[2] Good spirits, on
the other hand, are led from the second state into the third, which
is the state of their preparation for heaven by means of instruction.
For one can be prepared for heaven only by means of knowledges of
good and truth, that is, only by means of instruction, since one can
know what spiritual good and truth are, and what evil and falsity
are, which are their opposites, only by being taught. One can learn
in the world what civil and moral good and truth are, which are
called justice and honesty, because there are civil laws in the world
that teach what is just, and there is interaction with others whereby
man learns to live in accordance with moral laws, all of which have
relation to what is honest and right. But spiritual good and truth
are learned from heaven, not from the world. They can be learned from
the Word and from the doctrine of the church that is drawn from the
Word and yet unless man in respect to his interiors which belong to
his mind is in heaven spiritual good and truth cannot flow into his
life; and man is in heaven when he both acknowledges the Divine and
acts justly and honestly for the reason that he ought so to act
because it is commanded in the Word.
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