614.刚才所说的一切可以证实，罪的赦免并非把它们根除或冼去，而是移走它们，从而将其分离出去。还可证实，人实际归给自己的一切邪恶依然存留。既然罪的赦免就是将它们移走并分离出去，那么可知，人被主从邪恶那里扣留，并被保守在善中，这就是他经由重生接受的礼物。我曾听最低层天堂的某个人说，他被免除罪恶，因为它们已被洗去，并补充说，“通过基督的宝血”。但因为他在天堂，并且是出于无知犯这样的错，所以他被投入自己的罪中，当这些罪返回时，他承认它们，从而获得新的信仰，即每个人，包括每名天人都被主从邪恶那里扣留，并被保守在善中。
这清楚说明了何为罪的赦免，它不是一瞬间的事，而是重生的结果，与重生同步推进。移走罪就是所谓罪的赦免，这好比将秽物从以色列人的营地扔到他们四围的沙漠，因为他们的营地代表天堂，沙漠代表地狱。它也好比从以色列人那里移走迦南地的众民族，从耶路撒冷那里移走耶布斯人，这些人并没有被逐出，而是被分离出去。它还好比非利士人的神、大衮的命运，当约柜被抬进来时，它先是脸伏于地，然后头和双手在门槛上折断，所以它没有被逐出，而是被移走。
它同样好比被主赶到随后投到海里的猪群上的魔鬼，在圣言中，“海”在此以及别处皆代表地狱。它还好比追随龙的人群，当他们从天堂被分离出来后，先是侵扰大地，后被投入地狱。它又好比众多野兽出没的森林，当森林被砍伐后，这些野兽便逃到邻近的灌木丛中，然后中间的地面被平整，经过耕作变成良田。
614. 刚才所说的一切可以证实, 罪的赦免并非把它们根除或冼去, 而是移走它们, 从而将其分离出去。 还可证实, 人实际归给自己的一切邪恶依然存留。 既然罪的赦免就是将它们移走并分离出去, 那么可知, 人被主从邪恶那里扣留, 并被保守在善中, 这就是他经由重生接受的礼物。 我曾听最低层天堂的某个人说, 他被免除罪恶, 因为它们已被洗去, 并补充说, “通过基督的宝血”。 但因为他在天堂, 并且是出于无知犯这样的错, 所以他被投入自己的罪中, 当这些罪返回时, 他承认它们, 从而获得新的信仰, 即每个人, 包括每名天人都被主从邪恶那里扣留, 并被保守在善中。
这清楚说明了何为罪的赦免, 它不是一瞬间的事, 而是重生的结果, 与重生同步推进。 移走罪就是所谓罪的赦免, 这好比将秽物从以色列人的营地扔到他们四围的沙漠, 因为他们的营地代表天堂, 沙漠代表地狱。 它也好比从以色列人那里移走迦南地的众民族, 从耶路撒冷那里移走耶布斯人, 这些人并没有被逐出, 而是被分离出去。 它还好比非利士人的神, 大衮的命运, 当约柜被抬进来时, 它先是脸伏于地, 然后头和双手在门槛上折断, 所以它没有被逐出, 而是被移走。
它同样好比被主赶到随后投到海里的猪群上的魔鬼, 在圣言中, “海”在此以及别处皆代表地狱。 它还好比追随龙的人群, 当他们从天堂被分离出来后, 先是侵扰大地, 后被投入地狱。 它又好比众多野兽出没的森林, 当森林被砍伐后, 这些野兽便逃到邻近的灌木丛中, 然后中间的地面被平整, 经过耕作变成良田。
第11节 在属灵的事上若没有选择自由, 重生是不可能的
614. From these points it can be seen that being forgiven for our sins is not a matter of their being completely washed away or eliminated from us, but of their being relocated and sequestered within us. It is also clear that every evil that we have actively made our own stays with us.
Because "forgiveness of sins" means that they are relocated and sequestered within us, it follows that we are withheld from our evil by the Lord and held in goodness. This is the benefit that regeneration gives us.
On one occasion I heard someone in the lowest heaven saying that he was free of sin because his sins had been washed away; he added that this had been done by the blood of Christ. Because he was in heaven and had that mistaken belief through ignorance, he was plunged back into his sins. As they returned upon him, he owned up to them. As a result, he adopted a new belief, which was that every human being and every angel is held back by the Lord from what is evil inside them and kept in what is good.
[2] This experience also makes it clear that our sins are not instantly forgiven; they are forgiven in accordance with our regeneration and our progress in it.
The laying aside of our sins, which is called forgiveness of sins, can be compared with the dumping of waste from the camp of the children of Israel in the surrounding desert (their camp represented heaven; the desert represented hell).
It can also be compared with the separation of the nations from the children of Israel in the land of Canaan, and of the Jebusites in Jerusalem [Joshua 15:63]; they were not cast out, they were just kept apart.
It can also be compared with Dagon, the god of the Philistines. When the ark was brought in, Dagon first lay on its face on the ground, and afterward lay with its head and its hands broken off on the threshold [1 Samuel 5:3-4]. It was not cast out; it was just moved to a different place.
[3] It can also be compared with the demons that the Lord sent into the pigs, who then plunged into the sea [Matthew 8:31-32]. The sea here and elsewhere in the Word means hell.
It can also be compared with the dragon's gang, which was separated from heaven. It first invaded the earth and was then cast down to hell [Revelation 12:9; 20:2, 10].
It can also be compared with a forest full of predatory animals. Once the forest is cut down, the animals retreat into the surrounding bushes, and the land in the middle is leveled and cultivated as a field.
614. What has been said can serve to establish that the forgiveness of sins is not their rooting out or wiping away, but their removal and so separation. All the evil remains that a person has by his deeds made his own. Since the forgiveness of sins is their removal and separation, it follows that a person is held back from evil and kept in good by the Lord. This is the gift he receives by regeneration.
I once heard someone in the lowest heaven say that he was free from sins because they had been wiped away, 'by the blood of Christ' he added. But since he was inside heaven, and made this mistake through ignorance, he was plunged into his own sins, and as they recurred to him, he acknowledged them. This led him to accept a new belief, that everyone, man as well as angel, is held back from evils and kept in good by the Lord.
[2] This makes it plain what the forgiveness of sins is, not an instantaneous event, but the consequence of regeneration, advancing in step with it. The removal of sins, what is called their being forgiven, can be compared with the casting out of filth from the Children of Israel's camp in the desert, which lay all around them; for their camp represented heaven, the desert hell. It can also be compared with the removal of the nations in the land of Canaan by the Children of Israel, and the removal of the Jebusites from Jerusalem; they were not cast out, but separated. It can also be compared with the fate of Dagon, the god of the Philistines; when the Ark was brought in, it first of all lay face down on the ground, and afterwards lay on the threshold with its head and the palms of its hands cut off; so it was not cast out, but removed.
[3] It can be compared with the demons the Lord sent into the swine, which afterwards drowned themselves in the sea; here and elsewhere in the Word the sea stands for hell. It can also be compared with the dragon's crowd, which when separated from heaven first invaded the earth, and afterwards was cast down into hell. Another comparison can be made with a wood full of wild beasts of many kinds; if it is cut down, the beasts take refuge in the surrounding thickets, and then when the ground has been levelled, the area contained within it is cultivated to make agricultural land.
614. From what has been presented it can be seen that the forgiveness of sins is not their being rooted out and washed away, but their removal, and thus their separation; also that every evil that a man has actually appropriated to himself remains. And since the forgiveness of sins is their removal and separation, it follows that man is withheld from evil by the Lord and kept in good, and this is what is given to man by regeneration. I once heard a certain person in the lowest heaven saying that he was exempt from sins, because they had been washed away, adding, "by the blood of Christ." But because he was in heaven, and was in that error from ignorance, he was let into his own peculiar sins, and as they returned he acknowledged them; thereby acquiring a new belief, namely, that every man, as well as every angel, is withheld from evil and kept in good by the Lord.
[2] This shows plainly what the forgiveness of sins is, that it is not instantaneous, but follows regeneration according to the progress thereof. The removal of sins which is called the forgiveness of them, may be likened to the casting forth of the filth from the camps of the children of Israel into the desert which was round about them; for their camps represented heaven, and the desert hell. It may also be likened to the removal of the nations from the children of Israel, in the land of Canaan, and of the Jebusites from Jerusalem; these were not cast out, but separated. It may also be likened to what occurred to Dagon the god of the Philistines, in that when the ark was brought in he first lay upon his face on the ground, and afterward, with his head and hands cut off, upon the threshold; thus he was not cast out, but removed.
[3] It may also be likened to the demons sent by the Lord into the swine that afterward plunged into the sea; "the sea" there and elsewhere in the Word, signifying hell. It may also be likened to the throng that followed the dragon, which, on being separated from heaven, first invaded the earth, and was afterward cast down into hell. It may also be likened to a forest where there are wild beasts of many kinds which when the forest is cut down flee to the neighboring thickets, and then the ground in the midst being leveled it becomes by cultivation a field.
614. From what has been said it may be evident that the remission of sins does not mean their extirpation and the washing of them away, but their removal and thus their separation; and further, that every evil which a man has actually made his own, remains with him. As the remission of sins means their removal and separation, it follows that a man is withheld from evil and kept in good by the Lord, and that this protection and care come to him by regeneration. I once heard a certain person in the lowest heaven say that he was free from sins, and he added, by the blood of Christ. As he was in heaven, and had erred through ignorance, he was permitted to resume his own particular evils; but as they returned, he acknowledged them [to be sins]. He, therefore, acquired a new faith, namely, that every man, like every angel, is withheld from evils and kept in good by the Lord.
[2] It is evident from this that the remission of sins is not instantaneous, but that it follows regeneration as this progresses.
The removal of sins, which is called their remission, may be compared to the casting out of what was unclean from the camp of the Children of Israel in the wilderness, that lay round about; for their camp represented heaven and the wilderness, hell. It may also be compared to the removal of the nations from the Children of Israel in the land of Canaan, and of the Jebusites from Jerusalem: they were not cast out, but separated. It may be compared to what took place with Dagon, the god of the Philistines, who, on the introduction of the ark, first fell on his face to the ground, and afterwards lay on the threshold with his head and the palms of his hands cut off. Thus he was not cast out, but removed.
[3] It may be compared to the sending of the demons by the Lord into the herd of swine, which thereupon drowned themselves in the sea: the sea, in this and other passages of the Word, signifies hell. It may also be compared to what happened to the throng following the dragon, which, on being separated from heaven, first invaded the earth, and was afterwards cast down into hell. It may also be compared to the cutting down of a forest where lurk wild beasts of every kind. These flee into the surrounding thickets, and the intervening land is cleared and cultivated, and becomes a fruitful field.
614. Ex adductis constare potest, quod peccatorum remissio 1 non sit illorum exstirpatio et abstersio, sed quod sit illorum remotio et sic separatio; tum quod omne malum, quod homo actualiter sibi appropriavit, remaneat; et quia remissio peccatorum est illorum remotio et separatio, sequitur, quod homo a Domino detineatur a malo, et contineatur in bono; et quod hoc sit quod datur homini per regenerationem. Quondam audivi quendam in Ultimo Coelo dicentem, 2 quod immunis a peccatis sit, quia illa abstersa sunt, adjecit per sanguinem Christi; sed quia intra Coelum ille erat, et ex ignorantia in illo errore, immissus est in sua peccata propria, quae sicut redierunt, agnovit illa; ex quo fidem novam acceptavit, quae erat, quod omnis homo, sicut omnis Angelus, ex Domino detineatur a malis, et teneatur in bonis.
[2] Ex his patet, quid Remissio peccatorum, quod non sit instantanea, sed quod sequatur regenerationem, secundum ejus progressus. Remotio peccatorum, quae vocatur remissio eorum, comparari potest cum ejectione sordium e Castris filiorum Israelis in deserto, quod circum illa erat, nam Castra illorum repraesentabant Coelum, et Desertum Infernum. Comparari etiam potest cum remotione gentium a filiis Israelis, in terra Canaane, et Jebusaeorum a Hierosolyma, quae non ejectae sunt sed separatae. Comparari potest cum Dagone Deo Philistaeorum, quod cum introducta est Arca, primum jacuerit super faciebus suis in terra, et postea cum capite et volis manuum ejus abscissis super limine; ita non ejectus, sed remotus.
[3] Comparari potest cum daemonibus missis in porcos a Domino, qui se postea immerserunt mari; per mare hic et alibi in Verbo significatur infernum. Comparari etiam 3 potest cum turba draconis, quae separata e Coelo primum invasit terram, et postea dejecta est in infernum. Comparari 4 etiam potest sylvae, ubi sunt multiplices ferae, qua abscissa aufugiunt ferae in Dumeta circum circa, et tunc terra complanata in medio excolitur in agrum.
Footnotes:
1. Prima editio: remissio.
2. Prima editio: diceatem.
3. Prima editio: atiam.
4. Prima editio: Compaiari.