For
a man is such as his affection and thought are, or such as his love
and faith are, and from these all his outward acts derive their life;
since acting is willing, and speaking is thinking, acting being from
the will, and speaking from the thought. So where it is said in the
Word that man will be judged according to his deeds, and will be
rewarded according to his works, it is meant that he will be judged
and rewarded in accordance with his thought and affection, which are
the source of his deeds, or which are in his deeds; for deeds are
nothing apart from these, and are precisely such as these are.{1} All
this shows that the man's external accomplishes nothing, but only his
internal, which is the source of the external. For example: if a man
acts honestly and refrains from fraud solely because he fears the
laws and the loss of reputation and thereby of honor or gain, and if
that fear did not restrain him would defraud others whenever he
could; although such a man's deeds outwardly appear honest, his
thought and will are fraud; and because he is inwardly dishonest and
fraudulent he has hell in himself. But he who acts honestly and
refrains from fraud because it is against God and against the
neighbor would have no wish to defraud another if he could; his
thought and will are conscience, and he has heaven in himself.
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