Otherwise the truth he thinks and the good he does are not in themselves
truth and good, for the man and not the Lord is in them. Good in which
the man is and which is done by him for salvation's sake is
self-righteous, but not that in which the Lord is.

91. Few can grasp with understanding that acknowledgment of the Lord, and
acknowledgment that all good and truth are from Him, cause one to be
reformed and regenerated. For a person may think, "What does the
acknowledgment effect when the Lord is omnipotent and wills the salvation
of all? This He wills and can accomplish if only He is moved to mercy."
One is not thinking then from the Lord, nor from the interior sight of
the understanding, that is, from enlightenment. Let me say briefly what
the acknowledgment accomplishes.

[2] In the spiritual world where space is appearance only, wisdom brings
about presence and love union, or the contrary happens. One can
acknowledge the Lord from wisdom, and one can acknowledge Him from love.
The acknowledgment of Him from wisdom (viewed in itself this is only
knowledge) is made by doctrine; acknowledgment from love is made in a
life according to doctrine. This effects union, the other, presence.
Those, therefore, who reject instruction about the Lord remove themselves
from Him, and as they also refuse life they part from Him. Those who do
not reject instruction, but do refuse life, are present but still
separated--like friends who converse but do not love each other, or like
two one of whom speaks as a friend with the other, although as his enemy
he hates him.

[3] The truth of this is commonly recognized in the idea that one who
teaches and lives well is saved but not one who teaches well but lives
wickedly, and in the idea that one who does not acknowledge God cannot be