inherit animal tendencies in the natural degree of our minds. On that natural plane we are as to our will, hardly removed from the animals. We have the savagery of the tiger, the cunning of the fox, the ravening instincts of the wolf.

Of course we differ from the animals in our understanding. Our thoughts can be elevated even to the light of heaven. But in our will lie possibilities of every conceivable evil If we should abandon ourselves to evil desires we come down to the level of the beasts. But we are born for heaven. It is the Divine aim and intention that every human soul shall be brought into heaven. To this end we must be reborn. Our natural selfhood is opposed to heaven. We are only restrained by civil law from rushing into diabolical evils.

The removal of these tendencies to evil, and the implanting and development of a new will are the work of reformation and regeneration. Because all people have been redeemed by the Lord, all can be regenerated. Because all are born into freedom of will, all can be reformed and saved. If people do not enter heaven it is because they have refused to prepare for it. They have denied the opportunities of rebirth and have deliberately chosen to follow the promptings of the tendencies to evil born in them.

They have turned their backs on all opportunities to be reborn. The nature of regeneration is imperfectly understood today. It is often regarded as merely another name for conversion. People who have been suddenly converted believe they have been completely regenerated. But such is not the case. Conversion is a very real thing. There is a point in time which those who have been opposed to the Lord and have turned their backs on goodness, experience a great change, submit their wills to the Lord and turn to face heaven.

That is conversion, or repentance. But the building of a new human hood, the spiritual, heavenly, regenerated individual is a lengthy process. Swedenborg tells us that “regeneration is accomplished in a manner analogous to that in which the human being is conceived, carried in the' womb, born and educated.” Which is to say, that the new will commences in comparative weakness and obscurity, grows gradually in strength and power, until at last it embraces and dominates the whole personality. The individual has become spiritual.

Here we may ask, What is the special part played by reformation in relation to this new birth? Reformation means that we cease to do evil. Regeneration means that we learn to do well but there is a more specific aspect of reformation worthy of note. Reformation means also a changed attitude of mind. When people follow the impulses of their natural mind and indulge in evils and ungodly pleasures, heavenly and spiritual truth is unpalatable. They see no beauty in the Word of God and scoff at all things that relate to heavenly life.

But when they repent they adopt a new attitude and the mind is open to the truth. They welcome the teachings of the Divine Word. Reformation has commenced. It is the first step toward the new birth within their hearts. The human mind is always free, but it never rises permanently above the level of the desires of the heart. In reformation, however, it seeks the truth, and by means of that truth shows the new-born will the path in which to walk. After the new birth has commenced there is a great change in our outward conduct.

We seek to walk in the way of the Lord. And to an interested onlooker it would appear as if regeneration commenced on the outside and then penetrated more and more to the inward recesses of the soul. No, says Swedenborg, that is not the true process. All real change comes from within. It is the internal person that is first reborn. A new birth in the external life comes second. From within outward is the real process of spiritual growth. “Rend your hearts and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God.”

All this change does not take place without a long and bitter conflict. Our hereditary tendencies to evil are not easily quelled. In one of our favorite hymns we sing, “Fight the good fight with all thy might.” It is a real battle. We win a victory today, but the enemy will make another assault tomorrow. The flesh rises against the spirit. Evil raises its ugly head. Day by day we must watch and pray. Heart and mind become a battlefield. Even the Lord Jesus had to fight within himself for victory. We read that he was tempted of the devil.

Tempted at all points, as we are tempted, he conquered in every conflict and emerged stainless and triumphant. Not even the redemption he wrought for us can spare us the battle against our hereditary foes. We have to fight. But always he gives us the strength and endurance necessary to victory. No one can escape the battle, but no one need lose it. We ate never tempted beyond our power of resistance. The conflict may be long, but victory crowns the life of all who endure to the end. What distinguishes the regenerated individual?

It is not merely that whereas formerly we were evil, now we are good. There is of course that fundamental change in life. But this second birth has done something more. It has given us new wills and new understanding. Formerly, the heart was self-centered, and the mind was egocentric. We thought only of ourselves, willed only our own pleasure and good. But now with rebirth the will is directed toward the Lord and toward the neighbor. The understanding has a new quality and a new outlook. We no longer look merely to earthly things.

Our will desires after, and our thought aspires to, things of eternal life. Swedenborg tells us, too, of a change that takes place in the regenerated person's spiritual environment. The spiritual world and its countless inhabitants are all around us. Our natural eyes cannot see its beauty, nor can our natural ears hear its music. Nevertheless there is close contact between this earth and the realm of spirit. Regeneration changes our spiritual environment. A regenerate person is in communion with angels of heaven, an unregenerate one in communion with spirits of hell.

Neither angel, spirit, nor any person here knows of this association. Otherwise Human freedom would be impaired. But our spiritual environment has much to do with the quality of our lives and also with the life that flows into us from the Lord. 0ne of the most interesting aspects of this subject of regeneration is found in Swedenborg's statement that so far as one is regenerated sins are removed, and this removal is the forgiveness of sins. There is a widespread belief that our sins are recorded by an angel in a book, and that at some far-off judgment day we shall have to account for every evil thought and idle word. But the truth is that every person is his own book of life.

Sins are written on the memory, and interwoven with the spiritual tissues of the spiritual body. In the future life a person's quality is manifested in the face. Evils have stamped themselves on the countenance. But as a person is reborn and renewed, the sins of the past life are removed. The memory of them may never be entirely eradicated; but it becomes quiescent, buried deeply under a new memory of faithfulness to the Lord, a new memory of countless deeds of loving obedience to Divine Law, a new memory of kindliness towards fellow beings. In this way sins are removed and forgiven. The regenerated individual enters the higher life cleansed and purified by Divine Grace.

The former evil of a person's life has been buried beyond possibility of revival. Regeneration spells angelhood. Many people believe that an oral confession of sin and un-worthiness is all that is necessary to merit forgiveness of sins and entrance into heaven. Swedenborg lends no countenance to this idea. He tells us that regeneration must come from human effort exercised in strength given by the Lord. And it must be done in spiritual freedom. No person can be reclaimed under compulsion; the quality of a life can only be changed by obedience to the Lord given in spiritual freedom.

The Lord does all things possible for our regeneration, but we must cooperate in the work. We must fight the good fight, fight as from ourselves, but always in acknowledgment that the power and strength come from the Lord.

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