151.信主不仅仅是承认祂，还要遵行祂的诫命。仅仅承认祂只需理解力部分所产生的某些思维就行了；但遵行祂的诫命还需意愿那部分也承认。人的心智由理解力和意愿构成，思考是理解力的功能，行动是意愿的功能。所以，若人仅仅通过理解力的思维来承认，那他仅用一半的心思靠近主；但他若行出来，就是在用全部的心思靠近主；这才叫信。另一方面，人能将自己的心一分为二，并迫使它的表面高飞，而它的肉体却沉了下去；他就这样像鹰一样在天堂和地狱之间飞翔。然而，他并没有追随自己的目光，而是追随肉体的快乐；他这样做是因为他在地狱中；因此，他向地狱飞去；当他在那里沉浸在自己的乐趣中，并品尝魔鬼的新酒时，他一脸享受，眼里仿佛闪烁着火花，从而伪装成光明天使。凡承认主，却不守祂诫命的人死后就会变成这类撒旦。
151. 信主, 不僅僅是承認祂, 還要遵行祂的訓誡。僅僅承認只是在認知方面的思考, 而遵守祂的命令還需要意志方面的認可。人的頭腦由認知和意志組成。思考是認知方面的功能, 而行動則是意志方面的功能。人承認主僅僅是認知方面的思考, 還不到一半的頭腦來接近主。然而當他行出來時, 他就是全部頭腦(全心全意)來接近主了, 這才是信祂。
否則, 一個人就能將他的心一分為二, 讓心的表面向上定睛高飛, 而肉心則沉落地底。他像一隻鷹飛行在天國與地獄之間。然而, 他並不順著定睛的方向飛翔, 卻熱衷於肉心的帶領。因為他的肉體樂於活在地獄, 於是飛落在那裡。在那裡沉浸於他的歡樂當中, 品嘗著魔鬼的新酒, 還裝出一幅宜人的面孔。眼裡煥發光芒如火, 扮演得如同光明天人。人若承認主, 但並不遵行祂的訓誡, 這等人死後就會顯現為上述撒旦的外表。
151. Believing in the Lord is not only acknowledging him but also doing what he commands. Merely acknowledging him is just a matter of thought in our intellect. Doing what he commands also entails an acknowledgment in our will. The human mind consists of an intellect and a will. Thinking belongs to our intellect; doing belongs to our will. Therefore when we make a mere acknowledgment based on thinking in our intellect, we move toward the Lord with only half our mind. When we act, however, then we move toward the Lord with our whole mind; and this is believing.
The alternative to true belief is to divide our hearts, forcing our gaze upward while our flesh turns to face the ground. Then we fly like an eagle between heaven and hell. We do not follow our line of sight, however; we follow the pleasures of our flesh. Because our pleasures lie in hell, we fly down there. After indulging in our pleasures there and pouring out a libation of new wine to the demons, we develop a polite affectation and a sparkle in our eye; and so we masquerade as an angel of light.
These are the kind of satans that we become after death if we acknowledge the Lord but do not do what he commands.
151. Believing in the Lord is not just a matter of acknowledging Him, but includes keeping His commandments. Merely to acknowledge Him only demands some thought on the part of the understanding, but to keep His commandments requires acknowledgment too on the part of the will. The human mind is made up of the understanding and the will. It is the function of the understanding to think, of the will to act. So as long as a person's acknowledgment is merely in thought on the part of the understanding, he approaches the Lord with no more than half his mind; but when he acts, then he does so with his whole mind, and that is what believing is. Otherwise a person can split his heart in two, and force its surface to soar aloft, while its flesh sinks downwards; and so he flies like an eagle between heaven and hell. Yet he does not follow his gaze, but the delights of the flesh; and since they lie in hell, he flies down there, and after indulging in his pleasures there and tasting the demons' new wine, he puts on a jolly face, and his eyes sparkle as if with fire, so as to impersonate an angel of light. This is the satanic appearance after death of the people who acknowledge the Lord, but do not keep His commandments.
151. Believing in the Lord is not merely acknowledging Him but also doing His commandments; for simply acknowledging Him is solely a matter of thought, arising from somewhat of the understanding; but doing His commandments is also a matter of acknowledgment from the will. Man's mind consists of understanding and will; and as the understanding deals with thinking and the will with doing, so when man's acknowledgment is merely from the thought of the understanding he comes to the Lord with only half of his mind; but when there is doing he comes with all of it; and this is to believe. But on the other hand, man is able to divide his heart, and to force the outermost of his nature to soar aloft, the flesh in him meanwhile turning downward; thus he flies like an eagle between heaven and hell. And yet, the man himself does not follow his [upward] look, but the delight of his flesh; and this he does because he is in hell; therefore to hell he flies; and when he has there sacrificed to his voluptuous pleasures and poured out libations to demons, he puts on a countenance of merriment, and his eyes sparkle with fire, and so he feigns himself an angel of light. Such satans do those become after death who acknowledge the Lord but do not keep His commandments.
151. To believe on the Lord 1 is not only to acknowledge Him but also to keep His commandments; for the mere acknowledgment of Him is only a matter of thought from some measure of understanding; while the keeping of His commandments is also a matter of acknowledgment, but from the will. The mind of man consists of understanding and will, and it is the part of the understanding to think and of the will to act. Therefore, when a man only acknowledges the Lord from the thought of his understanding, he approaches the Lord with only half his mind; but when he keeps His commandments, he approaches Him with his whole mind, and this is to believe. Otherwise a man may divide his heart, and compel the superficial part of him to incline upwards, while his flesh turns downwards, and so, like an eagle, he flies between heaven and hell. He does not, however, follow his upward gaze but the delight of the flesh, and because this is in hell, thither he flies; and there, after he has sacrificed to his pleasures, and poured out libations of new wine to demons, with mirth in his countenance and fire sparkling in his eyes, he assumes the appearance of an angel of light. Those who acknowledge the Lord, and yet do not keep His commandments, become such satans after death.
Footnotes:
1. To believe in the Lord as the Christ, the Son of God, is an intellectual act, within the province of the understanding. Belief is usually followed by in. To believe on takes belief in for granted; but in addition throws the whole of the life, body and soul, upon the Lord, and is an act within the province of the will. See No 159[7].
151. Credere in Dominum, non solum est agnoscere Ipsum, sed etiam facere praecepta Ipsius, nam modo agnoscere Ipsum est solum cogitationis ex aliquo intellectu, at facere praecepta Ipsius, est quoque agnitionis ex voluntate; Mens hominis consistit ex Intellectu et Voluntate, ac Intellectus est cogitare, ac Voluntatis est facere; quare dum homo solum agnoscit ex cogitatione intellectus, duntaxat ex dimidia mente adit Dominum, at vero cum facit, tunc ex tota, et hoc est credere: alioquin potest homo dividere cor suum, ac superficiem ejus adigere, ut se elevet sursum, dum caro ejus se invertit deorsum, et sic volat sicut aquila inter Coelum et Infernum, et tamen homo non sequitur aspectum suum, sed jucundum carnis suae, et hoc quia est in Inferno, ideo devolat illuc, et postquam ibi litavit voluptatibus suis, et libavit mustum daemonibus, induit vultum ex facetiis et visum ex scintillis ignis, et sic mentitur angelum lucis: tales satanae fiunt illi post mortem, qui agnoscunt Dominum, et non faciunt praecepta Ipsius.