7. Salvation. — In order to be saved, aU men require spiritual regeneration, in which the desires of the heart and the ideas of the thought are entirely renewed. Tliis is effected altogether by divine influence upon the soul, producing a new creation or new birth, man all the while co-operating by shunning in his life whatever is sinful in the sight of God. While man works exter- nally, (iod works internally. All merit belongs to the Lord, there is none in man. The superabounding di- vine goodness or mercy is the imputative ground or fo- rensic basis of forgiveness, which is freely accorded to all, under everj' dispensation, on the simple condition of repentance and departure from evil. "All his trans- gressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him" (Ezek. xviii, 22). As soon as sins are forsaken in the name of the Lord they are re- mitted. " Election" is conditional, being the result of man's own free choice of life; and "effectual calling" depends upon his own perseverance in the way of a righteous life. First comes reformation of conduct, and then regeneration of the heart, or, as it is sometimes called, sanctification, a progressive work, continuing to eternity.
The means of salvation, on the part of man, is a life according to the divine precepts contained in the Word. This form of expression is believed to be most compre- hensive, and the only truly comprehensive one that can be used ; for he who lives in the effort to obey what is commanded in God's holy Word will be in the right ■way to procure every element of a pure and righteous life. He will believe the Gospel, have faith in Christ, possess charity in the affections of the will, and show forth gooil and acceptable works. Keligion in the heart, which is lo\-e or charity, religion in the understanding, which is faith in genuine truth, and religion in the ac- tions, which are good works, are held to be unitedly and equally necessary to the Christian life or character; and the degree of purity is marked by the degree of conform- ity to the precepts of truth one yields in actual life.
8. Sacrdntrnts. — IJaptism and the Holy Supper are the only two sacraments; they are of divine institution, of permanent obligation, and, like the Word in which thoj' are commanded, both have interior, spiritual sig- nifications, communicating with heaven. They are means of actual grace, being media of bringing down renewing and sanctifying intluenccs into the minds of worthy recipients. Hence to these they are signs and seals of divine blessing, but bring no good to the un- worthy.
9. Kschatolofiy. — One of the most noticeable features of this theology is its doctrine of eschatology. It is
maintained that angels and devils, all inhabitants of the other world, indeed all finite spiritual beings, are men, and have originated in material boilies on some earth or planet. Heaven, therefore, owes its increase to the Church on this and other earths. The [ihysical globe being thus needed as a seminarj' for mankind, where they can be born and instructed and jirepared for heaven, will never come to an end, nor be destroyed, nor have the historical continuity of its affairs broken up, but, with the starry heavens above, will perpetually re- main for this use, a momiment of the wisdom and good- ness of the Creator. The " consummation of the age" spoken of in the Gosjiel refers to the end of the first Christian age, or closing up of the apostolical dispensa- tion, the second coming of the Lord, and a consequent judgment. These events, it is alleged, have already taken place, or are now in process of being fulfilled. The things foretold in the Book of Revelation bj- John are at this day receiving their fulfilment. The end of the former dipensation came about the middle of the last century, after all things in the divine providence had been prepared. As explained above, the judgment is a process belonging to the unseen world, being effected only in the world of spirits intermediate between heaven and hell. Consequently it is an event not of this visible world, and which no mortal eyes can behold — an event, a knowledge of which, whenever it does occur, cannot possibly become known to men, except by the testimony of some one raised up bj"^ the Lord, and gifted with seership or "open vision" to witness and record it, as John was shown the vision which foretold it. And this is the claim made by Emanuel Svvedenborg; that he was so gifted and commissioned by the Lord to witness, describe, and declare it, as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. The judgment occurred in 1757, and marked the change from the apostolic to the apocalyptic dis- pensation. Since then we have been living under the new order.
The second coming of the Lord is not personal, visi- ble, but spiritual. As to its outward means or instru- mentality, it consists of a body of new truth or doctrine, disclosed from the true meaning of his own Word. The entrance of this body of doctrine into our world is pre- tigured by the birth of the man-child in Kevelation, and tlie opening of the book sealed with seven seals symbol- izes the opening or explanation, the spiritual or heav- enly meaning of the Bible. The Lord comes thus to the rational thought of mankind, creating a new dis- pensation of light.